Californians Could Sweep Women's Olympic Marathon Trials

By Mark Winitz / March/April 2008 / California Track & Running News. No kidding. Approximately 125 women will compete in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Women's Marathon in Boston on Sunday, April 20--the day before the 112th Boston Marathon. And, it's conceivable that Golden Staters could grab the top three places and qualify for this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing. Sure, it's unlikely. But given the talent of California's qualifiers, it's not impossible. The top three finishers in the Trials race (assuming they have run the Olympic "A" standard of 2:37:00 or faster) will represent the U.S. at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing this August.

The well of fast U.S. female marathoners may be at its deepest point ever. As of this writing (late January), 174 women had met the Women's Marathon Trials qualifying standards of sub-2:39 ("A" standard), sub-2:47 ("B" standard), or sub-33:00 (10,000m on the track). By far, California tops all states with 25 qualifiers. Among them, the Golden State athletes who have a realistic shot at making the Olympic team compose an interesting mix.

Can you guess who the following top California contenders are?

She's by far the overwhelming favorite to land a spot on the team. She earned a bronze medal in the Olympic Games women's marathon in Athens--the first U.S. medal in the event since Joan Benoit's win in the inaugural women's Oly Games marathon in 1984. As the only American woman ever to run under 2:20 (2:19:36), and the all-time fourth fastest female marathoner in the world, everyone in Boston will be watching this athlete.

Of course, this Californian is Deena Kastor (Mammoth Lakes).

Try this one: This Monterey Peninsula resident ran the boldest race at the 2004 U.S. Women's Marathon Trials in St. Louis--building a commanding early lead, which she held for more than 18 miles before finishing a disappointing 4th. With 2:29:10 and 31:35 (10,000m) credentials, and coached by legendary Bob Sevene, she has the talent, desire, and coach to make the team.

If you identified Blake Russell (Pacific Grove), you're right.

Photo:Since the 2004 Trials, Blake Russell has run a sub-1:30 marathon (Chicago, 2005) and earned the 2006 long course cross country title.

Who else? This naturalized U.S. citizen, originally from Poland, finished one place behind Russell at the '04 Marathon Trials. A veteran marathoner, she may not have the raw speed of other top contenders (2:30:50 and 32:41 PRs), but her experience at 26.2 miles gives her an edge, especially if the finicky spring weather in Beantown dictates a tactical race.

This standout is Magdalena Lewy-Boulet (Oakland).

And, who is the Boston-area transplant who moved to California several years ago and recently made a sensational debut on the marathon scene with a 3rd place 2:36:15 at an unseasonably hot LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon last October? This 27-year-old, seven-time NCAA All American at Yale University will have a hometown crowd behind her in Boston.

Kate O'Neill (Mammoth Lakes and sometimes Palo Alto) is her name.

Photo: Contender Kate O'Neill shares a coach with Deena Kastor and 2008 men's Olympic Trials champion Ryan Hall.

Let's take one more Californian for good measure. At age 15, she qualified to run for her native Nigeria in the 10,000m at the 1992 Olympics, but her federation chose not to send her to Barcelona because they felt she was too young. Now, this dual citizen enters the Trials as the seventh-fastest qualifier as of this writing (2:33:50, Twin Cities, '06)--good enough to put her in the hunt if she has a career race at the Trials.

In case you're wondering, this is Mary Akor (Gardena). Akor owns 11 qualifying performances for the '08 Trials, ranging from 2:33:50 to 2:46:05. Only Roxi Erikson, who ran 13 qualifiers for the 1996 Trials, has more qualifiers for a single Trials.

It feels right to run the Women's Trials in Boston. It's where Roberta Gibb (as an unofficial entrant in 1966) and Kathrine Switzer (as an official entrant in 1967), broke the gender barrier for women in marathon races. It's where Joan Benoit (Samuelson) set a world best in 1983, the year before she won the first U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials race and then won a gold medal in the first women's Olympic Games marathon. More than 2 decades after women were finally allowed to run the marathon distance in the Olympic Games, the U.S. women's Olympic marathon team will be selected in Boston, the city that hosts the oldest marathon race in the world.

Women now comprise an estimated 50% of road race finishers in the U.S. and 40% of marathon finishers. Running their marathon trials race in Boston--in their own, dedicated event the day before the most prominent road race on the planet--symbolizes women's official coming of age in the sport.

Is there a better way to showcase female road running talent than this?

In a city that follows long distance running almost as closely as its beloved Red Sox, Celtics, and Patriots? The day before 25,000 Boston Marathon qualifiers compete in a race which many runners consider their personal "Olympic Games?"

Like U.S. men last November in New York, U.S. women will run their marathon trials the day before a world-renowned marathon, under the spotlight of the media and the general public.

"Boston Marathon weekend is when everyone in the Boston area focuses on distance running. I don't think many races or cities can claim that," said Marc Chalufour, communications manager for the Boston Athletic Association, which organizes the annual Boston Marathon and the '08 Women's Marathon Trials. "People here understand what it means to be an Olympic Trials event. They know what these women are competing for. So, from Day One our goal has been to put on the best women's trials ever."

Chalufour said that the Trials course will provide an extraordinary opportunity to watch a 26.2-mile race in Boston--up-close and personal. It's not the traditional point-to-point Boston Marathon course that starts in Hopkinton. Instead, the Trials course contains five loops--an initial loop of about 2.4 miles that tours historic Boston, followed by four loops of approximately 6 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 in front of the Boston Public Library.

Kate O'Neill, 27, will surely be a favorite among hometown fans on the spectator-friendly route. She is a native of Milton, MA, which borders Boston on the south. The area's residents remember her spectacular running stint at Yale where she was the 2003 NCAA championship runner-up at 10,000m. In 2004, she placed 3rd at the USA Olympic Track & Field Trials at 10,000m and competed in the Barcelona Olympic Games.

Although O'Neill's marathon experience is limited, her strengths make her a favored contender: a head-turning marathon debut at Chicago, fast 31:34 10,000m credentials on the track, and Olympic experience. Her coach at Mammoth Lakes is Terrence Mahon, who also coaches Kastor and '08 U.S. men's Olympic Trials champion Ryan Hall, among others. She has experienced training partners in Mammoth Lakes, such as Kastor, Jen Rhines, and Sara Hall. Rhines, a 2004 Olympian in the marathon, is focusing on the 5000m and 10,000m this Olympic year--but O'Neill's focus is all marathon.

"I really think the marathon is a good fit for me. I'm really glad I ran the Chicago Marathon to get the experience," said O'Neill, who also qualified for the Marathon Trials with a 32:15.15 10,000m at last year's Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational. "My coach [Mahon] has been stressing the importance of conserving energy for the end and drinking all my fluids. I think running in the heat, like I did at Chicago, really magnifies the importance of both of these things."

No doubt, O'Neill is on a roll at the longer distances. In January, she won the 2008 USA Women's Half Marathon Championship title in Houston, where she posted a time of 1:11:57 and beat a field heavy with Olympic Trials qualifiers.

Although Blake Russell was derailed by injury since mid-2006, the '04 Trials 4th-placer recorded a Trials qualifier a year ago with a 32:21.90 win at the Stanford Invitational. Now, the 32-year-old physical therapist says she's relatively healthy and ready to tackle unfinished business over 26.2 miles.

"Sev [Bob Sevene] and I have banned the number 4 from our vocabulary. He hasn't been allowed to say it since the last Trials. It's a pretty sensitive number."

Russell said the nightmare of getting passed by Rhines in the final half-mile at the '04 Trials--Russell's second marathon--and missing an Olympic berth by one place, still lingers.

But the 2006 U.S. long course cross country champion is a lone star. Like Joan Benoit Samuelson (another Sevene pupil), Russell has an independent mindset and fortitude that many runners can only admire. Training alone along the 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 4 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."

Russell followed her 2:30:32 Trials performance with a 2:29:10 personal record at the 2005 Chicago Marathon (a time that put her among the top 15 U.S. women ever on a non-aided course).

"I know I've got that [2:29] in me," she said. Not too many [Americans] have run close to 2:30, so at least it's not uncharted territory for me."

Can we expect Russell to employ front-running tactics again, in Boston?

"Well, you never can tell," she said with a laugh. "I'd like to run how I feel, but we'll probably go into it with more of a race plan this time."

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 5th place at the 2004 Trials.

"My motivation may be different, but the way I approach the race is still about the same," said Lewy-Boulet, who is married to Richie Boulet and gave birth to a son, Owen, in May 2005. "I want to make my son 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 her 2:30:50 PR that she ran at the last Trials. The former Cal-Berkeley All American, however, has demonstrated that she knows how to peak for big races.

"It's the marathon, and anything can happen," Lewy-Boulet admitted. "I think, obviously, Deena [Kastor], Colleen [De Reuck], Elva [Dryer], and Kate [O'Neill] will all be in the mix. Plus, you have girls who are making the transition from the 10K."

Deena Kastor, 34, agreed that the competition will be tougher than ever. So, the top-ranked U.S. female marathoner is taking nothing for granted.

"I'll need to be as fit as I can make myself before April in order to make the team because of the talent that will line up [in Boston]," Kastor remarked. "I'll also need to be fit so I can recover quickly and make a quick turnaround to compete well in Beijing."

Kastor said that she loves the fact that--like the men's Marathon Trials in New York--the women have an opportunity to run in conjunction with one of the world's major marathons.

"Between New York and Boston, these are people who know how to cater to elite athletes, and to host major marathons," said Kastor, who ran an American marathon debut record (2:26:58) at New York in 2001, and won the U.S. women's marathon title at Boston last April.

Kastor previewed the Trials course in Boston last fall, the day after she won the Tufts Women's 10K U.S. Women's Championship. The Tufts race shares large sections of its race course with the Trials course. She said the Women's Trials course lacks the steep hills that the Men's Trials competitors had in New York's Central Park, but that, nevertheless, it ends up being a challenging course.

Kastor said several factors present challenges: the rolling terrain up and down the long straight on Memorial Drive in Cambridge (which competitors will negotiate 8 times total, down and back along the Charles River), the 180-degree U-turns on either end of Memorial Drive, and probable winds along the river.

And whom does Deena rate as her main competition?

"You can't count anybody out," Kastor emphasized. "You have to be prepared for anything--for someone to take it out hard, or for the pace to be pedestrian with people expecting me to take the lead. 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."

Indeed, 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.

Although Kastor has a lock on the odds for making the team, many marathon pundits feel that the contest for the other two team spots is wide open among about 10 other top women. That's the beauty and the drama in the U.S. Trials system. The only selection jury is an athlete's performance on the day.

"Head-to-head competition is the most American, democratic system," said Blake Russell. "Everyone has the same opportunity to be ready on that one day. It doesn't put anybody at a disadvantage."

Besides Kastor--who placed 2nd to Colleen De Reuck at the '04 Trials--four other California women have earned Olympic team spots at a U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials:

*Julie Brown was 2nd to Joan Benoit at the inaugural 1984 Trials in Olympia, WA and placed 36th at the Games in Los Angeles.

*Nancy Ditz placed 2nd at the 1988 Trials in Pittsburgh, and was the first American (17th overall) at the Oly Games marathon in Seoul.

*Francie Larrieu Smith, a 5-time U.S. Olympian and California youth and prep star, was 3rd at the 1992 Trials in Houston (after moving to Texas before the '80 Oly Games).

*In 1996, Linda Somers Smith grabbed 2nd at the Trials in Columbia, SC, and placed 31st at the Games in Atlanta.

But what type of athlete does it take to put it all together, place in the top three at the highly competitive U.S. Marathon Trials, and land a coveted Olympic team berth?

"Most people I talk with have no idea what it takes," according to '96 Olympian Somers Smith, 46, who has qualified for six Olympic Marathon Trials, including this year's Trials. "It takes a level of dedication that surpasses talent and training. It also takes staying healthy.

"Everything has to come together," said Somers Smith. "It's health, training, and dedication. They're just three words, but they mean so much."

Who will have it all together among the Trials women in Boston? Tune in on Sunday, April 20 and find out.

Next time.

Same-day coverage: Extensive coverage of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Women's Marathon will be presented live on the Trials website (www.bostontrials2009.com). Race start time is 5:00 a m. EST. Chip mats will capture competitors' splits at every mile from 3 miles to the finish, and they will be displayed online in real time. (Television coverage to be announced. CTRN will have post-Trials coverage in an upcoming issue.) s

2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Women's Marathon California Qualifiers (as of 1/16/08)

Marathon Performances
Time Std. Name Race, Date, Location
2:19:36 A Deena Kastor, 34, Mammoth Lakes (Flora London Marathon, 4/23/06, London)
2:29:32 A Jen Rhines, 33, Mammoth Lakes (The Rome City Marathon, 3/26/06, Rome)
2:33:50 A Mary Akor, 31, Gardena (2006 USA Marathon Champs, 10/1/06, Saint Paul, MN)
2:36:15 A Kate O'Neill, 27, Mammoth Lakes (LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, 10/7/07, Chicago)
2:38:38 A Cheryl Foody, 27, Aliso Viejo (OC Marathon, 1/6/08, Irvine)
2:41:05 B Linda Somers Smith, 46, Arroyo Grande (P.F. Chang's Rock 'n Roll, 1/13/08, Tempe, AZ)
2:41:14 B Christine Lundy, 37, Sausalito (2007 USA Women's Marathon Champs, 4/16/07, Boston)
2:42:35 B Brooke Wells, 22, San Francisco (California Int'l Marathon, 12/2/07, Sacramento)
2:42:38 B Magdalena Lewy-Boulet, 34, Oakland (ING New York City Marathon, 11/5/06, NYC
2:42:47 B Heather Killeen-Frisone, 34, Placentia (Rock 'n Roll Marathon, 6/3/07, San Diego)
2:43:25 B Kelly Flathers, 36, Huntington Beach (2007 USA Women's Marathon Champs, Boston)
2:43:31 B Michelle Gallagher, 22, Daly City (California Int'l Marathon, 12/2/07, Sacramento)
2:43:50 B Giovanna Mandy, 29, Truckee (Chevron Houston Marathon, 1/13/08, Houston)
2:44:04 B Megan Lewis, 22, Santa Barbara (California Int'l Marathon, 12/2/07, Sacramento)
2:44:16 B Lisbet Sunshine, 43, San Francisco (St. George Marathon, 10/7/06, St. George, UT)
2:45:22 B Jennifer DeRego, 28, San Luis Obispo (2005 USA Marathon Champs, St. Paul, MN)
2:45:27 B Caroline Annis, 27, San Francisco (California Int'l Marathon, 12/2/07, Sacramento)
2:45:34 B Jill Boaz, 41, Los Osos (2005 USA Marathon Champs, 10/2/05, St. Paul, MN)
2:45:56 B Midori Sperandeo, 41, Laguna Niguel (California Int'l Marathon,12/3/06, Sacramento)
2:46:03 B Allison Kerr, 31, Vacaville (P.F. Chang's Rock 'n Roll Marathon, 1/13/08, Tempe, AZ)
2:46:08 B Betsy Keever, 33, San Francisco (P.F. Chang's Rock 'n Roll Marathon, AZ)
2:46:20 B Jennifer Pfeifer, 36, Folsom (California Int'l Marathon, 12/3/06, Sacramento)
2:46:53 B Megan Daly, 29, Menlo Park (LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, 10/22/06, Chicago)

10,000m Track Performances
32:31.90 B Blake Russell (Stanford Invit'l, 10,000, 3/31/07, Stanford)
32:50.63 B Alicia Craig (AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Champs, 6/21/07)

Athletes Qualifying with Both Marathon and 10,000m Performances
31:17.31 B Jen Rhines (Payton Jordan Cardinal Invit'l 10,000, 4/29/07, Stanford)
31:57.00 B Deena Kastor (AT&T USA Outdoor T&F Champs, 6/21/07)
32:15.15 B Kate O'Neill (Payton Jordan Cardinal Invit'l 10,000, 4/29/07, Stanford)

Mark Winitz welcomes your comments and contributions for this column. Contact him by telephone at 650.948.0618 or via e-mail at winitz@earthlink.net. Mark has written for CTRN since the mid-1980s and has been running, writing about running, and organizing programs for runners for 30 years. He is a longtime activist within USA Track & Field. He also assists road racing events through his company, Win It!z Sports Public Relations and Promotions in Los Altos.