Meet some (more) of the Olympic Marathon Trials qualifers
These nine runners will race in Orlando on February 3.
You can find part one of this series here.
English Tomlinson earned her Trials qualifier sooner than she expected
Current Residence: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Instagram: @e_tomlinson39
English Tomlinson set her sights on the marathon after graduating from Bridgewater College in Virginia, in the spring of 2020, at the height of the pandemic. “It was a really hard and unexpected way for college to end,” she said. “I was angry for quite a while and had nothing else to do so I decided I was just going to run farther than I ever had before, which, looking back, laid a good base for the marathon.”
Tomlinson, now 25, only ran one healthy season of outdoor track in college, and though she was successful, qualifying for Division III outdoor nationals, she knew she still had more potential and more goals to chase.
The 2021 Philadelphia Marathon was Tomlinson’s first attempt at the distance, and she ran 2:43:43—under the Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying time for 2020, although the race had already passed. “I had old coaches and teammates texting me super excited about this time,” she said. “All I knew was that I was tired and hungry.”
A few months later, the standard was lowered to 2:37:00, and Tomlinson thought that maybe by 2028, she would be ready to try for an OTQ. She ran the 2022 Chicago Marathon, with goals of feeling good and practicing fueling during the race. Five miles in, she found herself near a man pacing a pack of women who were running OTQ pace, and he asked if she wanted to join.
“I thought, ‘That sounds like a good goal, I’ll hang on and try not to lose them,’” she said. “So the OTQ became a goal mid race. I think it was a goal in the back of my mind and the back of my coach’s mind, but it was one of those goals that’s so scary that you just don’t talk about it.” Tomlinson never lost the pack, and finished in 2:36:51, earning her qualifier.
Now, she lives in Michigan, and she fits her training around the winter weather and teaching. She works from 8:00 to 3:30, and usually runs in the early morning with a headlamp, and doubles after the school day is over, with her wife often joining her on a bike.
“I’m going to go and work hard (at the Trials) and enjoy the experience with my family, then maybe go to Disney World after,” Tomlinson said. “I’m hoping to continue to stack miles and be back in 2028, when I’m a little bit older and have a few more marathons under my belt.”
Johanna Butler will run the Olympic Marathon Trials with a plus one
Current Residence: Portland, Oregon
Instagram: @jothrives
In December, Johanna Butler was in the midst of her buildup for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials when she got some exciting news: She’s pregnant with her second child. Until then, she was training full-on for the Trials, though she was struggling a bit with motivation. Since getting the news, she has been training by feel, and some days, what she feels is tired and nauseous.
But Butler, who is coached by Ryan Hall, also knows that her fitness is still there. She has added a lot of cross training and she has taken a bunch of days off as winter weather and a family issue have also affected her ability to train.
“[On] race day, it’s all about having fun,” Butler said. “I am not going there to overdo it. If I run the whole way, great. But if I’m done at five miles, I’m okay with that, too.”
Butler, who just turned 32, competed in her first U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in 2020, but she was dealing with sciatica that forced her to drop out of the race. The following year, she decided to focus on becoming a mother, so she stopped competing and worked on regaining a healthy menstrual cycle, after a years-long struggle with hypothalamic amenorrhea. Her first child, Lucy, arrived in July 2022, and Butler took her time getting back to more focused running.
She started to get more serious again in February of 2023, and at October’s Chicago Marathon, her first race back, she earned a return trip to the Trials, running 2:36:19. It was the first time she had completed a race in more than four years.
“It was really sweet to go back to that race in Chicago and go in really confident that my body was capable as long as I was healthy getting to the line,” she said. “Seeing my daughter at the race was also really special. I’m not just running for myself, but for her and future generations of women.”
Butler ran for Ouachita Baptist University, a Division II school in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, that had only five women on the team during her time there. She first broke 3:00 in the marathon at the 2018 Boston Marathon. She had run a marathon three weeks prior and planned to do the race for fun, but still ended up PRing, despite the cold and rainy weather. “I had some friends in my life who told me, ‘Jo, you could really do this,’” she said.
She started working with a coach, and just over one year later, she qualified for the 2020 Trials, running 2:42:04 (2:41:57 chip) at the 2019 Grandma’s Marathon.
As the Trials approach, Butler is thinking about the big picture “I have big goals and big dreams, but I am trying to hold them loosely and give myself a lot of grace,” she said. “The process isn’t always what we envision. My main goal is to go and enjoy the sport I love so much, and I want to see what I can do in the next 10 years.”
Sara Passani has found success by prioritizing her health and happiness
Current Residence: Los Angeles, California
Instagram: @mosti27
Sara Passani, 30, took about two years off from competitive running after she graduated from Claremont McKenna College in 2015 to focus on her highly demanding job in investment banking. “There are so many women out there running so well into their late 30s and early 40s,” she said. “I was still hungry to be competitive, it just wasn’t the right time for me. I knew that as long as I was being patient and treating my body well, it would come when it would come.”
In 2017, she switched jobs and began working in private equity. While still challenging, the job allowed for a little more flexibility. Passani started training again, and connected with a friend who was training for an Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier. At the 2019 Grandma’s Marathon, Passani ran 2:41:18 and qualified for the 2020 Trials.
She was nervous when the standard dropped to 2:37 for 2024, but she decided she had nothing to lose and went after it again. At the 2022 California International Marathon, her first marathon since the pandemic, she ran 2:34:43 and qualified for her second Trials.
“I run my best when I’m happy and when I make running a part of my life, versus making a life to accommodate running,” Passani said. She struggled with an eating disorder during the first half of her college career. “My junior year, I felt like I was chasing times I had run in an unsustainable body, which was very frustrating,” she said. “My senior year, I was in a really healthy place and I wanted to leave knowing that my healthy body was faster than my unhealthy body ever was.”
As a college senior, Passani took a minute off her 10,000m time, earning All-American status, and she also PRed in the mile and 5,000m. “I wish I had been healthier earlier, I wasted some time focusing on the wrong things,” she said. “But leaving college on that note, I knew that there would be more time for me to take this seriously.”
Going into the Trials, Passani thinks she’s in shape to take a couple minutes off her personal best. Since the weather will likely take time goals out of the picture, she wants to beat her ranking and place as high as possible. “I’m really excited and hungry to get after it,” she said. “I’ve just had a lot of fun.”
For new mom Molly Roberts, the marathon was a step down in distance
Current Residence: Raleigh, North Carolina
Instagram: @mollyculver
Molly Roberts, 33, was a Division I swimmer in college, and she found running after she graduated from St. Louis University in 2012. “I needed something to do aside from swimming because I was burnt out,” she said. “I started running before and after my 9–5 desk job and was racking up the mileage.”
She mentioned this to her dad, Craig Culver, who also swam in college before becoming a professional triathlete. At the time, he was coaching two athletes for the Wisconsin North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Miler. With the mileage his daughter was running, he suggested she could race the ultra with them. “This was in August and the race was in September,” she said.
Roberts ended up winning the race, and would go on to win it four years in a row. In 2018, she decided to shift to shorter distances so she could race more often, and in 2019, she ran 2:38:37 at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials. She lowered her PR to 2:31:15 at the 2022 Grandma Marathon, to qualify for the 2024 Trials.
Roberts, who is still coached by her father, had her first child, Izzy, in June 2023 and she works full-time in business development, so she has had to be flexible with this build. “I really had to focus on good quality workouts and get the most out of my time out the door,” she said. “I ran at weird times of the day, when Izzy was napping or when I could take a break from work. When I was done, I had to just go right back into mom or work mode. This was good for me to not hyperfocus on running.”
Roberts said that at the 2020 Trials, she went out too fast with the top-20 group and then died hard. “I just want to enjoy this one,” she said of her goals for Orlando. “I would like to run smart and just enjoy that I’m racing eight months postpartum.”
Sophie Seward balances her Trials training with sleep research
Current Residence: Fort Collins, Colorado
Instagram: @runhappy_xc
Team: Front Range Elite
Sophie Seward first knew she wanted to chase a U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying time when she was still in college, running for Western Colorado University, where she was a four-time Division II All-American. “I was inspired by older friends and training partners who had been attempting the Trials time standard,” she said.
After her junior year, Seward ran the 2018 Grandma’s Marathon, a few weeks after her season ended, with her coach’s blessing. She finished in 2:38:37 and qualified for the 2020 Trials in Atlanta. “It was in the aftermath of this experience that I truly grasped the potential for a future as a post-collegiate marathon runner,” she said. One year later, she lowered her PR to 2:33:23.
Seward, 27, qualified for this year’s Trials at Grandma’s again, in 2022, running 2:35:36. Now, she balances training with pursuing a PhD at Colorado State University. She studies sleep and circadian rhythms, and is specifically interested in finding a solution to minimize Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in people who experience sleep and circadian disruption.
“When I am not running, I am usually watching people sleep,” she said. “Juggling academic commitments and athletic pursuits has allowed me to find strength in one when faced with obstacles in the other.” Seward said that she also takes pride in being a woman in a predominantly-male STEM field.
Seward is heading into the Trials with hopes of continuing to push herself and explore her potential, and she said that getting to do so alongside people with similar passions is her favorite part. Seward draws her inspiration both from her Front Range Elite teammates, and from the middle school athletes she coaches.
“I am feeling extremely thankful for all the support from my community, athletes, and family,” she said. “I am part of an extraordinary running community in Fort Collins.”
Elena Hayday made a 23-minute jump in her second marathon
Current Residence: Washington, D.C.
Instagram: @elena_hayday
Team: Georgetown Running Club
Elena Hayday, 24, ran her first marathon in 2021, when she was still in college at the University of Minnesota, finishing in 2:54. She turned to the marathon when she ended her collegiate running career early, with eligibility still left.
“A big part of my story is that I have had major depressive disorder since I was a little kid,” she said. “In college, I was in a very bad period [with] that.” Beyond having a heavy workload and not being able to sleep enough, Hayday struggled to find enjoyment in anything, including training.
After her 2:54, Hayday didn’t think that qualifying for the Olympic Marathon Trials was in reach for her. She graduated from college at the end of 2021, moved to Washington, D.C., and began training with Georgetown Running Club. “The team aspect has been huge for me,” she said. “Training has really turned into something I actually enjoy outside of work, while in college it was something I just knocked off the list.”
Hayday first got her OTQ in the Houston Half Marathon in January 2023, running 1:11:38 to go under the standard of 1:12:00. “It was a good tangible goal,” she said of chasing the standard in the half.
She and her coach weren’t sure if she should run another marathon yet, as she is still quite young, but once she had the qualifier, they decided to try one before the Trials. And Hayday surprised herself by running 2:30:51 at Grandma’s Marathon in 2023, a 23-minute personal best.
Leading up to the race, she did an abbreviated buildup, and her goal pace felt hard during workouts. Hayday didn’t know what to expect going in, but 2:33 seemed like a reasonable goal based on her training. “I went out very fast and got very scared,” she said. “I ran most of it trying to listen to my body instead of a time goal, and that resulted in me running a lot faster than I thought I was going to.”
Hayday’s last two miles were her fastest, which suggests she has more in her. She would love to sneak into the top 15 or 20 at the Trials, but her main goal is to be competitive with the 2:27 and 2:28 marathoners in the field.
Hayday, who currently works full-time, mostly in-person, for the National Institutes of Health, has applied to neuroscience PhD programs for next fall. “It’s a little unclear at this point how running is going to [fit] into that,” she said. “But I definitely want to keep running, which is why I chose a PhD over med school.” She currently runs early in the morning before going into the office, and often does doubles with her GRC teammates in the evenings.
After the Trials, Hayday will shift her focus to trying to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Track Trials in the 10,000m. “I know that I’ll ultimately be a marathoner, but I’m young enough that I think I should focus on the shorter distances while I can,” she said. “In the long term, I want to set myself up to be back at the Marathon Trials in 2028 and go in with a more competitive PR.”
Katja Goldring got an early start in the marathon
Current Residence: Flagstaff, Arizona
Instagram: @robyweah
Katja Goldring, 33, ran her first marathon when she was in high school through the nonprofit Students Run LA, which supports Los Angeles high school students in training for and running the Los Angeles Marathon. “I did it to make friends, and it was my first taste of what long distance running was,” she said. “I love the organization to this day and still support them now.”
Goldring, who was more focused on soccer in high school, went on to run for UCLA, graduating in 2013. “I did a lot of different things in college,” she said. “I wanted to run fast, but I was also very interested in what I was learning. In some sense that was good because it meant that when I graduated, there were still a lot of things I wanted to do in the sport.”
She competed in her first U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in 2016, and finished ninth. “Back then, it was a really big goal for me,” she said. “I never made it to nationals in college.” She qualified for this year’s Trials at the 2022 California International Marathon, finishing fifth with a time of 2:29:01.
Goldring has lived and trained in Flagstaff since 2016. “It took me some time, but slowly I found that there are lots of very kind people in Flagstaff, and if you put a little bit of effort in you can find someone to run with every day,” she said. “It’s been fun to learn along the way what elite running looks like and to see people do it in a variety of different ways.”
At the Trials, Goldring is looking forward to racing in a highly competitive field. “The times get faster but the goal remains the same,” she said. “Every race is pretty similar, just trying to see how good you can be on that day. The sport is beautifully and maddeningly simple.”
Goldring will also be thinking of her family, who lives in Israel. “It’s strange being in America, so far away, and just running,” she said. “It’s important to take a step back and think about life in a bigger picture, we do get tunnel vision in this sport.”
Adrian Walsh surprised herself in her marathon debut
Current Residence: Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Instagram: @adrianwalshkurtz
Adrian Walsh has been balancing training for the Trials with her work as a nurse practitioner at a family practice. While that means doing a lot of early runs before long work days spent on her feet, Walsh, 29, says that the two things inform each other. “Being able to live my life prioritizing running and having that space for me makes sense from a primary care preventative standpoint,” she said. Walsh practices what she preaches.
She graduated from Middlebury College, where she was a multiple-time Division III All-American, in 2016. Walsh took a break from competitive running after college, doing the occasional casual race for fun and giving her body and brain a rest, while focusing on getting her NP degree. When she moved to Colorado and settled into her job, she started training more seriously. “I missed running so much,” she said. “And it fit perfectly with all the things I believed in from a practice standpoint,” she said. Training hard was an especially important outlet for her during the pandemic, when Walsh’s job became increasingly stressful.
In her first marathon, the 2021 California International Marathon, Walsh’s goal was to break three hours, and she ended up running 2:39. “I remember finishing and having no idea where that came from,” she said. When the new Olympic Trials standard was released and it was only two minutes faster than her debut time, chasing it was the natural next step.
She qualified at CIM in 2022, with a time of 2:36:49. Walsh ran most of the race with her friend, Allie Schaich, who also qualified for the Trials, with pacing help from their friend, Chris Johnson. “I feel like I owe everything to them for pulling me through,” she said. “It was the perfect race in so many ways.”
Walsh is looking forward to toeing the line with Schaich in Orlando, alongside Rosa Moriello, another friend. “We don’t live in the same place anymore, but they are my support group, so to speak,” she said. “It’s been helpful to know that they are also training for the Trials through the wintertime.”
After the Trials, Walsh is looking forward to spending the summer doing more competitive trail running. She usually focuses on trail running from May to October, only running on the roads a couple times per week. In the fall, she focuses on road racing, and then she spends the winter skiing. “Trails are a totally different experience, there are so many more variables and I do like that there’s never a dull moment,” she said.
Walsh still has big goals in the marathon, too, and she’s excited to keep working on the distance over the next few years. “Running is just my happy place,” she said.
Joanna Reyes coached herself to the Trials
Current Residence: Cupertino, California
Instagram: @joannagreyes
Joanna Reyes, now 31, ran her first half marathon when she was 16. “I felt like I had energy after crossing the finish line and I dreamt of one day running Boston,” she said. She ran for San Jose State for two years, but quit because she enjoyed running longer distances more. She ran her first marathon in 2014, the year before graduating college, and placed third at the Santa Rosa Marathon in 3:08. “I realized that I could aim higher than Boston, and that I just needed to shave off 23 minutes to qualify for the Trials,” she said.
Reyes, who now works full-time as a pharmacist, thought she would wait to train more seriously until after graduating from pharmacy school in 2019. But she spent those four years running and racing for fun, and ended up improving along the way. She worked with a coach briefly, but she now writes all her own training, which allows her to focus on how her body feels and structure her training in response.
She ran 2:37:44 at the Los Angeles Marathon in 2018 to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials. And she qualified for the 2024 Trials by running 2:36:26 at the Grandma’s Marathon in 2022. “I was so excited to be there, I gave it my all towards the end because I knew it was going to be a close call,” she said. “When I crossed the finish line, I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to tell everyone.”
Reyes is excited to be heading back to the Trials, and she’s thankful for all the support it took to get there. “My goal for the race is simple: to give nothing less than my best and to run with the love of God,” she said.
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Really enjoyed this, thank you!