Valerie Gortmaker’s goal at February’s Tallahassee (Fla.) Marathon was to beat her best time.
Not only did she do that, the pediatric psychologist at UNMC qualified for the Olympic trials in April 2008 in Boston.
In Boston, Dr. Gortmaker — who holds a Ph.D. in psychology — will be among 40 women competing for three spots on the U.S. Olympic team that will head to Beijing for the 2008 summer games.
“When I started running I had no idea I would be decent at it,” Dr. Gortmaker said.
Aside from qualifying for the trials, her time of 2:46:09 was a new Tallahassee marathon record for women.
If that wasn’t enough, after finishing winning the race, Dr. Gortmaker went back several miles and found her mother, Cheryl, who also was running, and pushed her hard enough to finish for a personal best marathon time.
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Valerie Gortmaker, Ph.D. |
Several years ago, Dr. Gortmaker tore ligaments in her knee playing rugby and began cycling as a way of therapy. Then, she discovered she was a better runner than cyclist.
A dorm friend got Dr. Gortmaker started running marathons three years ago by asking Dr. Gortmaker to run the Lincoln (Neb.) half-marathon.
“I did the half-marathon and got hooked,” Dr. Gortmaker said.
Dr. Gortmaker will participate in two marathons before next April’s trials. She also will do six weeks of speed training and six-to-eight weeks of endurance training.
Olympics or not, she already has an impressive list of accomplishments. Dr. Gortmaker has won several marathons and half-marathons and placed high in several races.
Although, she would love to run in the Olympics, her main goal is simply to beat her best time.
“There is always a point in a marathon when your legs won’t move,” she said. “A good time is great when you’re a marathon runner but we all just want to finish.”
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