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!