Posted on by

#FasterTogether towards World Championships Qualifier

The following was authored by Coach Marie-Ange Brumelot. Along with Coach Medina, they have built a community of athletes working together towards their goals. It is, therefore, great to see that the encouragement she instills in others is matched by her own inspiring work ethic, attitude, and achievements. Even with so many goals achieved, there are many more right around the corner to work towards.

Through the Queens Distance Team, #FasterTogether family, and the driven NYC runner’s community, I have had the chance to grow as an athlete and always thrive for more. Everyone supports and motivates each other to keep moving forward and chase their own personal goals. This is gold.

Three months ago, at the Chicago Marathon, I achieved my A-goal by running a low 2:36. I was definitely happy with the performance but celebrating it with everyone is what really made it special. Achievements are only truly appreciated when shared with loved ones. It is later on when I realized that this was the second-fastest French marathon performance in 2019 that things started to sink in. With the Half-Marathon World Championships coming up in late March, I now set the chase of making my first National team.

I have had the goal of making a World team for some time, but never expected it to be a realistic possibility by 2020. But here we are. The training cycle towards the Houston Half-Marathon on January 19, 2020, was quite short but I believed it would be sufficient towards at least making the standard set by the Federation at 1:15:00. We took a couple of weeks to get back some lost aerobic fitness after recovering from Chicago and having fun pacing the NYC Marathon, and we focused on learning to run faster and embrace intensity. Everything worked out smoothly. We let the training talk for itself and set the A goal to sub 1:14:15 and A+ goal to sub 1:14:00.

Race day conditions were favorable despite a strong wind that would face us on the second half of the race. Aware of that, Dmytro and I did not worry much about coming out slightly fast through the first 10km. The second 10km was a battle against the unforgiving headwind. The pace had definitely slowed drastically. A quick time-check at the 20km mark, I was 24 seconds behind my split for my A+ Goal. I ran that 1.1km with the mentality that I could totally make up that time, sped up on this portion where the wind was not a factor anymore, and drove all the way through. I ran for every second, as if the clock would show 1:14:00 and I had to squeeze under. Finish Time: 1:14:12. The best I could do on the day and happy with this result. “A” goal achieved.

3+ min PR
World Championships Standard met by 48 seconds.
Current second-fastest French HM performance towards making the team, as of January 2020.
And 100% confident that I can run a lot faster.

I am at a point in my running when I am slightly disappointed about not surpassing expectations. This comes from setting higher goals and having a better sense of my true abilities. I have to adjust my mindset and learn to appreciate more achieving the A goal. In each stage of a journey, things change and that is something to embrace.

I love the process and the community. Thank you for the endless support, warming congratulations messages, and all the love. What’s next? My eyes are set on making that team. Maybe I’ll squeeze in one more race to better my mark and increase my chances of making the team, or maybe not. That is still in the works. The team will be announced March 3rd, let’s see where I stand then!

Dmytro, Marie, and Luciano
at the Houston Marathon and Half-Marathon expo

Thank you again, and cheers to fast miles for all of us in 2020!

*Congratulation to my loving husband for a smart and strong race finishing in 2:36:19, a 7-min PR!
**Also, thank you to my favorite pacer, Dmytro, for the company, the help, and the blazing fast early miles!