Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Marathon Trials: Excitement and Suspense

This Saturday's Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston have dodged the horrendous weather that hit there Monday (rain, flooding etc.), so things should be good to go on race day. Speaking of good to go, the fields look great. I'm focusing my good-luck salutes on Illinois runners and other runners with Illinois roots or connections. There is no doubt I will miss someone, so let me know, please!
Starting with the men, who run at 8 a.m., here are some "locals:" for whom I am rooting hard:
MEN (8 a.m. start)
Bib 8 -- Jorge Torres, Boulder, CO. He grew up in Prospect Heights and starred at Wheeling HS.
Bib 23 -- Patrick Rizzo, 28, Boulder, CO. He is from Schaumburg.
Bib 46 -- Jeff Jonaitis, 30, Tinley Park, IL. Go, Jeff, go!
Bib 61 -- Chris Siemers, 30, Arvada, CO. Chris is from Bensenville and starred at Fenton HS.

WOMEN (8:15 a.m. start)
Bib 10 -- Tera Moody, 31, Colorado Springs, CO. The native of St. Charles has been a major player on the national and international scene in recent years.
Bib 99 -- Claudia Becque, 35, Emerald Hills, CA. Former Chicagoan has been in trials before.
Bib 112 -- Christina Overbeck, 25, Portland, OR. Former Chicagoan is running well.
Bib 156 -- Kate DeProsperis, 32, Downers Grove, IL. No one tries harder. She's tough!
You can watch an edited Trials program from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday on Channel 5 (WMAQ-NBC).

WHO DID I MISS????

There are 123 men and 205 women on the start lists. Plenty of other big-name runners who have run in Chicago and the suburbs are also entered. This will be a huge day for running and running enthusiasts. By the way, the Olympic Marathons in London are Aug. 5 for women and Aug. 12 for men.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i ran against two (probably three, actually)of those guys in high school. kind of makes me feel slow.

Bob Richards said...

I don't know who you are, but I'll bet you're not slow! They are all special talents, no doubt about it.