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OGDEN, Utah (AP) — Sarah Sellers, an Ogden native who came out of nowhere to finish second at the Boston Marathon, is turning her attention to trying to qualify for the 2020 Olympics.
Sellers, an Ogden High School and Weber State graduate, initially wanted to hit the 'A' standard Olympic qualifying time of 2 hours, 37 minutes earlier this month at the famed marathon, the Standard-Examiner reported.
As soon as she saw the weather — wet, windy and miserable — she abandoned that goal, but still hit the 'B' standard with her time of 2:44:04 (the 'B' standard is 2:45:00).
"I still don't feel like it's quite a reality yet, but I'm really excited because it's definitely very motivating to try really hard and to train smart, because there's a lot of really good marathoners in the U.S.," she said.
Sellers, a nurse anesthetist at Banner-University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona, qualified for the Olympic trials, which will be held Feb. 29, 2020, months in advance of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
"I don't know what my potential is there, but I think I'm definitely motivated to do everything I can to do the best I can at the trials," she said.
Sellers is taking it easy for a while to help her body recover from the marathon. She will try to incorporate things like strength training and biking, but doesn't anticipate running a race for a while as she recovers.
Taylor Ward — Sellers' Weber State teammate and training partner who also qualified for the 2020 Olympic trials with a ninth-place finish at the Chicago Marathon in October — thinks she will be able to qualify for the Olympics.
"She has a legitimate chance at making the Olympic team," he said. "Being in the top three at Boston is more difficult than making an Olympic team."
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Information from: Standard-Examiner, http://www.standard.net
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