Cedars, February 2020

February 2020 14 SPORTS CU Alumni Qualify For Olympic Marathon Trials Joe Niemiec and Katie Ruhlman will compete in the trials on Feb. 29. by Abigail Hintz M ost people participating in the Olympic trials have been pursu- ing such a dream since childhood. For marathoners Katie (Lanphier) Ruhlman and Joe Niemiec, the dream is a recent one. These Cedarville alumni both qualified for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials at the Chevron Houston Marathon on Jan. 19. Ruhlman, a 2012 graduate of the uni - versity, didn’t run her first marathon until fall of 2015, while Niemiec, a 2014 graduate, didn’t run his first until 2019. Men must run a sub-2:19:00 to quali- fy for the trials while women have to run a sub-2:45:00. Niemiec qualified with a time of 2:17:18, placing ninth overall and ninth in the men’s division. Ruhlman’s time was 2:44:15, putting her at 31st in the women’s division. For Ruhlman, marathoning was not ap - pealing at first. “It was horrible,” she said in response to her first marathon. “I hated it, and I said I’m never doing this again.” Regardless, she qualified for the Boston Marathon in 2016. Knowing what to expect allowed her to change things about her diet, training and lifestyle that improved her rac - ing. This led to a far better experience. “I’ve been marathoning ever since,” she said. The idea of working toward qualifying for the trials came to Ruhlman for the first time shortly after she ran at Boston. It was a seemingly impossible thought, and she didn’t mention it to anyone. She was far from where she needed to be in order to qualify and couldn’t picture herself in the same light in which she sees runners who qualify for the Olympic trials. When the idea became more serious and she finally mentioned it to her husband Kevin, she was still hesitant. He was sup - portive and encouraged her to embrace the idea. When she did, he began telling others and encouraged her to do the same. That’s when she said it began to feel real. Niemiec felt similar hesitations when his wife, the dreamer of the two, first ap - proached him with the idea in 2016. It wasn’t for another two years that Niemiec believed he could actually do it. His first marathon was the Chicago Marathon in Oc - tober 2019. He qualified for the trials at the Houston Marathon just three months later. “I can’t believe it actually happened,” said Niemiec. Ruhlman’s journey getting to the trials was not as quick. “This past fall I ended up running three marathons in four months, because I had hoped to hit it at the Columbus marathon in October,” said Ruhlman. “I did not have a good race at all, and I was very frustrated about it.” Three weeks later she ran the India - napolis Marathon, coming in a minute and a half short of qualifying for the trials. This was devastating following the results of the Columbus race. Then came Houston — the race where she qualified — which she calls her “best executed marathon ever.” When she was on her last mile, the realization that she was on pace to qualify hit her. “I was really excited, not just because I was making it but because it represent - ed such a journey. It represented all of the hard work and races that didn’t go well and just everything that brought me there,” she said. “The finish line pictures are horrible because I’m literally crying.” Niemiec called crossing the finish line at Houston — where he also qualified — eu - phoric. After a career full of injuries, includ - ing one that forced him to forego his first marathon in 2018, it was a relief. However, qualifying so close to the tri - als has some downsides. “Since I qualified at Houston, which is only six weeks away from the trials, it’s not an ideal circumstance. Typically for a mar - athon you want a solid four-to-five-month build up. So, it’s not ideal but it’s definitely possible,” he said. Ruhlman is in the same boat. Until the trials she will be training three hard days a week, which includes between two and a half and three hours of running time, along with easy days throughout the rest of the week that entail one and a half hours of run - ning time. She emphasized the importance of balancing the heavy mileage with other training and recovery. She does all of this while working as a nurse and assistant track and cross country coach for Cedarville. This makes it diffi - cult to find time to get the miles in, but she makes it work with the support of three im - portant people. Coach Jeff Bolender, who is the head track and field coach for the university, has had a big impact on Ruhlman’s running ca- reer. While she was at Cedarville, he taught her how to run, something she wasn’t ex - posed to in high school. He also showed her training theories and has been very involved in her pursuit of qualifying for the Olympic trials. Ruhlman’s husband has also been in- credibly influential, getting up early to run with her and encouraging her to pursue what may seem to some like unrealistic dreams. However, Ruhlman feels most indebt - ed to her father. When she first verbalized the idea that had been floating around in Photo provided by Joe Niemiec Cedarville alumnus Joe Niemiec qualified for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials with a time of 2:17.18.