Webb's Run for Moms
By Drew Hubbard
In just her second-ever marathon, Julia Webb is hoping to inspire other moms across the country while competing in the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon in Atlanta, Georgia.
Her first marathon was the Eugene Marathon in 2018, which qualified her for the trials. Webb finished her debut in third place and with a time of 2:44:34.
“I did a bunch of [half-marathons] but I knew that once you’re running long you have to be committed to your training,” Webb said. “I didn’t want to just show up and run a marathon without really trying to see what I could do.”
A University of Wisconsin-La Crosse graduate, Webb had been trying to qualify for the Olympic Trials in the steeplechase since 2008 alongside her college rival Shauneen Werlinger. After being unsuccessful in the steeple, both Webb and Werlinger decided to move up to the long run
“We both just collapsed on top of each other at the finish line at Eugene,” Webb said. “We’re like ‘We finally made it to the Olympic trials. It only took us 10 years.’”
Webb and her husband Alan—the American record holder in the mile—recently moved from Oregon to Arkansas where Alan is the assistant coach for the cross country team at University of Arkansas-Little Rock. In Arkansas, Julia and her husband are parents to three children as well as owners of a truck repair service in Oregon.
Moving to Arkansas from the flat surfaces in Oregon has changed training for Webb. Now, her runs consist of mainly hills which has been a challenge adjusting to a new environment to prepare for the Olympic Trials and other races beyond Atlanta.
“If I ever want to get easy runs in I probably climb like fifteen hundred feet to run five miles just going up and down,” Webb said. “I think that can be challenging because I really miss some of the trails I had access to.”
Balancing a business, her training and family life is the hardest part of training for the Olympic Trials, Webb said.
“I think people like to see someone who is normal and doesn’t necessarily have the perfect running schedule and still see that person doing well,” Alan Webb said.
The Olympic Trials give Webb the opportunity she had been working to obtain for years. Now she has that chance and is using it to inspire others to pursue their running goals no matter what is going on around them.
More than simply competing, Webb hopes to represent others across the country that are improving on the track while also raising a family.
“I don’t want to celebrate just being there,” Webb said. “I want to do my best too and represent people who have kids like other moms like ‘Hey you can have a family and you can continue to get fast and continue to improve as you have children.’”
Leading up to the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Marathon, Atlanta Track Club partnered with the Grady Sports Media program at the University of Georgia to profile some of the competitors in the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials. The authors of these stories are undergraduate students enrolled in the program and have been lightly edited by the Club. See all of the stories at https://www.atlanta2020trials.com/news/uga-trials-project.