October 19, 2006
(INDIANAPOLIS) Indiana Invaders' Heather May became the Indiana Invaders first athlete to qualify for 2008 Olympic Trials with her performance at the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon on Sunday, October 22.

May bettered the qualifying standard for the 2008 Olympic Trials Marathon of 2 hours and 47 minutes with her career best run of 2:45:52 for the 26.2 mile race. May improved on her previous career best of 2:46:37 established at the 2004 Olympic Trials Marathon by almost a minute. This was May’s first appearance at the Chicago Marathon.

Teammate and marathon race partner Stephanie Dueringer did not meet the qualifying standard with her finishing time of 2:49:33. Dueringer’s performance was a personal best as both May and Dueringer ran together through 30K.

Team Director Greg Harger said, "May executed her race plan perfectly and ran nearly a minute faster over the second half of the race. While unusual, running negative splits for May is her strong point to having a strong finish and typically running her best race. May accomplished the most important task at this point on the calendar, getting qualified for the Olympic Trials Marathon and now she is in a position to finish up her doctoral thesis in the next few weeks and roll into a setting where she can focus on preparation for racing a marathon more than today’s running of a marathon." Harger added, "We had hoped of course to have our first two 2008 Olympic Trials qualifiers this weekend but future opportunities exist for Dueringer to meet the standard. Dueringer’s inexperience at this distance was evident one time during the race and that was what cost her. With the added experience and another healthy training cycle there is no doubt about Dueringer’s ability to easily post a qualifying time for the 2008 Olympic Trials Marathon. "

May, now 35 years old, first began running at the age of 28, several years after graduating with a Masters degree in Theatre at Washington University in St. Louis. While her training first began on a treadmill she soon found herself outdoors training at the very track, Washington University's Francis Field, where the 2004 US Olympic Marathon Team Trials would start. May's introduction to competitive running and racing received a critical and vital leap forward with her joining the Indiana Track Club when she relocated to Bloomington, Indiana for the continuation of her graduate schooling. As May broke through to national class marathon racing she joined the Indiana Invaders while remaining a prominent member of the Bloomington running community.

The 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be held in Boston, Massachusetts on April 20, 2008 which is the day before the famed Boston Marathon.

LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon:
http://www.chicagomarathon.com/

2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Women's Marathon:
http://www.usatf.org/events/2008/OlympicTrials-Marathon-Women/

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