U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials: Former UCF track star hopes to represent Team USA
ORLANDO, Fla. - The countdown is on for the 2024 US Olympic Marathon trials, and a University of Central Florida graduate will be one of the women who are hoping to make it to Team USA.
The best runners in the nation will be taking over the streets of Orlando for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials on Saturday. Anne-Marie Blaney will be one of the runners going the distance in the race to Paris.
Blaney is from Ocala and started her running journey at Belleview High School. She then went on to run track and field at the University of Central Florida, where she broke eight records during her time there. Now, she's running professionally for Hansons-Brooks. She's hoping to represent Team USA in the 2024 Olympics.
"This is kind of like the biggest party and the biggest race that you can do. So this is what we have worked for years for. So it'll be, it'll be big," said Blaney.
The City of Orlando was chosen to host the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. The elite athletes will run a 2.2-mile loop through the downtown business district, then shift to three 8-mile loops to the Milk District and back.
Blaney is excited that she's able to come home where her family, friends, and fellow alumni can motivate her on the sidelines.
Anne-Marie Blaney is competing in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando. [Credit: Anne-Marie Blaney]
"It's just so crazy that it's happening right in my backyard of basically my college and my home. It's nice to be back here training and racing for a spot on the Olympic team," said Blaney. "I think it will be so awesome to see certain family and friends along the way cheering me on, and I think it'll propel me through those next couple of miles."
She and her teammates have been in the Orlando area for more than a month to train, and it has been intense.
"The training for a marathon, you have to be all in. We run… I think we maxed out about 115 miles a week. So we are putting in the miles, doing the workouts, practicing pace," explained Blaney.
Anne-Marie Blaney is competing in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando. [Credit: Anne-Marie Blaney]
Orlando Health will have physicians and volunteers on hand with first aid tents on race day. Orlando Health's sports medicine doctors have also been working with USA Track and Field to help athletes before and after the trials.
"Elite athletes know their bodies super well. They're like a super fine-tuned race car; any little change, they can tell. And so that helps us because they usually can tell when something's off. At the same time, their expectations are a lot higher than what the general population would be," said Dr. George Eldayrie, Sports Medicine Physician/ Orlando Health. "Any sports medicine physician or sports medicine provider wants to take care of the best athletes in the world. It's their dream. We have the opportunity to do that," he continued.
Anne-Marie Blaney is competing in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando. [Credit: Anne-Marie Blaney]
This will be Blaney's third start line for the Olympic trials. Blaney hopes to inspire young runners as she chases her dreams.
"I would love to represent Team USA. I have once before at the world cross-country meet in Denmark, back in 2019. So I would love another opportunity to wear that jersey, and represent the United States at the highest level, and achieve kind of that dream that I had when I was younger."