Starting and finishing at the traditional Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston Street, the Olympic Trials race will feature a specially designed course that tours historic Boston with a one-time loop that passes Boston Public Garden, Boston Common, the State House and Beacon Hill.

The course will then feature four loops of approximately six miles each proceeding down Commonwealth Avenue, crossing the Charles River into Cambridge using the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, running east, then west along Memorial Drive. Runners then return from each of the Core Loops via Massachusetts Avenue.

On a spectacular Sunday morning in Boston, the top female 
marathoners in the United States put forth an historic performance. Deena 
Kastor, Magdalena Lewy Boulet, and Blake Russell headlined the April 20 
show as they captured the three spots on the U.S. Olympic Team for the 
women's marathon. As a result, their next marathon will be run through the 
streets of Beijing on August 17 as they compete in the 2008 Olympic Games. 
Behind the three Olympians, 143 other women thrilled the tens of thousands 
of spectators and viewers on NBCSports.com with one of the greatest women's 
marathons ever held.

2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Women's Marathon Ends in Historic Fashion

2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Women's Marathon

Post-Race Review/ Results

Top Ironman triathlete Desiree Ficker, 31, finished 79th of 124 finishers and 148 entries at the 2008 U.S. Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials in Boston April 20. She finished second at the Ironman world championship in Kona in 2006. She ran the marathon in 2 hours, 48 minutes and 11 seconds. Her time on the multi-lap trials course was 18 minutes slower than the U.S. trials winner Deena Kastor and roughly equal to the time Lance Armstrong ran on the traditional Boston Course

Ficker Runs U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials

Magdalena Lewy Boulet secured a spot on the Olympic team Sunday in the U.S. Olympic women's marathon trials in Boston.

Lewy Boulet, a 34-year-old Oakland resident and an assistant coach on the Cal track and field team, did the hard work in the first half of the race over a loop course and finished second in a personal best of 2 hours, 30 minutes, 12 seconds to earn the trip to Beijing in August to represent the U.S. of A in the 2008 Olympic Games.

Oaklander on Olympic Marathon Team

Pre-Race Review/ Lineup

Michelle Lilienthal graduated from Wisconsin in 2005 and took a few years off from running.  Her come back in 2006 in the Twin Cities Marathon earned her a spont at the starting line of the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials for the women with a time of 2 hour and 35 minutes. She will be the sixth fastest woman in the field.

Marathon Summary

Marathon Results