Garnet Alum Qualifies for Olympic Trials
Swarthmore alum Marc Jeuland '01 qualified for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials after running a 2:20:33 at the Chicago Marathon this past Sunday, October 22. His time breaks down to an average of 5:21 per mile over the 26.2 miles.
In preparation for the marathon, Jeuland ran roughly 60 to 70 miles per week, doing one day of pace work on the track and a weekly 10-mile tempo run (at race pace), before tapering down to 45 miles in the last two weeks before the event. Five weeks prior to the race, he worked up to a 24 mile run. Jeuland indicates the key to his training is the weekly long run of at least 15 miles, a tribute to the style of training he did under current Swarthmore head coach Peter Carroll. He points to Carroll's experienced coaching as where he "learned how to put together a consistent, smart, and effective training program."
While at Swarthmore, he was a two-time All-American runner, captaining the cross country, as well as the indoor and outdoor track & field teams his senior year, Jeuland was also a two-time Centennial Conference champion and holds College records in the indoor 5,000 meters and the outdoor 10,000 meters events. Jeuland graduated from Swarthmore with a degree in Honors Engineering and a minor in Chemistry.
Currently, Jeuland is a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After graduation, he did Peace Corps service in Bamako, Mali, where he became interested in his current PhD research topics, looking at water and sanitation issues in developing countries and international water resources planning and managing.
Looking back at his time in Swarthmore, Jeuland remembers "that Swarthmore was the training ground that taught me how to balance competitive running and academics. My senior year I struggled to balance honors exams and the NCAA National Championships, but the school made my participation in both possible, flying me back and forth between races and oral exams. I am very grateful for that support."
The Olympic trial will be run in New York City; the date and time have yet to be announced.