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ANXIOUS: Russell wishes the marathon was today
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Published: August 4, 2008
Blake Phillips Russell, a Winston-Salem native, admits to being antsy about her next big race -- the women's marathon at the Beijing Olympics.
The marathon isn't until Aug. 16 (at about 7:30 p.m. EDT), but Russell said she wishes it were today. "You do get a little excited about it," she said.
Russell, 32 and a former star at Forsyth Country Day School and North Carolina, left for China on Thursday, and she'll have plenty of support from family and friends when she races.
Her husband, Jon, a former steeplechase runner at Wake Forest, and his mother will make the trip. Also, she said: "My mom and her husband will be going, and my sister and her husband as well. My brother is also going, and one of my best friends from high school, Susan Sloan, and her husband will also be there. In fact, the day after the marathon, we are all going on a tour of the Great Wall of China so they better have a wheelchair for me."
Russell -- who finished fourth in the 2004 trials and missed making the U.S. team for Athens by one spot -- qualified for her first Olympics in April. She then returned home to Marina, on the central California coast, to continue training, but had to deal with the smoke created by the California wildfires.
"We had a couple of days where soot and ashes were coming down pretty good," Russell said. "The fires were pretty far away from us, but the smoke was carrying a long way."
Air pollution in Beijing has been a concern for athletes, but the U.S. track team will try to avoid some of its effects, staying about 300 miles away in Dalian.
"I've been reading about it, and they are taking a lot of the cars off the roads and I've heard you can even see a blue sky over there now," Russell said. "We'll be staying at a hotel in Dalian, where there's a golf course to run on for us distance runners and some trails to run on also."
Because the track team's base is so far from Beijing, Russell has decided to skip the opening ceremonies. By doing that, she'll also avoid long periods of standing, which she has heard can take a toll on an athlete's body.
"The logistics just don't match up since we are staying in Dalian," Russell said. "I know the opening ceremonies are a big deal, but I want to be at my best for the marathon."
She will stay for the closing ceremonies and said in an e-mail that she would be wearing "a stunning blue blazer and the unavoidable dorky hat."
Russell says she is looking forward to the challenge of the Olympics marathon. The humidity is expected to be above 80 percent, an obvious concern, but she joked that being from North Carolina, where the humidity is constant, could help her.
"I haven't been in North Carolina for a while, but I remember it well," Russell said. "The humidity is tough, and it will be tough for the race."
Since qualifying for the Olympics, Russell has had more demands on her time but says she doesn't mind the attention. She has had several interview requests, and one day last month, a neighbor saw her on a local newscast.
"It was kind of funny because my neighbor said ‘That's why we see you run so much,'" Russell said. "People around town were finding out that I'm running in the Olympics, and that was kind of cool."
Although Russell will have some family members in China, her father, John Phillips, will be cheering her on from his home in Clemmons.
"I'll be watching and cheering like crazy," he said. "It's really amazing when I think about how hard she's worked. I think the thing about Blake is her perseverance."
Phillips said that when Blake was starting to make a name for herself at FCD, he didn't know where her running would lead. She graduated in 1997 and then walked on to the track team at North Carolina but almost got cut after her freshman season, he said.
"She met Joan Nesbit after that, and that's when she started to really take off," said Phillips, referring to Joan Nesbit Mabe, a former UNC distance runner and coach who ran in the 1996 Olympics.
John Danforth, who along with Doug Pierce coached Russell at FCD, says that what makes Russell's success so special is the kind of person she is.
"The fact that besides Chris Paul, there's another athlete from this area in the Olympics is one of the most exciting things that's ever happened to Forsyth County," Danforth said. "I think anybody who has ever met her or gotten to know Blake knows she is just so down to earth. Blake getting there is something we are all very proud of.
"I wouldn't say I'm surprised," Danforth added. "I know how tough she is mentally, and she might be quiet and modest, but she puts in the work, and she's been rewarded."
Russell says that her expectation level for the marathon is high.
"We've talked about a finish in the top 15 or so, but we haven't really sat down with specifics," she said of planning strategy with her coach, Bob Sevene. "I'm just trying to get as fit as possible and be ready to run. Weather is going to be a factor, so the goal is to be as comfortable as I can be during the race, and we'll see what happens."
■ John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or at jdell@wsjournal.com.
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