by Larry Eder
Freya Murray and Steve Jones shortly after the Virgin London
Marathon this Spring (Courtesy of Boulder Wave, Inc.)
Last spring, at the Virgin London marathon, Steve Jones, aka Jonesy, one of the nicest guys in the sport, told me to watch Freya Murray. Freya was part of that very epic battle for the last UK marathon position. Freya Murray got under the standard in Virgin London, but was not selected.
With Paula Radcliffe’s withdrawal from the marathon squad for the UK Olympic team, Freya Murray is now added to the UK squad.
This should be a wonderful experience for Freya and we wish her best wishes on August 5.
Freya Murray Added to UK Olympic Team
July 30, 2012 – For immediate release
Scotland’s Freya Murray was today officially named to the UK Olympic Marathon team,
taking the place of the injured world record-holder, Paula Radcliffe. While reports
have surfaced on and off the past fortnight about Radcliffe’s condition, she did not
make her withdrawal official until yesterday morning, citing a “painful osteoarthritis
condition in her left foot,” according to The Telegraph newspaper.
Murray earned her Olympic “A” qualification mark with a brilliant 2:28:10 debut
this past April at the Virgin London Marathon, missing out by just 26 seconds to
Claire Hallissey on the third Olympic spot as the two finished 1st and 2nd in
the UK marathon championship that day.
Freya commented: “I am just so excited about this. It’s not been very nice for
Paula the past few days, with rumors running rampant in the press, and I really
feel bad for her. I really want to thank everybody who has supported me…my family
and friends, my fiancé Michael, adidas, and mainly my coach, Steve Jones. I feel
I’ve been so lucky the past few years. I hardly ran in 2011 with the injuries,
but Steve made me believe I could do the marathon well, and London was my focus
this Spring. We’ll see how the race goes on Sunday. I’ve done some long runs this
summer, with two hours yesterday, and I’m happy to have that under my belt. I’m
just looking forward to running in the Olympic Games!”
Freya’s coach, former marathon world record holder and 1984 Olympian Steve Jones,
commented from his home in Boulder, Colorado: “Freya is ready to run and she will
be on the start line healthy. One of the most significant things is that they
[UK Athletics] are willing to put a young and upcoming athlete into the mix to
help build for the future. This is all part of the journey for Freya.” Jonesy
then followed up, “And this gives me a perfect mark…I coach one British athlete
and now I have one British Olympian!” He indicated that he has quickly booked a
ticket and will fly into London later this week.
Freya’s Athlete Representative, Brendan Reilly: “Freya and Steve should be inspirations
to every athlete and coach for the value of perseverance and belief. Freya dealt with a
lot of frustrating injuries in 2011, starting and re-starting training time and again.
She showed complete belief in Steve when he began to have her move up to the half-marathon and then prepare for her marathon debut. I couldn’t be happier for her to have this
opportunity to run the Olympics in front of what is certain to be spectacular support
for the British athletes.”
Boulder Wave Notes:
· Along with Lee Merrien, who earned his way onto the UK men’s Olympic team with
a 2:13:41 win in the UK men’s marathon championship as part of the Virgin London Marathon
this year, Freya becomes the second UK marathoner represented by Boulder Wave to gain
an Olympic berth.
· Freya becomes the eighth woman represented by Boulder Wave to be selected for
the 2012 Olympic Marathon. The others are Constantina Dita (ROU), Lidia Simon (ROU),
Edna Kiplagat (KEN), Rene Kalmer (RSA), Irvette van Blerk (RSA), Diane Nukuri
Johnson (BDI), and Yoshimi Ozaki (JPN). Ten Boulder Wave athletes overall will race
in the London Olympics.
· Freya’s selection means that five of our Olympians locked in their
Olympic berths on the basis of their results at this year’s Virgin London Marathon,
including also Edna Kiplagat, Constantina Dita, Irvette van Blerk, and Lee Merrien.
