It was predicted that the women would have to run a 2:24-2:26 in order to make the 2012 Olympic Marathon team in London, but at mile one of the women’s Olympic marathon trials in Houston on Saturday, the women were on pace to run a 2:42 marathon. At this point, who would have thought that the top four women would run faster than the previous Olympic Trials Marathon record that Colleen De Reuck set at the 2004 Olympic Trials Marathon with a time of 2:28:25.
This slow pace didn’t last long as Desiree Davila wanted an honest pace from the start and began picking up the pace. The quick pace continued as more and more runners fell back from the lead pack. In the end, Shalane Flanagan ran away and won with a time of 2:25:28, her best marathon finish ever. Desiree Davila was second in 2:25:55 and Kara Goucher finished third in 2:26:06. Native Kansan, Amy Hastings was fourth (first alternate) in 2:27:17.
Hastings ran in high school in Leavenworth Kansas and then went on to run at Arizona State University. She is now a part of the Mammoth Lakes training team in California. Her parents still live in Kansas and Hastings keeps her horse in Kansas, but she loves living in California. Hastings will have another shot at the Olympic team at the 10k trials.
Hastings was not alone in representing Kansas at the trials. Raquel Stucky, 36, of Wichita wore bib #122 after qualifying with a time of 2:44:39 at Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth last June. Stucky began training for the trials after qualifying and was in 2:40 marathon shape going into the trials. However eight days before the trials, Stucky began experiencing some pain in her right big toe.
The pain was so intense that Stucky could only limp thru runs. Thursday, before leaving Wichita, Stucky got a cortisone shot for the tendonitis. The pain subsided a little. She discussed not running with her coach, but in the end knew this wasn’t an option. She’d worked too hard to not run.
“Every step I took there was pain” said Stucky. All her workouts had been geared toward a 6:04 to 6:10 pace, but Stucky was forced to start more conservatively to allow her foot to warm up. Around mile 5, Stucky’s foot warmed up some and her stride improved only to start throbbing again around mile 16.
Going into the third and final loop of the course, the lead men who had started approximately 15 minutes ahead of the women went past Stucky. “That was the most exciting part of the race when Meb and Ryan Hall passed by” said Stucky. “You couldn’t help but to cheer for them.” One tweet that came thru twitter said that Meb was flirting with a pack of girls as he passed by them on his way to the finish.
Raquel Stucky has run the Boston marathon and the New York City marathon, both of which are known for their loud enthusiastic crowds, but she said that the crowds at the Olympic trials were even more intense.
“I don’t think I’ve ever done a race where it’s so loud that your ears are ringing the whole time…There was so much hype and excitement that didn’t wear off” said Stucky.
The whole experience was incredible for Stucky. She literally was able to rub shoulders with the elite runners and Olympians in the dining hall. “Everyone was absolutely friendly” said Stucky. The experience was bittersweet as Stucky finished the 26.2 miles in 125th place with a time of 2:51:08. The finisher’s medal was well worth the pain.
Stucky was encouraged by the number of masters women who were running the trials. “21 of the women were masters” said Stucky. “This motivates me….I think there’s still some left in the tank. I don’t think I’m done yet.” Stucky would like to make it back to the 2016 trials as a master runner.
In the meantime, Stucky will take some time off to heal and then set her sights on the half marathon championships in Duluth Minnasota in June.
The 2012 trials also broke a record for the most women to declare their intention to run. 226 women had qualified for the trials with a time of 2:46 or better and 194 had declared their intentions to run. Only 152 women finished the race with many pulling out of the race early.
It’s an exciting time in American women's marathoning. It has advanced to a place it has never been before!
Comments