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Today's 30th anniversary edition of the Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon brought joy to at least four women who qualified for the USA Olympic Team Trials - Women's Marathon in Boston on April 20.
The minimum qualifying time for the race is two hours and 47 minutes, and Maureen Ackerly of Richmond, Va., easily got under that standard, clocking 2:44:25 and winning her first marathon. Last November Ackerly missed qualifying at the SunTrust Richmond Marathon, running 2:48:38. Claudia Becque of Chicago was next in 2:44:52 (it may have been her debut), followed by Shaluinn Fullove of Palo Alto, Calif., in a personal best 2:46:04. Mary Coordt of Elk Grove, Calif., was the final qualifier in 2:46:30. Coordt had won Napa Valley twice before, in 1997 and 2005.
These four women became the 178th, 179th, 180th and 181st women, respectively, to qualify for the Trials which will be hosted by the Boston Athletic Association. The top-3 women from the Trials will receive provisional berths on the U.S. Olympic Marathon team.
The qualifying window closes on March 23rd. It is possible to also qualify with a 33:00.00 or better 10,000m mark.
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