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Oct-6-2007
Defying Time, Somers Smith Looks to Qualify for Sixth Olympic Trials Race
by David Monti
(c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
Linda Somers Smith, the 1996 USA Olympic marathoner, does not hope to recapture the glory of when she won the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon back in 1992. Instead, the 46 year-old attorney will attempt to qualify here tomorrow for her sixth USA Olympic Team Trials - Women's Marathon scheduled for next April in Boston.
"I want to run under 2:39," said Somers Smith from her law office in a telephone interview late last month. "Anywhere under that range is my goal."
The 2:39 mark defines the boundry between "A" and "B" qualifiers ("A"
qualifiers have their expenses paid to the Trials), and only 16 women have met that standard so far, despite the fact that the qualifying window opened back in October, 2005.
"I'm fit," continued Somers Smith. "I'm probabably right where I need to be."
But walking out of the athlete's hospitality suite here at the Chicago Hilton yesterday on her way to get a massage, Somers Smith's mood was downcast. She came to Chicago for the flat course and typically cool weather, but tomorrow will be hot.
"I needed a perfect day," she said making no effort to hide her disappointment. "We'll see what happens."
As an athlete Somers Smith, who lives in Arroyo Grande, Calif., was a late bloomer whose career was repeatedly interrupted by injuries. She qualified for her first Trials in 1984, but was unable to compete due to a knee injury. With her legal studies demanding most of her time, running went on the back burner.
"In 1984 I went to law school," she said. "I didn't run through law school and I had knee surgery. Back then you go to the doctor and they literally say, 'you're done.' He said you had degenerative changes and you stopped."
But Somers Smith didn't stop. She returned to the marathon in 1988, but didn't qualify for the Trials that year. Still working full-time, she slowly rose to the top of the American ranks. After her victory in Chicago, she won the USA marathon title in 1993 and 1994 and finally, at nearly 34 years-old, she put her legal career on hold and started training full-time.
"I took off 1995 and 1996 completely," she recalled. "In 1995 is when I set all my PR's, pretty much."
Somers Smith was a fixture on the USA road circuit that year, winning races bread and butter races like the Redondo Beach Super Bowl Sunday 10-K and the Mercury News 10-K. She also ran the Boston Marathon, finishing 11th in 2:34:30, and finished an excellent seventh at the IAAF World Championships Marathon.
The following year, at the 1996 Olympic Trials, Somers Smith ran the best race of her career. Little-known Jenny Spangler led Somers Smith and Anne Marie Lauck through 16 miles before breaking away to get the victory, but Somers Smith remained calm, and slowly began to close on her rival.
"I knew I was in great shape. I had run good times in races leading up to it. I had been training very well. I went into it with a great deal of confidence. It was one of those things where I intended to stay with the leaders and see where it got me.
"And then I just remember hitting a bad spot at mile 16, and Anne Marie and Jenny Spangler getting way ahead of me. I thought I was done. I was just trying to reel her in."
By the finish line, she had gotten past Lauck and within 12 seconds of Spangler, good enough for second place. It would be her only Olympic team, and she was disappointed with her 31st place finish in Atlanta.
"I was overtrained," she recalled. "I had a little hip pain going into the Trials in 1996. I had to take two months off. After coming back after all that break (April) I started training really hard."
Somers Smith continued to compete, but injuries still dogged her. She qualifed for the 2000 USA Trials, but couldn't compete because she broke her ankle in a race in late 1999. She again came back, and made it to the starting line of the 2004 Trials at age 42 by finishing fifth at the 2002 Twin Cities marathon in 2:39:26 at 41 years-old. Remarkably, in a show that the old guard wasn't completely done, Spangler and Somers Smith finished 9th and 10th, respectively, at the Trials. But the race had taken its toll.
"I thought that was going to be my last race," she said. "I had a lot of pains and running was not that much fun. I had a lot of pains. I was 43."
She didn't race again until 2006 after getting surgeries to relieve nerve pain in her back and a bunion on her left foot. Feeling better, her training leading up to Chicago this year went well.
"My mileage is probably up around 90 (miles per week)," she said. "I get up probably around 5:30, run from 6:00 to 6:30, then I go to the gym and lift weights. I've had to add weight lifting."
She has several training partners, both men and women. She sometimes runs with Kara June, a steeplechaser, and Jen Derego, another marathoner.
"It's just good to have someone to meet," she said. "If I don't have someone to meet it's too easy to sleep. That's another reason I picked training for Chicago. I'm just motivated. It gets me out there. Now, I'm not by any means lazy, but this keeps me honest. I like having a goal."
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