Rose Wetzel,
30, of Seattle was very busy last weekend. Armed with a cooler full of food and
all her Brooks/Club NW racing gear, Wetzel and her fiancé Tim,
boogied down I-5 on Friday to get to Eugene where she would race at the Oregon
Relays. After racing at historic Hayward Field, the duo who are set
to be married this year, grabbed some food and boogied back up the highway to
Tacoma where Wetzel would race Saturday morning at the 1st Annual Ruston Way
5k.
That’s
a lot of driving for about 4 miles worth of racing, but when you are Rose Wetzel and
you are chasing the US Olympic Trials Qualifying Standard for 1500 meters you
go where the competition is. On Friday against a stacked field in the Women’s
1500, that included the likes of Sally Kipyego, Geena Gall and
Jordan Hasay, she held her own and ran 4:22.14 to finish 8th and
run a personal best by 2 seconds. She will have to run 4:17 by June 17th to
be 1 of 30 women who will compete for 3 spots on the London Olympic team at
1500 meters. As Wetzel moves closer to the standard she has plans to
return to Eugene for a few reasons.
“My friend (and local race director), Brian Oster told me there's magic at Hayward Field and he's right!
It's not often I get to race at a packed stadium. Add on a beautiful track and
incredibly fast athletes and it's a place to remember! I didn't get a chance to
check out Pre's rock since I
had to bolt back north right after my race, but I guess I'll just have to make
the Olympic Trials so I can come back and stay longer,” she wrote in an
email to RUNRACEWA.
On
Saturday, Wetzel, who only got to bed at 2:30 am because of the excitement
in Eugene, was up early and ready to race again at 10am. She showed
up in Tacoma to race in the Elite Race at the Inaugural Ruston Way
5k. Excited to race with her Club NW teammates, she took advantage beautiful
day and a pack of masters men that escorted her to a super fast time of 16:58,
which tops the Northwest Runner magazine All-Times 5k List for the year.
“The race paid $500 to the winner, and since I'm
planning a wedding this year, going for it was too hard to pass up! My legs
felt alright for the first two miles of the race and then they started to get
tired, but I pushed through,” commented Wetzel on running two races in two days.
Wetzel had nothing but high marks for
the race directors of the Ruston Way
5k in their attempt to create a “Carlsbad-level competitive race right here in
the Northwest.” She also noted that having a flat out and back course “rocks”
because you can keep an eye on your competition and its “easy math” to figure
out your projected finish time.
“Nothing makes me want to break free and run
crazy fast more then having to sit in one spot for hours” said Wetzel about
her racing road trip from last weekend.
If that is the case, perhaps the Club NW Team Captain and her fiancé need
to pack up the cooler and hit the road more often.
Note: To
follow Rose’s racing adventures this spring check out here website or follow her on Twitter at
@rosewetzel. Wetzel was recently highlighted in an NPR interview about creative
fundraising ideas for Olympic hopefuls, the interview can be found here.
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