Olympic trials faces

Emily Brzozowski (No. 94)

After graduating from West Point in 2001, Brzozowski served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, pulling duty as a platoon leader in Kuwait and Baghdad. The experience taught Brzozowski to appreciate "the little things" such as daily showers, a bed to sleep in, and fully-equipped bathrooms. In Kuwait, she ran every three days because water conservation only permitted soldiers to shower that often. Brzozowski didn't run in Iraq because of the demands of duty.

"When you're in Iraq, you're so removed from the real world," said Brzozowski, who competed in cross-country and track at West Point. "You're kind of out of touch with reality . . . You're just focused on your mission and focused on what you're doing, which I guess is similar to training for a marathon. Your focus is on your training and what you need to do."

Brzozowski ran the 2005 Marine Corps Marathon in 2:54:55 and figured she would someday turn her attention to qualifying for the Trials. She just didn't think it would be in 2008. Enrolled in the Army's World Class Athlete Program, Brzozowski had her sights set on the modern pentathlon (shooting, fencing, swimming, equestrian show jumping, and running). But a horse-riding accident in January 2007 left her with three broken bones in her back. Brzozowski spent two months resting and recovering, and fell too far behind in the qualifying points system for a shot at the national modern pentathlon team. The Army suggested she try to qualify for the women's marathon Trials. Brzozowski returned to running in April 2007, and although she started training only 15 miles per week, she qualified for the Trials last December.

"It was a challenging year," said Brzozowski. "My whole world changed. I didn't know how to train for a marathon. To qualify my first try in Sacramento was great. I kind of went from nothing to everything."

Early this summer, Brzozowski will be redeployed to Kuwait.

Lauren Matthews (No. 124)

The Green Lake Marathon was a onetime only event, held March 16 so Matthews could qualify for the Trials. With the qualifying window set to close March 23 and no desire to financially or emotionally invest in traveling to another marathon, Green Lake represented her last chance after five failed attempts. Twelve runners started the race. Five runners finished. And Matthews became the 181st and final qualifier for the Trials.

"I felt I had been in better shape at prior attempts, but things hadn't worked out for various reasons," said Matthews. "I wasn't so sure I would qualify at Green Lake. But I had five friends who had qualified and the Trials were in my hometown Boston, so I figured I would give it one more shot."

Matthews isn't worried about how she will run Sunday. She simply wants to enjoy the experience.

"My goal was just to qualify and be on the starting line with my friends," said Matthews. "They're all in great shape. Part of it is just being able to watch them run. If it works out that I can finish, it's icing on the cake."

Matthews competed in track and cross-country at Boston University and earned Boston Globe Runner of the Year honors in cross-country as a junior and senior at Brookline High School. The Trials course also passes near the Hyatt on Memorial Drive, where Matthews got married last summer.

"I don't think I would have tried to qualify as many times or tried as hard to qualify if it wasn't in my hometown," said Matthews. "There's just something neat about it being there."

Emily LeVan (No. 12)

In early November, LeVan, the fastest New England qualifier, pushed aside thoughts of running in the Trials. Her 3-year-old daughter Maddie had just been diagnosed with leukemia. As Maddie underwent treatment, LeVan barely ran, focusing on Maddie and her family. But it soon became clear Maddie wanted her mother to compete. LeVan continued training for the Trials, fitting workouts around chemotherapy sessions and work as an emergency-room nurse. After essentially starting from scratch in December and steadily increasing the mileage and intensity of her workouts, LeVan resumed marathon-specific training in January.

"Initially, we were so completely overwhelmed and shocked by the diagnosis that our entire lives got turned upside down," said LeVan. "We had to reevaluate everything and figure out how we were going to deal with Maddie's treatment. I didn't know how the Trials would be possible. But as we talked about it as a family, we decided it wasn't something we wanted to give up. Maddie's real excited about the race because we've been talking about it for months."

Shortly after Maddie's diagnosis and the family's decision that LeVan should run in the Trials, the marathoner launched the website twotrials.org, raising money for childhood cancer research and recording her training progress. In an early April entry, LeVan wrote how she felt the family was "entering the final stage of some cruel test . . . the 'can you make it to the starting line of the Olympic Trials and care for a child on high dose steroids and a handful of chemotherapy drugs' test."

So far, so good. The website has raised more than $47,400 and LeVan believes twotrials.org will surpass its goal of $52,400 (the marathon distance of 26.2 miles multiplied by two, plus a couple of zeroes). With an 85 to 90 percent cure rate for her type of leukemia, Maddie's prognosis is good, though she will require two to three years of treatment. Although her current medications have left her very tired, Maddie will be cheering her mother Sunday with cow bell and pompom in hand.

Wendy Terris (No. 77)

After completing the Trials Sunday, Terris plans to run the Boston Marathon Monday, making for one long holiday weekend. What her husband calls crazy, Terris sees as "just two long runs." Having once completed 17 marathons in 17 months with an average time of 2:55, she dismisses the thought of two marathons in two days as anything extraordinary, though she's never attempted the feat before.

"I really don't like watching," said Terris. "I'd rather be out there doing it. I'm going to race just one, and the other one I'll just have fun. In the Trials, I'm hoping to find a really good group of women that are doing well speed-wise and let them do all the work. So, hopefully, I'll feel pretty good the next day."

Terris has run 46 marathons and five ultra marathons, finishing each race. She won a 30K when 7 1/2 months pregnant. She won a 4-mile race in 24:35 eight days before the birth of her son. She ran 10 miles the day her son was born.

Considering she was a soccer goalie in college and competed in body building, Terris appears to be making up for lost time as a distance runner. On Sunday, she hopes to make up for a disappointing performance at the 2004 Trials, when she stepped in a pothole at Mile 2 and ended up with a bloodied knee and sprained right ankle. She finished 102d in 3:07:24. A week after the 2004 Trials, Terris learned she was a few weeks pregnant, explaining some of her prerace fatigue.

"Any other race, I probably wouldn't have finished," said Terris. "But it was the Trials and you never know when you're going to get back. Bottom line, I figure I should run better Sunday. I'd like to place a little higher than last time. I'm going to make sure I watch my step."

Matthews competed in track and cross-country at Boston University and earned Boston Globe Runner of the Year honors in cross-country as a junior and senior at Brookline High School. The Trials course also passes near the Hyatt on Memorial Drive, where Matthews got married last summer.

"I don't think I would have tried to qualify as many times or tried as hard to qualify if it wasn't in my hometown," said Matthews. "There's just something neat about it being there."