Distance Runner Qualifies for Olympics After First-Ever Marathon

A young woman ran her first marathon Saturday at the Olympic Trials in Atlanta, Georgia, and qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.

Former Notre Dame distance runner Molly Seidel came in second at the trials, finishing behind Aliphine Tuliamuk who won with a time of 2:27:23, according to the South Bend Tribune.

“Seidel, 25, finished in 2:27:31. She is the first U.S. woman to make the Olympic team in her debut marathon,” the report said.

Four years ago, Seidel was the top female distance runner in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), with “four national titles and the Olympic Trials on the horizon,” according to Runner’s World.

However, when a friend said she did not look well, Seidel admitted she was struggling with depression and an eating disorder and entered a recovery program that eventually got her back on track.

She explained:

With OCD, you just have this anxiety all the time and feel like you can’t control anything, so you develop patterns and behaviors. I would compulsively knock on things in specific patterns because you feel like you have some control over the universe. Over time with running, it developed into turning my eating or my running into a control mechanism.

Now, Seidel shares an apartment with her sister in Boston and works at a local coffee shop as she continues to recover and prepare for what comes next.

On Instagram this weekend, the young woman thanked her friends and family for their support before and after she crossed the finish line.

View this post on Instagram

So, that happened 🇺🇸 #olympicdream . . I can’t put into words the happiness, gratitude, and sheer shock I’m feeling right now but I’ll try… . Thank you @atlantatrackclub + @usatf for putting on an incredible race. Logistically managing that was a feat and you somehow pulled it off . Thank you to all the amazing women competing yesterday. It was an honor to race in the deepest field in marathon OTs history; many of these women are the heroes I grew up cheering for, and I’m continually inspired by the greatness of the women I’m surrounded by . Thank you to my family and friends for coming to Atlanta to support me, and for supporting me in all the other less-glamorous moments. These are the people that drove me to XC meets, made me PBJs, picked me up when I fell, and now get to share this incredible joy with me . Thank you to my coach & friend Jon Green. Thank you for helping me get to the line healthy and fit, and for being just as dumb as I am to think I could go out and compete in the marathon Olympic trials. #fullsendpjct forever 🏼 . Thank you @saucony for supporting me regardless of whether I was injured or healthy. And for putting me in the greatest pair of shoes a marathoner could ask for . Finally, thank you to everyone out there cheering yesterday. It was incredible to run 26.2 miles and not hit a silent spot along the whole course. I will never forget this race as long as I live #teamUSA #olympictrials #teamtotal #runforgood PC: @justinbritton

A post shared by Molly Seidel (@bygolly.molly) on Mar 1, 2020 at 7:10am PST

“Finally, thank you to everyone out there cheering yesterday. It was incredible to run 26.2 miles and not hit a silent spot along the whole course. I will never forget this race as long as I live,” she wrote.

Seidel’s favorite inspirational quote is by Haruki Murakami, which reads, “I can bear any pain as long as it has meaning,” according to her profile on the U.S. Olympic Team Trials website.