Amy Robillard goes for the gold

By Betsy Ross

The last time Amy Robillard toed the start line of a marathon, she qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials. The next time she does it, it will be at the Trials on Saturday, February 29 in Atlanta.

Robillard qualified for the Trials with a personal best 2:43:51 at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in November—the second time she’s made the field. The first time was four years ago, running the Trials in Los Angeles in nearly 80-degree weather—the hottest temperature for any U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. It was hot enough that more than a quarter of the men’s and women’s fields dropped out of the event.

Amy wasn’t one of them.

She finished in the blazing Southern California sunshine in 3 hours and 11 seconds, out of Olympic contention but with the determination that she’d get back to the Trials in four years.

“It was a deer in the headlights race early, but it was also an awakening in the sense that no matter what level you are, a marathon is a marathon, the 26.2 is the same for everyone. I went into that race seeing runners that I had seen on the covers of Runners World magazine, and it scared me at first, then I saw some of the big names going down and I was still going.

“You have to adjust to tough conditions, you have to be smart, to adjust your expectations, I remember thinking this is going to be one of my slowest marathons, and that’s OK. I needed to show my kids and my family out there that you can finish. And I didn’t want to freak out my kids, either, because I’ve never not finished, and I didn’t want to think mom’s not at the finish, something’s wrong.”

Immediately after the 2016 Trials, Amy was determined to return in 2020. “I wasn’t satisfied,” she said. “I wasn’t satisfied with the outcome of it, and I wanted to do a marathon I’m capable of doing at the Trials. Not falling into the pitfalls of ‘Do I belong here, can I run with these people, why am I here, because I qualified.’ I forgot about that whole part, so I want to give myself another shot to see what I can do.”

People in Cincinnati know her as a runner, with victories in three Flying Pig half marathons (2011, 2012 and 2016) and two marathon wins (2014 and 2015). But at the University of Arizona she was a student-athlete in swimming (she still coaches the sport).

Running was for training until her family moved to Cincinnati when, just after the birth of their son, Jameson, they found out he had a rare genetic disease that required a bone marrow transplant. Then, running became her release. Whether it was power walking through the halls of Children’s Hospital or running through the Clifton neighborhoods, running became therapy.

“The route was a little more than a quarter mile from one end to the other, and when Jameson was having treatments or was finally asleep, I would power walk and jog the first floor. The security guards would tell me where to run and where not to run, and I had a little bit of a support team there.”

That led her to enter her first Flying Pig half marathon (in 2011). “Just over the short time we’d been here, I’d already started knowing people at Children’s, the families, the nurses and doctors that we had, it was an instant family, and it was inspiring that people took me in.” 

With the Olympic Marathon Trials coming up next month, Amy’s now concentrating on squeezing in her final training miles around her coaching schedule and kids’ calendars (she and her husband also have an older daughter). While her training miles are important, Amy just finds that running gives her a much-needed break.

“I don’t do a lot of conscious thinking when I run, I just go out and things get sorted out. A lot of times my training is unconventional, I don’t have a planned workout, but when I have the chance to run, I release things I don’t know I’m holding onto. It’s my time.”

Amy’s family is planning to join her again for the Trials in Atlanta, and she knows she’s fortunate to be going back, because not everyone gets a second chance to make an Olympic team. “I’m grateful,” she says. “I’m representing everyone who has supported me and been along this journey with me. Because there are many runners who can’t be there.

“I’m very grateful I’ve been able to put it together and have the support I have so I can get there. There are so many people who wish they were here. It doesn’t matter if you do marathons or a 5K. A runner’s a runner. If you get out and run, you’re a runner. And just the fact I’m representing them, all I can do is give it a shot. I’m just grateful.”

The U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials will have nearly 600 hopefuls, the largest Trials field ever. The top three men and three women will represent the United States at the Tokyo games. The men’s field will take off at 12:03 pm, the women at 12:13 pm. on Saturday, February 29. The Trials will be broadcast on NBC.