Amy Hastings – my Olympic Trials Hero!
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Guest Blog by Oiselle Team Member Susan Empey. Susan ran the Olympic Trials marathon this past January and lives and trains in Washington State.
Amy Hastings – my Olympic Trials Hero!
By Susan Empey
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While I’ve never met Amy Hastings (and those of you who know me well, know that I will find a way to meet her someday!), she earned big time respect and admiration from me when she fought so hard over 26.2 miles in Houston at the Olympic Trials, broke the OTs record, but still came up 1 slot short for making the team. It was utterly heart breaking to watch (even though I am so excited about the team of marathoners that the US is sending!). But what impressed me in addition to her speed, endurance and tenacity over those 26.2 miles, was how absolutely gracious she was in interviews hours afterwards. The poise she showed under what had to have been horrible circumstances, launched me into the slot of being her #1 fan and I started crossing my fingers then that she would make the 10K team.
I absolutely would have loved to be in Eugene for the 10K to cheer her on, but it was quite evident I wasn’t her only fan, and clearly she was fit and determined enough to make this team. And while any place in the top-3 would have qualified her since she had already made the Olympic “A” standard, I love how hard she fought to win the race (see photo below).
And while she could be a barefoot runner and I’d still be a huge fan, as a side note, I am also thrilled for Brooks Sports. To have Desi Davilla, a Brooks athlete, make the team in the marathon, and now Amy Hastings, also a Brooks athlete, make it in the 10K, is great for a local shoe company that does amazing things supporting local and national runners. I love the shoes they manufacture and respect how supportive they are to locally competitive runners who in most cases would never get any assistance from some of the other bigger name shoe companies. For that Brooks will always have my loyalty as far as shoes go.
But as for awesome athletic apparel, it’s all Oiselle for me. Now it’s up to some Oiselle athletes to get cracking and represent another awesome company in Rio 2016!
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