Spring Break
GOING FOR THE GOLD
Professor Gives All For Shot At Olympic Glory
Kate King
Issue date: 5/2/08 Section: News
She didn't run quite the race she wanted to, but then again Colleen Casey never dreamed she'd be participating in the 2008 U.S. Olympic marathon trials in the first place.
"I used to hate running," said Casey, who is currently a visiting professor in the department of public policy at UConn's Hartford campus.
But on April 20, Casey found herself running in the Olympic trials in Boston, attempting to be one of three women who will represent the United States in the 2008 Olympic marathon this August in Beijing.
Casey completed the marathon in three hours and one minute, 16 minutes off her goal of two hours and 45 minutes.
"[The marathon] did not go quite as well as I had hoped," Casey said. "I didn't have a great race that day but I promised myself the night before regardless of what happened that I would finish the race."
Out of the 146 women who started running in the Olympic trials on that Sunday morning, 22 dropped out before the end of the race, according to the marathon's Web site. Casey finished 118 out of the remaining 124 runners.
Casey attributes her disappointing finish to the overwhelming atmosphere of the Olympic trials. Prior to the race, she had planned on starting off the marathon slowly, running the first five miles at a pace of around six minutes and 40-seconds per mile. She then intended to slowly increase her pace to a 6:20 per mile around the 10th mile of the 26.2 mile-long race.
However, once the race begins, "the crowd support is so amazing and so supportive that you just take off," Casey said, adding that she started off the race too quickly and "paid for that in the end."
Despite her ending time, Casey described the women's Olympic marathon trials as "an amazing experience regardless." At one point, Casey was able to keep pace with running legend Joan Samuelson. Samuelson, who broke the record for the event's best time in the 50-and-older age bracket on April 20, is an Olympic gold medalist in the women's marathon event.
"I used to hate running," said Casey, who is currently a visiting professor in the department of public policy at UConn's Hartford campus.
But on April 20, Casey found herself running in the Olympic trials in Boston, attempting to be one of three women who will represent the United States in the 2008 Olympic marathon this August in Beijing.
Casey completed the marathon in three hours and one minute, 16 minutes off her goal of two hours and 45 minutes.
"[The marathon] did not go quite as well as I had hoped," Casey said. "I didn't have a great race that day but I promised myself the night before regardless of what happened that I would finish the race."
Out of the 146 women who started running in the Olympic trials on that Sunday morning, 22 dropped out before the end of the race, according to the marathon's Web site. Casey finished 118 out of the remaining 124 runners.
Casey attributes her disappointing finish to the overwhelming atmosphere of the Olympic trials. Prior to the race, she had planned on starting off the marathon slowly, running the first five miles at a pace of around six minutes and 40-seconds per mile. She then intended to slowly increase her pace to a 6:20 per mile around the 10th mile of the 26.2 mile-long race.
However, once the race begins, "the crowd support is so amazing and so supportive that you just take off," Casey said, adding that she started off the race too quickly and "paid for that in the end."
Despite her ending time, Casey described the women's Olympic marathon trials as "an amazing experience regardless." At one point, Casey was able to keep pace with running legend Joan Samuelson. Samuelson, who broke the record for the event's best time in the 50-and-older age bracket on April 20, is an Olympic gold medalist in the women's marathon event.
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