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This is a cool one, fellow Meese. Esther is one of our own (/u/erbyatkins).

Esther, I apologize -- I really wanted to run this by you before I submitted. But alas here we are Monday at 10pm and I haven’t messaged you yet, and so rather than delay it two weeks, I’m hoping that you’re okay with what I’ve written. I’d like to think most of us know who you are due to your posts, but here’s hoping this gets you a few more boisterous cheers next week.

Edit: I've been schooled.

Esther Atkins

Quick Info

PBs

Bio

In high school in Richmond, Virginia, in her only year of track, Esther qualified for states in the 1000m, and her 4x800m team won her Region. but, going off to Case Western on an academic and music scholarship, she had no plans to race. However, the track coach saw her jogging to the gym, found her on the treadmill, and with a simple “you look like a runner”, Esther was on the XC team.

Within two years of joining, after Esther qualified for NCAA as an individual, she helped usher the team from an 11th DIII Regional place her freshman year to a 10th National place her junior year. By the end of her senior year, Esther had won the NCAA DIII 10000m title at the 2008 Championships by running a final 5:20 mile, followed by surge past the lead runner for a 68 second 400m final lap.

It’s worth noting that Esther already had an interest in running marathons by her senior year, and in the fall of 2008 ran the Berlin Marathon, finishing 14th (2:46:33), managing to run even splits throughout. After graduating, Esther spent two years in Austria on a Fulbright fellowship. Coached remotely by Terrence Shea, she ramped up her mileage to 60-80 mpw to train for marathons while in Austria, and it got to the point where the Austrian National Team invited her to compete for them.

But instead Esther returned home and ran for ZAP Fitness. After three years with them, she got a job as an assistant coach at Rider University in New Jersey, so moved there in 2013, running for New York Athletic Club. That fall, she ran the 2013 Twin Cities Marathon at the USA Marathon Championships, placing 3rd (2:34:32). Four months later, she won the 2014 Tallahassee Marathon with a 2:45:32. Two months after that, she placed 20th (now 19th) at the 2014 Boston Marathon, 6th American (2:33:15), and later that fall back at the 2014 Twin Cities Marathon, she won with a 2:34:01. This race, as it was the US Championships, qualified her to run for Team USA at the upcoming World Championships.

Esther went back to Austria to train for Worlds, and then on to the US training camp in Japan. At the 2015 Beijing World Championships, Esther ran a 2:38:15, placing 24th.

After World’s, Esther came home and (after getting married) ran the 2016 Olympic Trials Marathon in LA, placing 11th (2:38:02). This, unfortunately, did not get her a spot on the Rio team. She instead ran the 2016 Duluth Grandmas Marathon (placing 8th, 2:37:26), followed by the 2016 New York Marathon this last fall, placing 4th (2:37:11).

Doping History

None

Training and Nutrition

• Esther has run 14 marathons since 2008, and she ran three in both 2014 and 2016.

• She runs with headphones, that hobbyjogger, to music and podcasts. Specifically, This American Life, TED Radio Hour, RadioLab, and Freakonomics.

• In one of her blog posts, she breaks down her previous races by their ARRS (Association of Road Racing Statisticians) equivalent -- i.e. the race time bias based on how far elite times deviated from normal. I didn’t even know that organization existed.

Anecdotes to tell your friends

• Esther blogs about her training pretty frequently, and we get the chance to chat with her about it when she does.

• She’s a pretty great singer as well, performing the national anthem at the 2012 US Olympic Trials.

• There’s a terrific article about how she thinks during races on RW (Ad-wall), specifically acknowledging that she has slim chances of winning some of these races, and how she avoids any sort of inferiority complex. Things like playing to the crowd (smiling, waving), focusing on nailing good pacing, and visualizing that you’re just winning when in the midst of no-man’s land.

• Pupper tax. Grace has run a 7:30/mi 18-miler. Fast doggo.

Upcoming Races

Boston Marathon, April 17

1. Anecdotes/stories you’d like to share? Thoughts on Esther in general?
   
2. What’s your strategy for no-man’s land? Do you pace well running alone?
3. Any particular race you ran that might’ve had an ARRS race time bias (this is the link just copy past it or something - http://more.arrs.net/ )? Any that you really just wish had better weather?
4. Anything else you’d like to add?