With an unusually cool morning and a flat route, the marathon runners embraced the 26.2-mile course as it wraps around the historical downtown of Beijing. As the first to represent her country in the Olympic Marathon, Costa Rican Gabriela Trana proudly crosses the finish line.
The finishers entered the Bird’s Nest Stadium to complete their last 500-meters on the track. The winner finished alone, Constantina Tomescu-Dita of Romania in 2:26:44. She is also the oldest winner of the Olympic marathon at they young age of 38. Silver and bronze were determined in the last seconds with Kenya’s Catherine Ndereba repeating her silver finish for the second time and China’s Zhou Chunxiu taking home the bronze.
Costa Rica is breaking ground with Gabriela being the first to represent her country in one of the oldest events in Olympic history. Simply competing in the games is a privilege reserved for those who are top in their nation.
Gabriela was training hard in the months and weeks leading up to the marathon with 120 miles a week. Prior to the marathon, Trana ran the Fargo Half Marathon in May and set the course record in 1:20:04. She glided into the finish with ease as her race objective was an up tempo workout, rather than an all out race mentality in preparation for the marathon. Gabriela traveled to the United States for her race preparation, as Costa Rica lacks lack distance races over the 10K. With all of the miles Trana was putting under her feet, her main objective leading up to the big race was remaining injury free.
Her disciplined training with various preventative practices as well as custom inserts allowed her to compete at the top of her game on the big day. Her custom inserts keep her running gait even and ensure each stride is balanced. By keeping her feet properly supported, then the rest of her body will also be properly aligned, which will essential minimize unnecessary injuries.
To find out more about Gabriella and her Foot Solutions Teammates, checkout runwithfootsolutions.com.
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