Local runners to compete in Olympic trials Saturday
Jeff Eason
For five local distance runners, the road to London goes through Houston.
Five distance runners who train at Zap Elite Fitness in Blowing Rock traveled to Houston, Texas, this week for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, which will be held on Saturday.
The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, will be held in London, England, this summer.
“We actually had eight of our runners qualify for the Olympic marathon trials,” said Pete Rea, head coach and founder of Zap Fitness. “Two declined to go to the trials and, unfortunately, another one, Joe Driscoll, got injured.”
Zap Fitness runners competing in the marathon trials this Saturday are Alissa McKaig, Esther Erb, Dave Jankowski, Chris Clark and Jesse Cherry.
“It’s like any other Olympic event, only the top three finishers in the trials make the Olympic team,” said Rea. “If the favorite comes in fourth, that’s just the way it is.”
According to Rea, 172 men and 191 women will be competing in the Olympic Marathon Trial.
“We’ve been training in Tallahassee, Fla., for the past eight weeks to simulate the conditions in Houston,” Rea said. “Of course, this time of year, you never know. It could be 75 degrees or it could be 30 degrees.”
One thing Rea does know, however, is the course.
“It’s a different course than the annual Houston Marathon course, but they are both incredibly flat,” Rea said. “That lends itself to some faster than normal times.”
This Saturday, the runners in the marathon trials will run a 2.25-mile loop, and will then run three times around an 8-mile loop, for a total of 26.25 miles.
“They began using the loops in the Olympic marathon trials in 2008,” said Rea. “The men’s marathon trial was held in New York the day before the annual New York City Marathon and the women’s Olympic trial was held in Boston the day before the Boston Marathon. The men’s race ran on a loop around Central Park and the women’s race ran four loops around the Harvard and MIT areas of Boston.
“The loops make a marathon much more exciting for the spectators. And having the trials on the same weekend as the annual marathon events brought out hundreds of thousands of spectators for the Olympic trials.”
According to Rea, this is the first time in recent memory that both the men’s and women’s Olympic marathon trials have been run at the same time at the same event.
The Olympic trials for all of the other summer events will be held at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore., June 22 through July 1.
“I would say our best hopes for making the Olympic team are Alissa McKaig and Dave Jankowski,” said Rea. “But you never know in distance running who is going to have the race of their lives.”
Rea added that there are three competitors in the women’s field who are the hands-down favorites to make the team.
“It would be very surprising if two out of those three did not finish in the top three on Saturday,” said Rea.
Zap Fitness in Blowing Rock is one of four sanctioned Team USA training centers.
“We’ve had some runners from other countries come to Blowing Rock and train with us,” said Rea. “But when it comes to the Olympics, our forte is training runners for the American team.”
Five distance runners who train at Zap Elite Fitness in Blowing Rock traveled to Houston, Texas, this week for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, which will be held on Saturday.
The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, will be held in London, England, this summer.
“We actually had eight of our runners qualify for the Olympic marathon trials,” said Pete Rea, head coach and founder of Zap Fitness. “Two declined to go to the trials and, unfortunately, another one, Joe Driscoll, got injured.”
Zap Fitness runners competing in the marathon trials this Saturday are Alissa McKaig, Esther Erb, Dave Jankowski, Chris Clark and Jesse Cherry.
“It’s like any other Olympic event, only the top three finishers in the trials make the Olympic team,” said Rea. “If the favorite comes in fourth, that’s just the way it is.”
According to Rea, 172 men and 191 women will be competing in the Olympic Marathon Trial.
“We’ve been training in Tallahassee, Fla., for the past eight weeks to simulate the conditions in Houston,” Rea said. “Of course, this time of year, you never know. It could be 75 degrees or it could be 30 degrees.”
One thing Rea does know, however, is the course.
“It’s a different course than the annual Houston Marathon course, but they are both incredibly flat,” Rea said. “That lends itself to some faster than normal times.”
This Saturday, the runners in the marathon trials will run a 2.25-mile loop, and will then run three times around an 8-mile loop, for a total of 26.25 miles.
“They began using the loops in the Olympic marathon trials in 2008,” said Rea. “The men’s marathon trial was held in New York the day before the annual New York City Marathon and the women’s Olympic trial was held in Boston the day before the Boston Marathon. The men’s race ran on a loop around Central Park and the women’s race ran four loops around the Harvard and MIT areas of Boston.
“The loops make a marathon much more exciting for the spectators. And having the trials on the same weekend as the annual marathon events brought out hundreds of thousands of spectators for the Olympic trials.”
According to Rea, this is the first time in recent memory that both the men’s and women’s Olympic marathon trials have been run at the same time at the same event.
The Olympic trials for all of the other summer events will be held at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore., June 22 through July 1.
“I would say our best hopes for making the Olympic team are Alissa McKaig and Dave Jankowski,” said Rea. “But you never know in distance running who is going to have the race of their lives.”
Rea added that there are three competitors in the women’s field who are the hands-down favorites to make the team.
“It would be very surprising if two out of those three did not finish in the top three on Saturday,” said Rea.
Zap Fitness in Blowing Rock is one of four sanctioned Team USA training centers.
“We’ve had some runners from other countries come to Blowing Rock and train with us,” said Rea. “But when it comes to the Olympics, our forte is training runners for the American team.”