by GRP Runner Ericka Randazzo

The GRP’s two Olympic Marathon Trials qualifiers: Katie Kellner and Caroline Williams

“There’s no ‘I’ in team.” From football to swimming, to soccer and cross country, this sentiment has been repeated time and time again as a means of promoting camaraderie and unity. But what exactly does “team” mean? And better yet, what exactly does “team” mean for a remote running team like the Green Racing Project (GRP), where athletes are scattered thousands of miles apart across the country?

In contrast to many other elite running teams, which are localized in a certain city and meet weekly for training and workouts, GRP Run is a remote elite distance team comprised of athletes around the country. The team meets monthly via Zoom and annually at Craftsbury in Vermont for training camp to promote community. Athletes also text and follow one another throughout the year. As many of the athletes are in graduate school or work full time, GRP offers a fantastic opportunity for athletes to train seriously while simultaneously pursuing other life and career goals. As GRP runner Caroline Williams says, “The remote set-up is fairly unique. It's a really cool concept; it's a great opportunity for those who want to work full time and also train as professional athletes.”

Aside from training camp in June, races are often the only points in the year where GRP athletes get the chance to see one another face to face. In December 2022, the California International Marathon (CIM) offered such an opportunity to six GRP athletes – Andrew Tario, Kat Morrissey, Erika Fluehr, Kathryn Fluehr, Caroline Williams, and Katie Kellner. The morning of the race was filled with anxiety for every athlete – the weather was ominous and unpredictable, threatening to make for a wet, rainy, slippery course. But luck was on the side of thousands of marathoners that morning, and the weather cleared just in time for the gun.

At CIM, a classically flat and fast course, there were many men and women that shared the goal of qualifying for the Olympic Marathon Trials. On the women’s side, the standard Olympic Trials Qualifier (OTQ) is 2:37:00, while for the men the standard lies at 2:18:00. With a prior OTQ of 2:45 for the 2020 women’s Olympic Marathon Trials, 2:37 was a big drop for the standard. But the GRP women at CIM were not intimidated. “I think it's so interesting how standards effect people and events, because people really rise to the occasion. When you put a goal out there, people really go for it. Had the time been 2:42, I think you would see a lot fewer people running 2:37,” Katie reflected.

Andrew Tario kicked off his marathon career at CIM. “Going into CIM, I wasn’t totally sure what to expect. Given that it was my marathon debut, I knew that there were a lot of unknowns surrounding how I would respond to the distance…. When the gun went off, I quickly got into a good pack right behind the OTQ pacer. I ran with that group for about 6 miles, feeling pretty good. However, I quickly realized that I was vastly unprepared for the pretty significant hills in the first half of the race. By 10 or 11 miles into the race, I knew it was going to be a very tough slog to the finish.” Andrew demonstrated grit that Saturday morning, battling through 16 tough miles and continuing to the finish despite countless runners dropping out off the side of the course throughout.

CIM was Kat’s 5th marathon. Coming down with a cold three weeks prior and a soleus flare-up one week before the race, CIM was full of unpredictables for her. As an athlete who trains mostly alone, she found it a great stress relief to have teammates to warm up with prior to the race, and a great experience to have teammates to run with for the first 10K of the course. “I didn’t realize how hard grabbing bottles would be,” she said. “The course was hillier than described but overall the race was a great learning experience.” She came away with many new racing insights, a great day with teammates, and a 2nd fastest half-marathon split PR.

Twin sisters Erika and Kathryn also raced CIM. Erika was inspired and empowered by team unity, “There was such a palpable energy to work together and celebrate all the hard work to get there,” she said. Unfortunately, fueling issues took a toll early on in the race, making the race a physical battle in unexpected ways. “Regardless of my result, I was proud of my strong build up to the race and left Sacramento hungry and excited for more. I was so inspired by Katie, Caroline, and Kathryn’s breakthrough races!”

The race was indeed a big improvement for Kathryn, who ran a 2 minute PR, just off the OTQ, despite a rough battle over the last few miles. “It was a great course. It was really cool and motivating seeing Caroline and Katie throughout the race. I was confident I could run 2:37 or sub 2:37. It was super fun for the first 23 miles, but then those last 3 miles it just got really tough. Those last few miles it's just like brain fog. It's such a unique feeling in the marathon when your quads just lose power.”

For GRP athletes Katie Kellner and Caroline Williams, CIM was a very special day. Both living in Boston, the two had been building for the marathon together, getting in most long runs and workouts together throughout the week. The two ran together, along with Kathryn, Kat, and Erika, for much of the race, often not even knowing where others were due to the crowd of other women striving to run the standard. Katie had a breakthrough day. She was feeling good with 5K to go. “It was really fun being able to race at the end of a marathon. That’s never happened to me before,” she said.

After finishing under the standard, Katie waited for her teammate Caroline at the finish line. “One of the really cool things about CIM in contrast to other marathons is they let people wait at the finish line for people qualifying. I was standing there and I had seen Caroline's training and I knew she was in shape to run 2:37. The time was just clicking away, I was like ‘Where is she?’ When I saw her turn the corner, I could immediately tell something was wrong.” Indeed, after running nearly perfectly on pace for 25 miles, Caroline’s quads shut down. “My mental state was really, really sharp, but my quads just shut down - more so than they ever have in the past. Every step started to be a struggle. I was just praying I would make it to the line. It was kind of unbelievable that it was happening." Make it to the line she did - Caroline crossed the finish line just 3 seconds under the standard, and right into the arms of her teammate, Katie. “She was running straight towards me, and when she crossed the finish line, I ran straight to her and said ‘You made it, you got it.’ It was really special, working together towards this goal. It was special to be the first person to hug her,” Katie said.

CIM ended with many PRs and OTQs for GRP athletes. But it was also a representation of what “team” really means. Caroline Williams reflected on an experience she had during the race with her teammate Kathryn: "We don't race together often because GRP is so spread out. I couldn't always see her (Kathryn) but I always knew she was there. When I started to struggle, I had no idea Kathryn was right behind me and then she came up to me and was like, "Come on Caroline let's do this," and I was like "if she can do it, I can do it. We can do it." That was so helpful to me.” Kathryn, who lives and trains thousands of miles away from Caroline, reflected similarly, “What's so great is you can have teammates and have no idea that they're right behind you during the race, but then just seeing your teammates during the race can be such a cool thing." While GRP athletes don’t often get to physically train together, they maintain and share a sense of unity and camaraderie by connecting and staying in contact through other means. They share an empathy for the struggles, joys, and adventures of running, and support one another along these avenues, and share their experiences and struggles remotely throughout the year. It makes race day a little extra special because it enables their bond to really shine through. GRP is redefining what it means to be a “team.” Marathons apart, together at heart.

Results

Video of Caroline’s now famous agonizing sprint to the finish

GRP Run Tackles CIM Together