Emily Harrison came into the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston, Texas, well trained and prepared. However, that week she developed a cold and a gnarly cough — which caused her to balk around mile 19.
Despite the illness, Harrison was still able to gut out a top-30 finish and the second-best time of her marathon career.
Harrison was determined to make a healthy return back to the trials in 2016 by qualifying with a standard time at the Eugene Marathon, but finished in second place with a time of 2 hours, 44 minutes and 40 seconds, just 1:40 behind the women’s Olympic Trials “B” standard.
The time was her slowest marathon time ever, but she was still proud of second place.
“I didn’t hit my time goal,” said Harrison. “It turned into just racing for a place. I had a strong kick in the end and was able to come out in second. I’m happy with that.”
Harrison, the reigning U.S. and world 50K road champ, currently lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, where she where she joined the Adidas-McMillan Elite Club and trained under Coach Greg McMillan. The club has since disbanded.
She now keeps her feet busy with trail and ultra running for the Nike Trail Team, Nathan Sports and a local running store in Flagstaff, Flagstaff Pro. Harrison ran for the cross country and track teams at the University of Virginia until graduating in 2008.
Aside from running, Harrison’s full-time job, so to speak, is coaching online for McMillan Running.
“I work with 35-40 athletes,” Harrison said. “I help them get their goals, anywhere from the beginning runners who have just started running and I have people who do 100-mile races; it’s pretty cool.”
Harrison and her running coach and fiancé, Ian Torrence, left their home in Flagstaff, Arizona, the weekend before the marathon en route to Las Vegas, Nevada, with the car packed full of essentials for the long road trip ahead of them to Eugene — loads of camping gear, their two Border Collie-Aussie mixes, Sycamore and Bee, and four handfuls of shoes.
After traveling through Vegas, it was off to visit family outside of Sacramento, California. Then, a pit stop in Bridgeport to do some hiking and camping, before making their way up to Oregon for the Eugene Marathon.
“I always like to see what kind of times I can run,” said Harrison. “It’s always a test against yourself to see if you can hit your time. It’s a challenging event that’s for sure. I’ve done some ultra distances too, but I knew coming back to the marathon distance was going to be hard no matter what.”
The trials are set for February 2016, so time is getting a bit short to start squeezing on marathons. Harrison said she and her coach Torrence will have to sit down and decide if they want to go for another one or not.
Torrence ran the 5K the day before the marathon, finishing with a time of 18:34, good for 15th place among a field of 416 runners.
“It [the race] was good,” said Torrence. “A little hillier than I thought it would be. Eugene has so much flat area and then sent us to the freaking hills. The first mile was all up-hill.”
Harrison and Torrence then headed back to Nevada, where Torrence finished sixth in the overall men’s division in the Silver State 50-mile in Reno. They plan on doing some more camping along their trip, which is one of many things the two have in common.
“It’s a very loose coaching relationship,” said Torrence. “I give guidance, and she does the work. I rarely see her through a workout because I’m a runner, too.”
