THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS!

Our shoot at the California International Marathon on 12/4/11 was a success, thanks to you, our fans! Because of your support of this film, we were able to get to Sacramento to witness 25 women from around the U.S. qualify for the Olympic Trials within a 4 minute window before the qualifying time cutoff! It was an emotional and astounding moment for everyone. With additional pledges to our Kickstarter Campaign, we're now able to travel to Houston to follow these women at the Trials on 1/14/12!

Kate DeProsperis congratulating fellow Olympic Trials Qualifier,
Victoria Russell. [Photo: Lezlie Sterling]

This has been a tremendous two-year journey, not only for all of the women who have trained relentlessly with this goal in mind but also for this producer. As a fan of distance running, there has been no bigger thrill for me than being able to travel around the country following our “Miles & Trials” women and meeting so many wonderful athletes, race organizers and volunteers. 

Thank you again for ALL of your support of this little grass roots, independent film. See you on the roads! 

 Wendy Shulik, Producer

Going for it in Sacramento!

Ladies and gentlemen, your five "Miles & Trials" Olympic Trials Qualifier hopefuls at the California International Marathon! Christina Overbeck (PR 2:47:07), Jacqui Aubert (PR 2:54:46), Suzanne Ryan (PR 2:50:43), and introducing two fast gals from Arizona, Kristina Pham (PR 2:53:40) and Kerry Camberg (PR 2:47:57). Be sure to track them on Sunday, 12/4!

Also, we are still in need of financial support to finish shooting this race next weekend and at the Olympic Trials on 1/14/12. If you'd like to support these athletes, women's running (and female filmmakers), please donate to our Film Fund by clicking the PayPal link on the right side of this page or check out our Kickstarter fundraising campaign below.

California International Marathon: The "Last Chance" Qualifier!

Did you know that the California International Marathon is a "last chance" qualifier for those women who are looking to achieve a Trials standard? They're even offering a bonus of $1,000 for an A standard (2:39) and $500 for a B standard (2:46). I'll be making an official announcement soon about which of our "Miles & Trials" gals will be toeing the line next Sunday, December 4th... can you guess who they are?

Erin Richard (Hansons-Brooks Distance Project)
Olympic Trials Qualifier - 2:44:35 @ the 2011 Chevron Houston Marathon 

New Kickstarter Campaign! Help us get to the Olympic Trials!

“Miles & Trials” is a film about a group of women attempting to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials. For many, just qualifying for the Trials is their Olympics. 

"Miles & Trials" isn’t so much about qualifying for the Trials; rather, it’s for anyone who has ever put on a pair of running shoes, for anyone who knows a runner and for every woman who has overcome obstacles to pursue big dreams. We are also producing this film to raise awareness of women’s racing in the hopes that it will create more opportunities and better sponsorships for our U.S. female distance runners, as well as empower everyone who has a goal of doing something extraordinary.

Our athletes come from diverse backgrounds and have varying levels of experience. From a "newbie" who ran her first marathon in 2009 to a 37-year-old mother of four children, they have put in countless miles of training while balancing work and family life. Production kicked off in March 2010 at the Shamrock Shuffle 8K in Chicago, Illinois and has continued throughout the U.S. as our athletes continue to attempt to run an Olympic Trials qualifying time of 2:46 or under. Shooting will conclude on January 14, 2012 at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Houston, Texas.

With the qualifying window closing in mid-December, we only have a month to raise the funds needed to get to Houston to shoot the very last segment of our film at the Olympic Marathon Team Trials. We really need your help!

FUNDRAISING GOAL: $1,200

FROM NOVEMBER 24 - JANUARY 10 ONLY, we're launching this Kickstarter Fundraising Campaign to get to Houston to film our last segment.  Kickstarter is the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world, and a unique opportunity for fans to get involved in the creation of artistic projects they believe in.  Our “Miles & Trials” Campaign will take place over 45 days with a goal of raising $1,200 (US). **VERY IMPORTANT**  We MUST reach our minimum goal of $1,200 in order for Kickstarter to fund the project. If we don't raise a minimum of $1,200 by January 10th, we don't receive ANYTHING.  So we really need your help in making this campaign successful!

HOW WILL THE FUNDS BE USED?

Currently, the film is approximately 4-6 months away from being completely finished but we have one more marathon to shoot.  We need funding to pay for our travel, renting our video gear and hire a Production Assistant.  Our total fundraising goal to make it all the way to the finish line in Houston is $1,200, and our hope is to jumpstart the fundraising process on Kickstarter by involving as many of YOU as possible—our wonderful fans!

Your donations will directly support this production by expanding the filmmaker’s resources. Each dollar will help us finance computer and software expenses, gear rental, crew, and travel to races to interview Olympics hopefuls across the country while following our core athletes in their attempts to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials.

THE STATUS 

The film is currently in the pre-production stage. We have recently received attention from USA Track & Field, Runner’s World magazine and the Chicago Marathon, who have promoted the film. We have been releasing film trailers on a regular basis and are continuing to seek financing and sponsorships for the feature-length film we are so passionate about producing!

Pledge $25 or More: A "Special Thanks" credit on the film, and the eternal gratitude of the filmmakers and the athletes.


Pledge $50 or More: A "Special Thanks" credit and a digital download of the completed film (expected release in 2012).


Pledge $100 or More: You'll receive a “Special Thanks” credit, hard copy DVD of the completed film (expected release in 2012) and an über cool “Miles & Trials” technical t-shirt or running singlet.


Pledge $500 or More: You'll receive an Associate Producer credit in the film, a hard copy DVD, and a “Miles & Trials” technical t-shirt or running singlet.

CIM: Last Marathon & Last Shoot before the Olympic Trials!

For the past two years, we've been following Amy Haney, Christina Overbeck-Crawford, Claudia Becque, Heather Prekop, Jacqui Aubert and Suzanne Ryan (as well as many other women from around the country) as they've balanced life and training to reach their goals. We're now approaching the finish line of the shooting portion of this documentary. The window to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials closes on December 17, 2012 and won't open up again for another two years!

We hope to be at the California International Marathon (CIM) on December 4th to film our athletes' last attempts at an Olympic Trials qualifier but we really need your help to get there! Please click on the "Donate" button on this page if you'd like to help us get to Sacramento!

Sincerely,

Wendy Shulik
Producer, "Miles & Trials"

Media Mention

We made it into the Midwest issue of Competitor Magazine! Thank you to journalist Kate Bongiovanni for the interview :)

4 More Days 'til the Chicago Marathon. Please support this film!

Here is our new trailer for "Miles & Trials", starring Christina Overbeck, Claudia Becque, Heather Prekop, Amy Haney, Suzanne Ryan and Jacqui Aubert. Please help us get to the finish line by helping us cover our Chicago Marathon production expenses with a donation to our Film Fund. Every dollar will help. Support women's running and female filmmakers! Just click on the PayPal Donate button on the upper-right side of this page!

Nearing the End of Production & 119 Days 'til the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials!

I've just checked our production calendar and the Chicago Marathon on October 9th will be the LAST marathon we'll be filming for "Miles & Trials" as our five star athletes make a last attempt to qualify for 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials. I'm humbled by the generous support we've received since beginning production in March 2010 - without the donations and word-of-mouth, we simply could not have followed Amy, Christina, Heather, Jacqui and Suzanne for the past two years. Won't you please help us get this thing finished? Just click on the "Donate" button on the upper-right side of this page or visit our website to donate to our Film Fund. Every dollar helps!

Here's a new version of our film trailer with more insight into what these women are trying to accomplish: 

Ramping up for the 2011 Chicago Marathon

Wow, the Chicago Marathon is only a little over a month and a half away! It seems like only yesterday that we were preparing to film some of the girls' attempts to qualify for 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials at last year's marathon. On October 9th, all five of our women will be racing and hoping to go under 2:46:00 to qualify.  Heather Prekop and Christina Overbeck Crawford are only two and three minutes shy of an OTQ, respectively. And Suzanne Ryan, our mom of four recently placed third in the Rock 'n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon with a time of 1:19. If she doubles that time in the marathon, she'll qualify for Trials with an "A" standard! Here's a video about Suzanne:

Meeting our Running Heroes

In the year and a half since we began production on "Miles & Trials", we've traveled to races in other states and met some awesome race organizers and other folks in the running industry. Best of all, we've had the opportunity to meet and interview women from around the United States who have the same dream: to make it to the Trials on January 14, 2012. We've also met some of our running heroes like elite athletes Tera Moody (just off foot surgery and her 17th place performance at the World Championships marathon in Daegu, South Korea where she was the first American to cross the finish line), Jennifer Houck, Katie McGregor, Leah Thorvilson, Magdelena Lewy Boulet, and Dot McMahan (among others). These women serve as examples of what having a dream and hard work can achieve. All are contenders to make the U.S. Olympic Team in London in 2012. One of the women who touched us the most was Kristen Fryburg-Zaitz. She shared her story about racing and injuries with us in August before she ran the Rock 'n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon.

Dream Big, Run Fast!
In the meantime, our "Miles & Trials" ladies are still training hard and preparing for another OTQ attempt in Chicago as the qualifying window closes. For anyone who has the dream to do big things and the tenacity to push through even when things don't go as planned, check out this video of some of the women we met at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota in June while we were there covering Heather's attempt to qualify. You'll see a range of performances and emotions. Dream Big, Run Fast!

An Important Message from Producer Wendy Shulik

We are now in the final seven months of filming “Miles & Trials”; however, we are still desperately in need of funding and sponsors! The generous donations we’ve received along the way have been really made a difference but the majority of the production costs have come out of my (the Producer’s) own pocket.

We’ve only three more marathons left to shoot: the Chicago Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon (8/14), the Chicago Marathon (10/9), and the Olympic Trials in Houston (1/14/12). Anything you can do to help us film our female Trials hopefuls at these races will be greatly appreciated. We now have over 700 Facebook fans—if each of you donates $10, we’ll have enough to cover costs to shoot all three races! Please click on the "Donate" button on the upper right-hand side of this page to contribute to our Film Fund through PayPal. Help support running films and female athletes!

Sincerely,

Wendy Shulik

Who will be next to qualify?

As of this date, there are approximately 145 women who have qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials. Who will be next to join them in Houston on 1/14/12?

Three Decades, One Dream

L-R: Kristina Pham, Leah Thorvilson, Kerry Camberg, Chelsea VanDeBrake, Wendy Shulik (Producer)

I traveled to Duluth, Minnesota on June 17th to follow Heather Prekop in her third attempt to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials at Grandma's Marathon. While I was there, I met some other women who also have the same goal. They are from different parts of the country, span three decades in age and all have the same dream: to qualify for the Trials!

A few of them were going for their first-ever "B" standard qualifying time (2:46), while others who already have their "B" were trying for the elusive "A" standard (2:39). Those athletes who attain the "A" will receive financial assistance (hotel and travel to the Trials). After interviewing these ladies, it was no surprise that most cited the difficulty of juggling work, family and training and coming up with the money necessary for gear, physical therapy, entry fees and travel to races. Despite this, all of them are determined to do whatever it takes to get to the start line in Houston on 1/14/12.

Here is a video of four of the women I met in Duluth: Chelsea VanDeBrake, Kerry Camberg, Kristina Pham and Leah Thorvilson.

 

How wonderful and random to meet one of our "Miles & Trials" film fund donors and supporters while on location shooting at the Cleveland Marathon on 5/15. Even cooler was that she recognized me while she was on her way to a big PR in the half marathon! Thanks, Maryclare!

Oh Well, Sh*t Happens!

Heather was planning on running the Eugene Marathon on 5/1 but then she got sick and lost a few weeks of training, so she set her sights on the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon for her second Olympic Trials Qualifier on 5/15 (she'd previously attempted it in Chicago). Well, the morning before leaving for Green Bay, she learned that the forecast called for 30 mile per hour winds and being singularly focused on qualifying for the Trials, made the difficult and immediate decision to head to Cleveland to do the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon instead. I was just waking up and about to head out the door at 6:45 a.m. to catch a ride up to Green Bay with some other runners who were doing it when Heather called and spent the next several hours scrambling to book a hotel room in an already sold-out city (I managed to get what was possibly the last room available in the city and at a great rate, too) and reserved a spot on the Megabus from Chicago to Green Bay. Our Associate Producer of the Eugene segment, Jill Czarnik generously used her frequent flier miles and donated a one-way plane ticket to me so I could get there in time. 

It was extremely foggy with very low visibility and the plane actually had to circle over Cleveland Airport for 20 minutes with the possibility of the pilot having to re-route to Pittsburgh or Columbus. Thankfully, it cleared enough for us to be able to land in Cleveland but over an hour behind schedule, so I didn't arrive in CLE until 1:00 a.m! 

I found a taxi to my hotel (thank you to Henri at the Intercontinental Guest House for giving me the AAA discount even though I don't own a car!) and my head hit the pillow at 2:30 a.m.  2.5 hours later, I got my wake-up call at 5:00 a.m.  It's a miracle that I got there at all and I managed to get to the start line at the Cleveland Browns Stadium at 6:15, just in time to spot Heather behind a barricade wondering where she would store her gear bag since there was no Elite tent or gear check.

I ended up wearing Heather's backpack on top of my own and must have looked pretty strange, like the Hunchback of Notre Dame with two humps.

The Hunchback of Cleveland

The gun went off at 7:00 a.m. and I was jumping up and down, wishing the best for Heather. Without having had time to pre-plan for Cleveland, I found myself on an unfamiliar course searching for Mile 12, the only mile marker I could get to on foot ahead of Heather where I'd be able to get footage of her racing, then get back to the finish line before 9:46 a.m. (she needed to run 2:46 to get the Olympic Trials B Standard). Things were a bit confusing out on the course with both the 10K, half marathon and full marathon being run simultaneously and it was difficult to find the 12 Mile marker, or determine which runners were doing what race. I finally stopped and set up my camera at about 11.5 miles and waited anxiously for Heather who, if she was on her 6:20 min/mile pace, would arrive at around 8:15 a.m. Well, 8:15 came and went with no sign of Heather. At 8:29 a.m., I called her coach in Chicago, Bill Leach to let him know (since Heather was a late entry, she was not to be found on online runner tracking). He said something must be wrong, and my heart dropped. 

The Female Lead Pack at Mile 11.5... but where's Heather?

I waited a few more minutes before reluctantly heading to the finish line. It had begun raining and I was drenched and worried about my camera. I kept wiping it off with a towel and put a plastic trash bag over it. When I got to Mile 13, I suddenly heard a woman call out my name. I looked and it was Maryclare McQuade, a runner from Virginia who had donated a plane ticket to me when I was trying to get to Houston in January to film the USA Half Marathon Championships and Houston Marathon! She recognized me while running the half marathon! She PR'd in the race and on her way back to her car after finishing, stopped for a quick interview. It was so awesome that she recognized me just from our Facebook page and let me know that we are indeed producing a film that people will be interested in seeing.

Maryclare McQuade

After interviewing Maryclare, I looked at my cellphone and noticed I had a message. It was from Heather. She gave me the unfortunate news that she was experiencing stomach issues and decided that if she'd made a pit-stop, she'd lose two minutes and with it, her OTQ. It wasn't worth putting 26.2 hard miles on her legs and not be able to qualify, and having to recover for weeks before attempting another marathon so she made the wise decision to stop at Mile 10. I called Heather back and we convened a few blocks from the finish line with her husband David and mom in tow. I did an on-the-spot interview with her about what had happened and when she began shivering, let her go back to her car and off to her hotel room to shower and rest.

 

"Oh well, shit happens!"

Before she headed off into the mist, Heather urged me to get to the finish line quickly to catch the two other women she'd been running with who also were attempting to run an Olympic Trials qualifying time. She was right... this film is about women who are trying to make it to the Trials but more importantly, to tell the stories of all women who have a dream. I managed to make it back in time to see last year's Cleveland Marathon winner Nicole Camp win again and realize her dream and punch her ticket to Houston with a 2:43:47 PR! Nicole and her parents graciously allowed me to interview them after the race. 

Nicole Camp

We also met the lovely Jackie Pirtle-Hall of St. Charles, MO, another Trials contender who missed her OTQ by a mere 1 minute. A heart-breaker, to be sure but like Heather, Jackie plans to get it done!

Jackie Pirtle-Hall

And so even though our Heather didn't make it this time, our crazy 28 hour trip to Cleveland resulted in some wonderful (but wet) footage that will be compelling to watch! Heather is not done yet, though... she's ready to try again and will toe the line at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota on June 18th. We hope that we can raise enough money through donations to our Film Fund to rent our video gear and cover our travel costs to see Heather fulfill her dream! If you'd like to help us out, please click on the Donate button on the upper-right hand side of this blog.

(p.s. A huge thank you Beth Salinger of Endurance Marketing who granted me a last-minute media credential and Coach Jenny Hadfield who delivered it to my hotel. Also kudos to Dick Pond/Fast Track Racing's Marvin Banal and Tim Hamilton for giving me a ride back to Chicago after their races. We all returned home tired but happy!)

"Team Dreamsicle" 
Matt Jeromin & Marvin Banal
(not pictured is Tim Hamilton, our safe driver)

Hello, Cleveland!

 Big change of plans... Mother Nature's decided to mess with Green Bay with a forecast of 30 mph winds on Sunday, so Heather's decided to head to Cleveland instead for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon tomorrow morning. I know that Heather's disappointed that she won't be doing Green Bay because she has a lot of friends and family in the area but her singular focus is qualifying for the Trials, and this girl will do whatever it takes to get that OTQ. I asked her what time she was shooting for and if she would try to get under the 2:46 B standard time and Heather replied, "I'm gonna give it everything I've got." And indeed, she shall!

Wow, this is gonna be one heck of a documentary film!

Five Days 'til Heather's OTQ Attempt in Green Bay!

We've got another one of our girls chomping at the bit to qualify for the Trials... Heather Prekop will go for it in the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon on Sunday, May 1st. This producer is doing all of the pre-production planning necessary to ensure that we get footage of Heather at the start, on the course and finishing in sub-2:46:00! Here's an interview with Heather speaking about qualifying, what she learned from her first attempt in the 2010 Chicago Marathon, and how she balances training with work and her personal life. (Sorry for the poor audio... it was very windy and we forgot a windscreen for our microphone).

Good luck in Eugene, Christina!

After all of her hard work, it's the eve of the Eugene Marathon where Christina is hoping to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials. Her goal time is 2:45:00, a minute under the "B" qualifying standard. Her plan is to start out conservatively, then kick it up a notch in the second half of the marathon. Christina phoned this afternoon and was quite amused when a woman from Toronto spotted her standing on a street corner near the race Expo and recognized her from her videos. "You're my idol," she exclaimed. She found her first taste of fame to be unexpected and cool. It's good to know that people from far and wide are inspired by Christina.

Our Producer was unable to make it to Eugene to film Christina's attempt herself; however, she has a small crew overseeing the Eugene production and is confident that in their capable hands, Christina's efforts will be captured on camera beautifully. In the meantime, one of Christina's Fleet Feet Elite Racing teammates (and another woman in our film), Heather Prekop sent a message of encouragement to her on behalf of herself and all of Christina's friends. Click on the video below:

Seven Day's 'til the Eugene Marathon & Christina's on her way!

Christina Overbeck departed Chicago yesterday and is getting ready to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials in the Eugene Marathon. (Her goal time is 2:45:00, one minute under the B qualifying standard.) Two weeks after Eugene, she'll be getting married and settling in Portland, Oregon, where she'll be sure to make new running friends. Go, Christina, go!!

Year Two of Production: Shamrock Shuffle 8K Shoot Tomorrow!

The very first day of production on our film was at last year's Shamrock Shuffle 8K in Chicago. Tomorrow (April 10), WendyCity Productions returns to the Shuffle to follow our ladies as they ramp up for the 2011 racing season... a season each woman hopes will result running the qualifying standard for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials in Houston, TX.

Although the Shamrock Shuffle segment shoot is tomorrow, there's still time to contribute to our film fund! Once we've shot the footage, it will need to be organized and stored on external hard drives. Of course, we'll need to duplicate the video and store it on duplicate drives in the event that one of the drives crashes, so you can imagine how expensive that can be! That being said, we really need your help! Your donations directly support this film by expanding our resources. Any amount is appreciated and each dollar will help. (Ex: $15 will allow us to rent a clip-on lavalier microphone for interviews. $45 pays for our tripod.) Please click on the Paypal link to the right if you'd like to help us get this film made. Thanks!

(p.s. We've added some new athletes to the film - see photos below - and are very excited to see how they do tomorrow!)

Production Support Needed to Film the Shamrock Shuffle 8K on April 10th

10 more days 'til the Shamrock Shuffle 8K! We plan on following most of the women in our documentary, who will be shaking off the cobwebs of winter and gearing up for their Olympic Trials Qualifying attempts. We also hope to interview U.S. Olympian, Amy Yoder Begley, who will be competing. The Shuffle will have a record-setting 40,000 participants this year!

Won't you please help us produce this segment of our film? We're only $250 short of our goal. Your contribution will help us rent camera equipment and hire a cameraman and production assistant. Please donate to our film fund through our website by clicking on the Donate link at the upper-right side of this page. Thanks!

(p.s. This video was shot on the very first day of production for "Miles & Trials: Running Towards 2012!")

Two Weeks 'til the Shamrock Shuffle! Please help us fund this film.

We have only two weeks to raise $900 for our Shamrock Shuffle 8K shoot on 4/10. This is the kick-off to the running season here in Chicago, with an estimated 35,000 runners. Most of our film's ladies will be competing, along with a list of some of the Midwest's top female distance runners. Will you please help us by donating to our film fund? If everyone who visits this blog donates $5-10, we'd raise enough to cover the Shamrock Shuffle and Eugene Marathon on 5/1 (where Christina Overbeck will be going for her Trials qualifier!) You can help by clicking on the Donate link on the upper-right hand side of this page. Thanks!

© 2010 Brian Kieffer

50 More Day's 'til Eugene!

Christina and Heather are five weeks into their training cycle for the Eugene Marathon, where both hope to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials by running under 2:46. The marathon's on May 1st, which is only 50 days away! If you'd like to support the production of this film and help our crew get to Oregon to film the ladies, please click on the Donate link on the upper-right side of this page.

Here's a little video of Christina in her first running event of 2011...

Make This Time Count!

In light of yesterday's sad news about the death of top U.S. marathoner, Sally Meyerhoff, I thought I'd post some words of inspiration and motivation from my very good friend, Janeth Salazar-Ohst. Janeth qualified for and competed in the 1996 U.S. Olympic Marathon. Now a wife and mother of two, she continues to run competitively and is a source of inspiration for many young (and not so young) athletes.

Someone asked me why I was training so hard for the Olympic Trials if I didn’t have a realistic shot at making the Olympic team.  I simply said, “Because it IS my Olympics.”  The Olympic Trials represented the very best I could be.   It may have not been the international stage but it was a grand stage nonetheless.  I worked hard to qualify, I met the standard and I was going to give that race everything I had. 

Watching your video about Heather reminded me of this.  I think she is right on the money when she says she has to keep her focus on the race that she will attempt to use to qualify for the trials.  All steps lead to a possible qualification and the focus needs to be on the here and now.  I’m sure it is different for the top professional elites in our country as making a qualifying mark is not a big concern for them.  Heather isn’t responsible for them, she’s responsible for herself.  You can dream big but the details of the work involved must be attended to, day in and day out.  

My advice to potential qualifiers is, for this short time in your life, make all the necessary sacrifices to make this dream your reality.  The Trials only come around once every four years.  You want to be there and you want to be on that line with the very best you have.   Life has a way of really changing in four years when you don’t necessarily make your living off of racing.  MAKE THIS TIME COUNT!

2011 Production Schedule... help needed!

Hello, “Miles & Trials” friends! Well, it’s fundraising time again. We’ve now entered the second year of production and upcoming filming will be at the Shamrock Shuffle 8K in Chicago on 4/10 and the Eugene Marathon on 5/1 (where Christina and Heather will be going for their Trials qualifying times of sub-2:46). Alas, we won’t have the financial resources to shoot these segments without your help. Any amount is appreciated. Please click the PayPal Donate link on the upper right-hand side of this page if you'd like to assist us with our production costs. Thanks!

10 Weeks 'til Eugene!

Christina and Heather are headed to Oregon on May 1st for their second attempts to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Marathon Team Trials at the Eugene Marathon. Hear what Heather has to say about it in this video:

Everything is Bigger in Texas!

Houston, here we come! Thanks to the generous donations from folks around the country who want to help me get this film made, I will be leaving for Houston tomorrow to shoot the next segment at the USA Half Marathon Championships on 1/29 and the Chevron Houston Marathon on 1/30.

As a lifelong fan of distance running and track & field, there is nothing more exciting than being at the start to witness so many talented elite athletes toe the line. What makes this even more special is that the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials will be held on this very course a year from now, and many of our top distance runners and Olympic hopefuls will be testing it out in advance of the Trials. I plan to interview a handful of the top Elite Women, including Magdalena Lewy Boulet, Zoila Gomez, Dot McMahan, Katie McGregor and Tera Moody (who has a cameo in our film), among others. I also hope to meet and interview some of the sub-elite women from across the U.S. who are also racing, so if anyone knows of a talented woman who is racing in Houston this weekend, please post their name and info here.

Stay tuned to this blog for updates from Houston as I'm able to post them. You can also check in on our Facebook Fan Page!

"Make No Little Plans"

Fun times this morning in chilly/snowy Chicago at the Daniel Burnham XC Open, where Christina defended her title from 2010 with another win! The motto on the bibs: "Make No Little Plans". Very apropo as she's planning to qualify for the Trials on 5/1 at the Eugene Marathon!

 

 

 

OregonLive Article

Here's a nice article about our film online at OregonLive! Thank you to Eric Davis of the Bowerman Athletic Club & Nike for writing this :)

5 more days... video gear dilemma!

Thanks to some very generous donations (including a airfare!) we've raised enough to get to Houston and pay for the hotel. However, we're still short the funds ($400) to pay for the video gear needed to interview our Olympic hopefuls and film the USA Half Marathon Championships on 1/29. I'm departing on Thursday, 1/27 and may have do my shooting on a Flip video camera (not ideal, poor quality footage for a movie, and oh-so-embarrassing!) so anything you can do to help would be greatly appreciated. The donate link is on the right side of this page :)

 

Sincerely,

Wendy

7 Days 'til Houston and we need your help!

You folks have really been coming through for us with some nice donations in the past 48 hours. We're still in need of support to reach our goal of filming the USA Half Marathon in Houston in less than 10 days,  so whatever you can do is really appreciated. $5, $10, every dollar will help! If you want to help us, please click on the Donate button located on the right-hand side of this page. 

 

Sincerely,

 

Wendy Shulik, Producer

 

14 Days 'til Houston and we need your help!

We are trying to get to Houston on 1/28 to shoot the USA Half Marathon Championships and Chevron Houston Marathon for our film. Thanks to your support, we've received some generous donations in the past two days; however, we are $1,000 short of our goal! If you want to support the film, please click on the PayPal link on the upper right-hand side of this blog page :)

One Year Out From the 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon!

INDIANAPOLIS - Friday marks one year until the Team USA marathon squad for the London 2012 Olympic Games will be selected in Houston, Texas. With the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon a mere 365 days away, USA Track & Field will host a live web chat featuring 2008 Olympic marathoners Ryan Hall (Big Bear Lake, Calif.) and Magdalena Lewy Boulet (Oakland, Calif.) to discuss their preparations for the upcoming USA Half Marathon Championships in Houston. The 2011 championships will be held on January 29, and will be used to preview the 2012 Olympic Trials marathon course.

Earlier this week, the Houston Marathon Committee and USA Track & Field announced that Hall, the 2007 USA Half Marathon champion and American Record holder, and Boulet, the 2009 USA Half Marathon champion, will be returning to Houston for the 2011 championships and will face other 2012 Olympic Trials contenders such as Patrick Smyth (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) and Katie McGregor (Saint Louis Park, Minn.).

Fans and media can participate in the live web chat beginning at 2:00 p.m. EST by visiting www.usatf.org/events/2012/OlympicTrials-Marathon/fans/index.asp.

Help us get to Houston!

We are hoping to get to Houston, TX to film the 2011 USA Half Marathon Championships and Chevron Houston Marathon on January 29th and 30th. We plan on covering these races and interviewing some of the top U.S. distance runners and Olympic hopefuls, who will be testing out the 2012 Trials course. 

Your donations will directly support this production by expanding our filmmaking resources. Each dollar will help us finance computer and software expenses, gear rental, crew, and travel to races to interview Olympics hopefuls across the country while following our core athletes in their attempts to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials. 

Our goal is to raise $1,500 by January 25th to film this segment, time is running out and we desperately need your support. Please help us with a donation to our Film Fund. You can either click on the orange "Donate" on the upper-righthand side of this blog page, or our IndieGoGo fundraising page below (click the image). Thank you!

Sincerely, Wendy Shulik

Producer 

New Year, New Film Trailer!

Happy New Year! And we are off and running in our second year of production of our film, "Miles & Trials: Running Towards 2012!" Next up: travel to Houston, Texas on 1/30 for the 2011 Chevron Houston Marathon, where some of the country’s best distance runners and Olympic hopefuls will be testing out the course prior to the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials. We hope to land interviews with some of the top female runners to ask them about their Trials preparation. All we need to get there are some donations to our film fund. Please help us by clicking the orange Donate button on the right :)

Here's our updated film trailer - enjoy!