Lambie's early promise as a runner is paying off
Ari Lambie was just a sixth-grader at the time, but her promise as a runner left quite a first impression on Henry Phelan.
"You could see it from the first time she ran. I told her if she made a commitment to running, it was a matter of time - the things she could do with her talent and focus," said Phelan, the girls' track and cross-country coach at the Bromfield School in Harvard.
Eleven years later, it's obvious that what Phalen said was more than just observation.
Lambie heeded Phalen's advice and over her six years at the school developed into one of the state's all-time great distance runners.
Earlier this month, the 22-year-old Lambie just missed out on qualifying for the Summer Olympics in Beijing, losing her lead with three laps remaining in the 5000-meter run at the Olympic Trials. This summer, after wrapping up a stellar track career at Stanford University, she is settling into a sponsorship by
A 14-time cross-country and track All-American, she was honored as the 2007-2008 Pac-10 Woman of the Year, representing the conference as its nominee for the NCAA's Woman of the Year Award.
A three-year team captain, she captured three straight Pac-10 individual titles. Last season, Lambie was the first woman to claim the 1,500- and 5,000-meter titles at the conference championship. Lambie, who holds a master's degree in earth systems, is also a member of the school's record-holding distance medley-relay team.
Still, she's hesitant to tout her accomplishments.
"In high school, I really wasn't sure if I wanted to be a Division 1 or Division 3 [college] runner," said Lambie. "So I pretty much focused on running every day, one day at a time, and figured it would work itself out. College was a great experience. It's nice to be able to have a strong resume when you leave, it really helped get me where I am today. Running is now my full-time job and I can't believe it."
Lambie lives in Portland, Ore., with her brother, Noah. In September, she hopes to travel to Europe with USATF.
"If you would've asked me five years ago if I wanted to use my major as a career or run as a career, I would've said the latter," said Lambie. "At the time, I didn't think it could happen that way, but it was what I wanted.
