Wendy Thomas had a breakout race at the USA Olympic Marathon Trials, finishing 12th in 2:34:25, her first attempt at the distance.  Only a runner since 2007, the mom of two young sons from Windsor, Colorado is already rubbing shoulders with some of the best runners in the country. She is coached by Scott Simmons and Renato Canova as part of the American Distance Project and has other personal bests of 1:13:46 (half marathon), 34:03 (10k), and  16:37 (5k).  Wendy will race next a the New… Continue reading

Empire Athletics wishes the best of luck to its seven athletes competing at the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials this Saturday: 1. Matt Gabrielson 2:13:29 2. Ryan Bak  2:14:17 3. Luke Watson 2:15:29 4. Tyler McCandless 2:17:09 5. Carlos Trujillo 1:03:51 6. Ariana Hilborn 2:37:29 7. Natasha LaBeaud 2:42:50    …

Justin Young recently joined Empire Athletics Management, adding an eighth Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier to the company's roster. After running a 2:13:54 at the 2008 Rotterdam Marathon, Justin was selected to represent the United States at the 2009 IAAF World Championship Marathon in Berlin, Germany.  A native Preoria, Illinois, Justin is a 2002 graduate of Butler University, where he was a Div-1 NCAA All-American in Cross Country. He has since moved to Superior, Colorado with his wife Lauren and trains under South African coach Gerrie Coetzee…

Runningtimes.com has written a feature on Ryan Bak, who ran a 2:14:17 marathon debut after several years of injury and time away from competition.  He will race again at the US Olympic Marathon Trials on January 14th…

Empire Athletics is pleased to welcome Ryan Bak to its roster of athletes.  Just two weeks ago, Ryan placed second at the California International Marathon in 2:14:17, his first attempt at the distance on the road. He will next run at the US Olympic Marathon Trials in January, hoping for a PR and a top 10 finish. Ryan had previously run in the US Olympic Track Trials in 2004 and 2008 and ran for Team USA… Continue reading

Matt Gabrielson finished 5th at the Rock 'N' Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon in 1:04:19, less than half a minute off of his personal best time for the distance. This was Matt's target tune-up race for the Olympic Trials Marathon, to be held next month.  Jacques Sallberg came up short of qualifying for the Trials, finishing 32nd in 1:09:36.  …

In what was a tune-up Marathon in preparation for the US Olympic Trials Marathon this January, Tyler ran a smooth and controlled 2:24:28 at the Dallas White Rock Marathon.  In cold, windy conditions he easily negative split the course to complete a solid workout for the day. Unfortunately, Tonya Nero had a rough debut, finishing 9th in 3:04:08. She will attempt another marathon soon in hopes to compete for her native country Trinidad in the upcoming Olympic Games…

There was an abundance of Turkey Trots this Thanskgiving and Empire Athletics Athletes were ready to race. On the east coast, Matt Gabrielson of Team USA MN came in 4th in the 4.78 mile historic Manchester Road Road Race with a time of 21:43.  On the west coast, Ariana Hilborn won the Father Joe's 5k in San Diego in a new personal best of 17:07.  Close by, Natasha LaBeaud was 5th in the Dana Point 10k in 34:39.  A little further north… Continue reading

Tonya Nero and Ariana Hilborn came in 4th and 6th place, respectively, at the Big Sur Half Marathon. Tonya finished in 1:15:46 on the hilly course, while Ariana was less than a minute behind in a new personal best of 1:16:27. Tonya will be making her marathon debut at the Dallas White Rock Marathon in two weeks, and Ariana was using this race as a tune-up for the Olympic Trials Marathon in January 2012…

Less than two weeks from her 9th place finish at the Pan American Games Marathon, Camille Herron ran 2:40:06, her fastest marathon time this year, at the ING New York City Marathon. This was her sixth and final marathon of 2011 and her performance was good enough to place her 18th overall and 3rd among Americans.  Camille's next marathon will be at the USA Olympic Marathon Trials in January 2012…