Shortly before Christmas, Columbia’s Julia Roman-Duval made the decision she had been wrestling with for weeks: Run in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials on Feb. 29 or roll the dice and attempt to make the French national team for the Half Marathon World Championships by running the Paris Half Marathon the day after?
As a dual U.S.-French citizen, it was a unique quandary for the 37-year-old astrophysicist and mother of three who is still comparably new to the world of competitive road racing.
It’s a decision she didn’t make lightly. Having recently set a two-minute PR at the Chicago Marathon in October, Roman-Duval easily met the U.S. Trials qualification standard with her 2:35:41.
“The timing really stunk,” she said. “I was hoping I could do both, but if it weren’t for the timing it would have been possible.”
Bob Schwelm, the top American at the New York Marathon in 1995 and owner of the Bryn Mawr Running Company near Philadelphia talks about his five decades of running sub-3-hour marathons and his plans for a sixth.
Name: Erin Cunningham
Self-described age group: I’m 30
Residence: Capitol Hill, D.C.
Occupation: Sometimes server, sometimes host, sometimes junior manager at Chloe, a restaurant in the DC Navy Yard.
Volunteer roles in the running world: I’ve never volunteered! Making a mental note to do some volunteering this year.
Why you run: I was inspired to start by my mom, who’s been running longer than I’ve been alive. She’s finished 32 marathons! I was never super athletic at any point in my life, always active to an extent, but that really dropped off during my twenties. Eventually I got the itch to start doing something and running seemed like a good idea. It’s also helpful for me because I work in a high stress environment and it’s a great way to relax, almost meditative.
Nothing the doctors told her about her daughter’s Type 1 diabetes diagnosis sounded like “you will direct a race in 10 years.”
She was more worried that Isabelle couldn’t eat when she was hungry, which emotionally tough for both of them, on top of Isabelle’s physical discomfort. She was concerned with how much she could eat relative to her insulin levels, trying to avoid a seizure or diabetic coma. She was concerned with keeping Isabelle’s blood glucose levels under control while she was playing, trying to let her just be a kid.
Meanwhile, Jackson became a running ambassador for a local Lululemon store, and the managers soon asked if she could think of a community event that would bring people together in a healthy way.
“I had wanted to start a 5k for T1D for a few years,” Jackson said. “We had done walks for T1D research organizations, but felt I like (they) didn’t represent my active daughter.”
On Feb. 29, runners competing in the Olympic Marathon Trials will race a rough, hilly course in downtown Atlanta. Caroline Bauer will feel right at home, having started her journey there on similar terrain.
Four years and one day prior, she took off on the RRCA Club Challenge course in her then-hometown of Columbia, Md. It’s one of the tougher courses in Maryland, one that forces runners to scrap relative time goals and focus on the race’s inter-club competition. That didn’t shake Bauer, though, as she ran 1:01:33, finishing less than one minute behind Julia Roman-Duval, her Howard County Striders teammate who had finished 50th at the Marathon Trials two weeks before.
“I thought if I could run 65 (minutes) and change, that would be awesome,” she said. “I was trying to tuck into a pack, but at four miles I felt like it was too slow. I ended up negative splitting every mile on the course. I didn’t know where that came from.”
- The Montgomery County Department of Transportation is having a community meeting at 7 p.m. Jan. 29 at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School to discuss designs of the Capital Crescent Trail tunnel and surface route through Bethesda.
- Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich did not include any money in his budget proposal for the county’s for a tunnel to carry the Capital Crescent Trail under Wisconsin Avenue.
- The Marine Corps Marathon has permanently banned a 55-year-old woman from its race series after an investigation showed she had cut several race courses over four years. A consistent absence of on-course photos and timing mat data helped the race organization come to that conclusion.
- St. John’s College High School’s Desmond Dunham was named the National Federation of High School Associations Coaches Association’s girls’ track and field national coach of the year.
- Dunham and Gonzaga College High School’s John Ausema were named cross country coach of the year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Name: Nate Rathjen
Self-described age group: slowly admitting I’m not a recent college grad anymore (25)
Residence: Historic downtown Leesburg!
Occupation: IT guy
Volunteer roles in the running world: Treasurer, Loudoun Road Runners
Why you run: What’s not to love? It’s free. I love exploring on foot. I meet awesome people. It’s a really time-efficient way to stay in shape. Also, I’d be lying if I said part of it wasn’t being able to eat whatever I want. Food’s a big motive.
When did you get started running: Actually, it all started when I ended up on UVA’s club quidditch team in 2012, my first year there. If you’re wondering what that looks like as a sport, combine basketball, rugby, and dodgeball, move the whole thing outside, and you’re close! Later that fall someone started group runs to work on the team’s conditioning, we became training partners, and the rest is history.
Saucony runner and American 25k record holder Parker Stinson talks about finding the sweet spot in his training.
Editor’s note: Five years ago, we published one of my favorite stories, and I wanted to share it with you here.
Matthew Hua relished his first season of cross country at J.E.B. Stuart High School (now Justice High School). With no prior athletic background, his 24-minute three mile time is a point of pride. Lifelong health problems have been an obstacle in his running career, but they haven’t stopped him from fully participating as part of the team — except maybe in the team dinners.
Matthew’s gastrointestinal system has never functioned normally. He is unable to eat at all and drinks very little. In fact, virtually every one of his bodily systems is compromised. He is deaf in his left ear and his left vocal cord is paralyzed. Underdeveloped lungs have led to chronic conditions such as tracheomalacia (softened cartilage around the trachea) and asthma. He has ongoing orthopedic problems and his immune system is compromised, leaving him susceptible to infection and illness.
Name: Hannah A.
Self-described age group: Millennial (25)
Residence: Crystal City
Occupation: Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist
Why you run: Because I can! Running has not only helped keep me in shape but also allowed me to achieve some of my biggest dreams and goals. Plus, living in this area, it’s the perfect excuse to do some local sightseeing!
When did you get started running: I ran JV cross-country all four years in high school and ran here and there throughout college until the summer before my junior year when I decided to train for a half marathon. That was August 2014, and I’ve been hooked ever since!
