tera moody
On message boards populated by serious running afficianados, the great debate being waged last week was whether or not Tera Moody had come out of nowhere to take fifth place in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.
In the Tri-Cities, it’s a safe bet that it was a non-issue.
Many in the area have known about Moody since she was a St. Charles High School freshman in 1995-96, when she finished sixth in the state cross country meet and began a string of four straight all-state finishes. She was a key contributor to one of St. Charles’ record six state championships in 1999, again in cross country.
Moody won back-to-back 1,600-meter championships in track in 1998 and 1999. After the second, the Sai
nts senior memorably dove into a retention pond adjacent to the O’Brien Stadium track at Eastern Illinois — simply because it was something she’d had on her mind for a while.
“When Tera sets her mind to something and passes it on to her legs, she’s normally really successful,” said Tom Roderick, her St. Charles High cross country coach.
If area running fans didn’t see a future elite marathoner in Moody then, it was only because she threw them off the scent by acting like a miler. Nonetheless, 26-mile races couldn’t be completely ruled out.
“I’m really happy for her,” Roderick said. “Not only was she extremely competitive in high school, she was a pretty good college runner, and she’s stuck with it. I’m really proud of the way she’s progressed.”Taking the long view
Moody made the transition to longer distances at the University of Colorado, where she won the Big 12 Conference 10,000 meters as a freshman. Moody contributed to the Buffaloes’ 2000 NCAA cross country championship.
Still, she was somewhat sour on collegiate running by the time she graduated in 2004 with a degree in journalism and mass communication. The 27-year-old still lives and trains at altitude in Boulder, Colo.
“The college experience didn’t go the way I wanted,” said Moody, who was born in Batavia but lived in St. Charles from age 5 until college. “I was really frustrated and really disappointed. After college, I took a little break. I was burnt out on the after-colllege scene. I was relaxing and having fun. I ran kind of a regional race for fun and I broke three hours.”
The Olympic Trials marathon on April 20 in Boston, was only her fifth. The first three were the Chicago Marathon. She ran 2:46.40 to finish ninth in this year’s race, which qualified her for the trials.
Moody had finished 20th (2:50.08) in Chicago in 2006 in her first marathon. While that was extremely encouraging, the 2007 race was a setback — almost two seconds slower.
She recently has begun training with former Fenton standout Art Siemers, who coaches four women that competed in the trials in addition to being the head coach at the Colorado School of Mines.
Siemers introduced Moody to a training regimen that included physical therapy, massages and doing yoga. It also meant a heavier mileage load. Before the Trials, she ran a 1:13.05 half-marathon in Houston that showed she was on target.
“I bumped up my mileage to 100, and one week I even put in 120,” Moody said. “I ran 1:13 at a half-marathon in January. That was a really good indicator. I’d never felt as good in a race (as I did at the trials), until a mile to go.”Joining the national elite
The Olympic Trials race was slow and tactical. Moody stayed with the lead pack as it was winnowed from 80 to seven. The top three finishers qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
By the 23rd or 24th mile, Moody was in fourth place but she knew that eventual third-place finisher Blake Russell (2:32.40) had created too much separation. Moody couldn’t catch her.
So the race came down to whether she or Zoila Gomez would claim the alternate spot for the Olympics. Gomez finished in 2:33.53. Moody ran a 2:33.54.
“Now there was too big of a gap,” Moody said. “I knew Zoila Gomez was coming up. The last 400 I was giving it everything I had. The last 200 felt like slow motion. I didn’t have that second. That was it.
“I couldn’t be too disappointed. I had a PR by about 13 minutes and I was fifth at the Olympic Trials. I was ranked 152nd.”
Moody sells real estate and manages a couple of rental properties in Boulder to enable her to continue running. The $15,000 payday for her top-five finish at the Olympic trials will come in handy.
Now she’s anxious to continue training with Siemers and see where that path will lead.
“I wanted to try coaching myself first, and I’m really proud of how well that went,” Moody said. “But I knew all the girls who were training with Art spoke highly of him. I decided to give it a go. I didn’t really know what I was doing. I definitely think he’s flexible. It’s worked really well so far.”
She plans to continue running the Chicago Marathon as much for the chance to reconnect with friends and family as for the competition level. She’s learned that she runs best on emotion.
“Defintely my goal is to make the Olympic team in 2012 in the marathon,” Moody said. “I’ll focus on some shorter stuff for a awhile until I’m ready to run another marathon. I’d race every week if I could.”
In the Tri-Cities, it’s a safe bet that it was a non-issue.
Many in the area have known about Moody since she was a St. Charles High School freshman in 1995-96, when she finished sixth in the state cross country meet and began a string of four straight all-state finishes. She was a key contributor to one of St. Charles’ record six state championships in 1999, again in cross country.
Moody won back-to-back 1,600-meter championships in track in 1998 and 1999. After the second, the Sai
nts senior memorably dove into a retention pond adjacent to the O’Brien Stadium track at Eastern Illinois — simply because it was something she’d had on her mind for a while.“When Tera sets her mind to something and passes it on to her legs, she’s normally really successful,” said Tom Roderick, her St. Charles High cross country coach.
If area running fans didn’t see a future elite marathoner in Moody then, it was only because she threw them off the scent by acting like a miler. Nonetheless, 26-mile races couldn’t be completely ruled out.
“I’m really happy for her,” Roderick said. “Not only was she extremely competitive in high school, she was a pretty good college runner, and she’s stuck with it. I’m really proud of the way she’s progressed.”Taking the long view
Moody made the transition to longer distances at the University of Colorado, where she won the Big 12 Conference 10,000 meters as a freshman. Moody contributed to the Buffaloes’ 2000 NCAA cross country championship.
Still, she was somewhat sour on collegiate running by the time she graduated in 2004 with a degree in journalism and mass communication. The 27-year-old still lives and trains at altitude in Boulder, Colo.
“The college experience didn’t go the way I wanted,” said Moody, who was born in Batavia but lived in St. Charles from age 5 until college. “I was really frustrated and really disappointed. After college, I took a little break. I was burnt out on the after-colllege scene. I was relaxing and having fun. I ran kind of a regional race for fun and I broke three hours.”
The Olympic Trials marathon on April 20 in Boston, was only her fifth. The first three were the Chicago Marathon. She ran 2:46.40 to finish ninth in this year’s race, which qualified her for the trials.
Moody had finished 20th (2:50.08) in Chicago in 2006 in her first marathon. While that was extremely encouraging, the 2007 race was a setback — almost two seconds slower.
She recently has begun training with former Fenton standout Art Siemers, who coaches four women that competed in the trials in addition to being the head coach at the Colorado School of Mines.
Siemers introduced Moody to a training regimen that included physical therapy, massages and doing yoga. It also meant a heavier mileage load. Before the Trials, she ran a 1:13.05 half-marathon in Houston that showed she was on target.
“I bumped up my mileage to 100, and one week I even put in 120,” Moody said. “I ran 1:13 at a half-marathon in January. That was a really good indicator. I’d never felt as good in a race (as I did at the trials), until a mile to go.”Joining the national elite
The Olympic Trials race was slow and tactical. Moody stayed with the lead pack as it was winnowed from 80 to seven. The top three finishers qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
By the 23rd or 24th mile, Moody was in fourth place but she knew that eventual third-place finisher Blake Russell (2:32.40) had created too much separation. Moody couldn’t catch her.
So the race came down to whether she or Zoila Gomez would claim the alternate spot for the Olympics. Gomez finished in 2:33.53. Moody ran a 2:33.54.
“Now there was too big of a gap,” Moody said. “I knew Zoila Gomez was coming up. The last 400 I was giving it everything I had. The last 200 felt like slow motion. I didn’t have that second. That was it.
“I couldn’t be too disappointed. I had a PR by about 13 minutes and I was fifth at the Olympic Trials. I was ranked 152nd.”
Moody sells real estate and manages a couple of rental properties in Boulder to enable her to continue running. The $15,000 payday for her top-five finish at the Olympic trials will come in handy.
Now she’s anxious to continue training with Siemers and see where that path will lead.
“I wanted to try coaching myself first, and I’m really proud of how well that went,” Moody said. “But I knew all the girls who were training with Art spoke highly of him. I decided to give it a go. I didn’t really know what I was doing. I definitely think he’s flexible. It’s worked really well so far.”
She plans to continue running the Chicago Marathon as much for the chance to reconnect with friends and family as for the competition level. She’s learned that she runs best on emotion.
“Defintely my goal is to make the Olympic team in 2012 in the marathon,” Moody said. “I’ll focus on some shorter stuff for a awhile until I’m ready to run another marathon. I’d race every week if I could.”
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