Five Northwest women will vie for a spot in the 2008 Beijing Olympics as they head to the Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials in Boston on Sunday, April 20.
The Trials will be held the day before the running of the annual Boston Marathon. As many as 175 women from around the country will compete for three slots on the U.S. Women’s Marathon team at the Olympics in Beijing this August.
The top 15 performers will be awarded cash prizes ranging from $1,500 to $50,000. This year’s qualifying times of 2:39 (A standard) and 2:47 (B standard) are tougher than ever, promising a competitive and exciting event. Athletes who meet the A standard are automatically included in the event, provided they enter and declare, while athletes who meet the B standard are included in the event if there are not enough A entrants.
Best of luck to our local competitors.
Susan Empey
 Mercer Island resident Susan Empey qualified for the Olympic Trials when she posted a time of 2:46:27 at the Eugene Marathon in 2007. Empey, 39, was a competitive swimmer growing up, but she’s no stranger to Boston: she ran the 2005 Boston Marathon with her mother. Hearing her coach, Tom Cotner, describe the Olympic Trials as a “celebration of women’s running” helped motivate Empey to aim high.
“The great thing is that I get to participate with the same women who have motivated me on a daily basis for the last several years,” says Empey of the other local qualifiers, who also happen to be her running partners.
Alysun Deckert
 Seattle’s Alysun Deckert, 41, has been an elite marathoner for more than a decade, consistently posting Olympic qualifying times and competing in the past three Olympic Trials. Her time of 2:46:02 in Detroit last October landed her a spot in the 2008 Olympic Trials.
Deckert also founded and coaches “Team Transplant” at the University of Washington Medical Center, where she works as a registered dietitian. “I’m very excited to have such a talented group of women to train with,” says Deckert. “Being able to share this experience with them will make this race very special.”
Caryn Heffernan
Caryn Heffernan, 34, was a track and cross country phenom at Georgetown University, named as an All-American seven times. Heffernan, who lives in Bothell, qualified for the 2008 Olympic Trials with a time of 2:44:18 at the 2006 Austin Marathon. When she’s not running, she teaches and coaches girls’ cross-country at Newport High School in Bellevue.
Vanessa Hunter
 Vanessa Hunter, 32, recently returned to the Northwest after living in the other Washington (DC) area. A soccer player during her college years, Hunter didn’t start running until she was 26 years old. She posted a qualifying time of 2:45:35 in the 2006 Chicago Marathon, earning her a spot at the Olympic Trials in Boston. When she realized she’d qualified for the Olympic Trials, Hunter says, “The first emotion was elation – just knowing you’ve worked so hard, and gone through so much physical pain to achieve something makes it very special.”
Gwen Greiner
 Gwen Greiner, 38, from Seattle, did not start running until she was an adult, but has consistently posted impressive times over the past seven years. Her performance at the 2006 Grandma’s Marathon, a time of 2:45:11, landed her name on the Olympic Trials roster.
“Qualifying for the marathon trials had been a very big personal goal of mine for several years and making it happen was such a great feeling,” says Greiner. “This is a magical time for me and I am trying to appreciate every day and the effort that goes into preparing for the race.”
Jennifer Donahue is a freelance writer living in Kenmore, Wash. |
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