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US Women contend for places in Marathon Team - admin - 09-04-2008
FOLSOM, Calif. - April 7, 2008 - When approximately 125 women line up for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Women's Marathon in Boston, Mass. on Sunday, April 20, several Pacific Association/USA Track & Field (PA/USATF) athletes will be among the top contenders favored to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. The top three finishers in the Trials race will qualify for the 2008 U.S. women's Olympic marathon team going to Beijing, China, provided each has achieved the Olympic "A" qualification standard of 2 hours, 37 minutes or faster. Athletes at the Trials, which will run the day before the 112th Boston Marathon, will compete for $260,000 in prize money and bonuses.
PA/USATF athletes Blake Russell (Pacific Grove, Calif.) and Magdalena Lewy-Boulet (Oakland, Calif.) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, at the 2004 U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials in St. Louis -- the bridesmaid spots for fulfilling their Olympic dreams. Both athletes return to the 2008 Trials with unfinished business. They will compete in, perhaps, the most competitive field ever to line up for the Trials race.
Last Friday, April 4, Russell and Lewy-Boulet had successful final tune-up outings for the Trials at the Stanford Invitational track meet. In the 10,000-meter race at Stanford, Russell placed second in 32 minutes, 14.91 seconds. Lewy-Boulet was third in a personal record time of 32:33.02.
Kate O'Neill (Palo Alto, Calif.) is a relative newcomer to PA/USATF ranks and to the marathon distance, but she has Olympic experience (2004) at 10,000 meters, and now has a spectacular debut marathon on her resume.
Forty-six-year-old Linda Somers Smith (Arroyo Grande, Calif.) is not expected to contend for a team spot at the Trials. The 1996 Olympian, however, will compete in the 2008 Olympic Trials having qualified for six 1984. Somers Smith placed 31st in the Olympic Games marathon in Atlanta.
Russell, Lewy-Boulet, O'Neill, and Somers Smith are among a strong contingent of PA/USATF women who have qualified for the Trials. Among the 181 U.S. women who have qualified, PA/USATF and USATF Colorado each have 18 qualifiers -- tied for the most among all 57 of USATF's geographically-based Associations. California leads all states with 26 qualifiers.
To qualify for the Trials, women had to record a marathon time equal to or better than USA Track & Field's qualifying standards: 2 hours, 39 minutes flat ("A" standard, Trials travel expenses paid) or 2:47:00 ("B" standard, travel expenses not paid). The qualifying period for the Trials was January 1, 2006 through March 23, 2008.
Russell, 32, ran the boldest race at the 2004 Women's Olympic Marathon Trials, despite the fact that it was only her second marathon. She built a commanding early lead and held it for almost 18 miles before eventually finishing fourth in 2:30:32 behind the top three (Colleen De Reuck, Deena Kastor, and Jen Rhines). Russell is coached by legendary Bob Sevene (Seaside, Calif.), who guided American standout Joan Benoit to a gold medal in the first-ever women's Olympic Games marathon in Los Angeles in 1984.
Russell said the nightmare of getting passed by Rhines in the final half mile at the '04 Trials, and missing an Olympic berth by one place, still lingers. But training alone along the beautiful Monterey Peninsula coastline, she has had a lot of time to reconcile her disappointment, and plan for the future.
"I don't think anything really went wrong four years ago. I made a few rookie mistakes," Russell said as she described how she ran the entire race while taking only a couple of sips of water. "But it was one of those days when you feel really good and you want to go with it."
made the team if she took [water]. She went out too fast. But she has a lot more experience now. I'm very pleased with her recent training." Russell followed her 2:30:32 Trials' performance with a 2:29:10 personal record at the 2005 Chicago Marathon (a time that puts her among the top 15 U.S. women ever on a non-aided course). In 2006, she picked up U.S. national 15K and cross country long course titles. Last February, Russell placed 6th at the USA Cross Country Championships and earned a spot on the U.S. world cross country team, but she declined a trip to the IAAF World Cross Country Championships to focus on her marathon trials preparations.
Sevene, who originally hails from the Boston area, believes that the relatively flat Olympic Marathon Trials course in Boston favors runners such as Russell who have a marathoner's strength, plus good leg speed honed on the track. Russell's track credentials include a very fast 31:35.25 for 10,000 meters.
The Trials' course, created specifically for the event, contains five loops -- an initial loop of about 2.2 miles that tours historic Boston, followed by four loops of approximately six miles each through Boston's Back Bay, across the Charles River. and into Cambridge. The race starts and finishes near the traditional Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston Street.
"I think it's going to be very fast provided the weather cooperates," said Sevene. "I'm going out on a limb and say it's going to take a 2:28 (time) to make the team. I think it's going to be a wonderful race."
In 2004, for the first time at the same Women's Olympic Marathon Trials, three women ran sub-2:30. Among the 2008 Trials qualifiers, less than a handful have ever run under 2:29: U.S. record holder Deena Kastor (2:19:36), Joan Benoit Samuelson (2:21:21), 2004 Trials champion De Reuck (2:26:35), and Marla Runyan (2:27:10). But, the history of the Marathon Trials demonstrates that U.S. athletes rise to the occasion in spectacular fashion. For example, at the 2004 women's trials, 10 of the top 15 finishers ran personal records.
"You can't count anybody out," said Kastor (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.), the 2004 Olympic Games bronze medalist in the women's marathon who is the top-seeded competitor going into Boston. "You have to be prepared for anything. There's so much time for something to happen in the marathon. And, you can count on everybody showing up on race day to give it their best."
Like Boston's weather in April, it's difficult to predict how a marathon trials race will play out. For 34-year-old Magdalena Lewy-Boulet that means sticking to a tried-and-true race plan that nabbed her an oh-so-close fifth place at the 2004 Trials. Her coach, well-respected Jack Daniels, oversees her preparations.
"My motivation may be different, but the way I approach the race is still about the same," said the former University of California Berkeley All-American who is married to another Cal All-American, Richie Boulet. "I want to make my (almost three-year old) son, Owen, proud. I want to show Owen what hard work is. I'm going to run my own race, and, hopefully, the shape I'm in will get me on the team."
Lewy-Boulet feels that the '08 Trials field is just as competitive, if not more so, than four years ago. That means she will, most likely, need to improve upon her 2:30:50 personal record that she ran at the last Trials. Lewy-Boulet, however, has demonstrated that she knows how to peak for big races.
Kate O'Neill is a Boston area transplant who moved to California several years ago and trains with Team Running USA in Mammoth Lakes, Calif. Last October, she made a sensational debut on the marathon scene with a third place 2:36:15 at an unseasonably hot LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. The 27-year-old, seven-time NCAA All-American at Yale University will have a hometown crowd behind her in Boston. Although O'Neill's marathon experience is limited, her strengths make her a favored contender. In 2004, she placed third at the USA Olympic Track & Field Trials at 10,000m and competed in the Athens Olympic Games.
For some women, simply lining up on the starting line for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Women's Marathon will signify an "Olympic" dream come true. For PA/USATF's Shaluinn Fullove, a former track and field and cross country competitor at Stanford University, qualifying for the Trials was a remote possibility only three years ago. In the early spring of 2005, the 30-year-old Palo Alto, Calif. resident was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. After receiving a thyroidectomy and radiation treatments, Fullove eventually resumed serious training. On March 3, 2008 Fullove qualified for the Trials at the Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon, fulfilling her dream.
Who are the PA/USATF Qualifiers?
Qual. Time Name Age Residence
2:36:15 Kate O'Neill, 27, Palo Alto
2:41:05 Linda Somers Smith, 46, Arroyo Grande
2:41:14 Christine Lundy, 37, Sausalito
2:42:35 Brooke Wells, 23, San Francisco
2:42:38 Magdalena Lewy-Boulet, 34, Oakland
2:43:31 Michelle Gallagher, 22, Daly City (now resides in Flagstaff, AZ)
2:43:50 Giovanna Mandy, 29, Truckee
2:44:16 Lisbet Sunshine, 44, San Francisco
2:45:27 Caroline Annis, 27, San Francisco
2:45:34 Jill Boaz, 41, Los Osos
2:45:56 Midori Sperandeo, 41, Gold River (now resides in Laguna Niguel)
2:46:03 Allison Kerr, 32, Vacaville
2:46:04 Shaluinn Fullove, 30, Palo Alto
2:46:08 Betsy Keever, 33, San Francisco
2:46:20 Jennifer Pfeifer, 36, Folsom
2:46:30 Mary Coordt, 38, Elk Grove
2:46:53 Megan Daly, 29, Menlo Park
32:31.90 Blake Russell, 32, Pacific Grove
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