Driven: One Runner Who’s Chasing The Olympic Dream

She couldn’t even finish her first marathon.

Kaci Lickteig’s road to the U.S. Olympic Trials is an amazing one–and should be inspiration for runners of all abilities.

Now 25, when Lickteig was in high school, she walked every cross-country event except one. And when she took on her first event in 2006, she ended up walking and jogging the final 10K, vowing never again to take on the 26.2-mile race.

Two years later, Lickteig gave the marathon another shot. “I wanted to accomplish and finish without walking and stopping,” Lickteig said. “I just went out there and ran and enjoyed every moment of it. I decided I’m going to keep running these.”

But fast-forward to earlier this month, when Lickteig clocked two hours, forty-four minutes, and 14 seconds at the California International Marathon–an achievement she describes as “unfathomable”. Her time was good enough to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.

“I can’t believe I finally did it,” Lickteig said.

The Omaha native admits she’s been logging triple-digit weeks to prepare for a shot at the Olympics.

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