At lot has changed for marathon runner Blake Russell since the last U.S. Olympics trials.
Russell, 36, and her husband, Jon, had a son, Quin, 2½ years ago, and he often dominates their spare time.
"In 2008, it was a lot different," Russell, who qualified for the Beijing Games in 2008 and led U.S. runners with a 27th-place finish, said this week in a telephone interview.
A Winston-Salem native who ran at Forsyth Country Day School and North Carolina as Blake Phillips, Russell will try for a berth at the London Olympics on Saturday at the U.S. trials in Houston.
She said a top-three finish — required for Olympics qualifying — will be difficult but that she's ready for the challenge. The women's field will be more than double what it was at the 2008 trials, with more than 200 runners entered.
"It's definitely going to be a different trial, and I would bet there are probably 10 or more women who have a shot at making the team," she said.
Russell acknowledged that she was an underdog in 2008, but she knows that won't be the case Saturday, with her experience and her success in Beijing.
"It's the ultimate race because you have to perform on that day," said Russell, who lives and trains in Pacific Grove, Calif., on the Monterey Peninsula.
In Beijing, Russell finished in 2 hours, 33 minutes and 13 seconds and said she needs to run in the 2:30 range Saturday to have a chance at making the team again.
Deena Kastor and Magdalena Lewy Boulet — Russell's marathon teammates in Beijing — also will be in Saturday's race. So will Annie Bersagel, 28 and a former All-America at Wake Forest who will be trying to make the Olympics for the first time.
Russell, who qualified for the trials by running a 1:11.55 half marathon, said that the biggest key is not worrying about other runners.
"I just have to focus on myself more than anybody else," she said. "It’s all about whoever can do it on that day. I’m feeling very good going into it, and that can only help me."
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