Good News Matters: Long Road to the Olympics

Shes the 9th fastest American female marathon runner this year. If all goes well, Arkansan Leah Thorvilson could be on her way to the Olympics. "What do I think about? Oh, you dont want to know. I always say we either run because we are crazy or we are crazy because we run," says 30 year old Leah Thorvilson. Running 75 miles a week sounds crazy to most, but for Thorvilson, its perfectly normal. Its the kind of hard work and dedication this 30 year old hopes will get her to London in 2012. "Its the one thing for me that I feel I have been really successful with in life," says Leah. Leah took off at 13 years old. She ran a 5k with her father in her hometown of Robbinsdale, Minnesota. "I didnt have a clue what I was doing," says Thorvilson. "I ran a 24:40 for a 5k". She never looked back. Those five kilometers eventually took her 865 miles to Little Rock, Arkansas, where she was recruited by UALR. "It wasnt really something of a competitive sport as it was just something to stay fit,” says Thorvilson. “Then, I ended up getting called down here to run for college and turned into a halfway decent runner. It was an addiction of sorts after that." In 2004, Leah started down that long and grueling road to the Olympic Games when she ran the Twin Cities Marathon. Since then, shes run 12 or 13 others. Were not sure exactly how many because by now, shes lost count. Each marathon, she’s beat her own best time. Last year, we saw her cross the finish line in Little Rock, winning with a time of two hours forty-four minutes. "Words can not describe. I think it had an extra element to it because it was here in Little Rock," says Thorvilson. But her personal best was the Green Bay marathon this past May where she placed second, running it in two hours thirty seven minutes. If all goes well, we could see her compete in 2012. "If you told me this five years ago, I never would have believed you. Id say thats an awesome idea, but yeah right," says Thorvilson. Leah will compete at the USA marathon championships in October for a possible spot in the Olympic trials. She has to beat a time of two hours thirty-nine minutes.