More Than Qualified: Peyton Thomas on Representation and Olympic Marathon Trials

By Jasmine Nesi, Co-founder and COO, RUNGRL

With the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo, 2020 is already a huge year in sports. As the best of the best athletes compete at the highest level and for distance running, the highlight event is the marathon.

To earn a chance to compete for one of three spots on the U.S. Olympic team, women must first qualify by running a set time:

The Qualifying A Standard, 26.2 miles at 2:37:00 or faster (~6:00/mile),
The Qualifying B Standard, 26.2 miles at 2:45:00 or faster (~6:17/mile), or
Runners may also qualify by completing a half-marathon at sub-1:13:00.
Each of the qualifiers must be completed at a race between September 1, 2017 and January 19, 2020.*

The U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, which took place on Saturday, February 29, 2020, in Atlanta, Georgia, confirmed the top three female finishers as Aliphine Tuliamuk, Molly Seidel, and Sally Kipyego earned their spot on the Olympic team.

This year, a record number of women (more than 450) met the qualifying standard. This marked a huge growth in women’s running over the past few years, but there was still a noticeable lack of diversity among the qualifying group.

Twenty-four-year-old Peyton Thomas was the only American-born, Black female athlete at the starting line of this year’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Originally from Roswell, Georgia, Peyton is a Ph.D. student, teaching assistant and research assistant at University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where she also trains. Her qualifying race, the California International Marathon in December 2019, was also her first marathon. She finished at 2:42:57.

RUNGRL co-founder Jasmine Nesi chatted with Peyton to learn more about her running career, qualifying for and competing at the U.S. Olympic Trials, her views on representation in the sport and what’s next for her.

Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Jasmine Nesi, RUNGRL: When did you first find running?

Peyton Thomas: Sports were ingrained at an early age. I focused on volleyball all through middle school and high school and came across running accidentally as a way to cross-train during my sophomore year. I hated it at first but found that I was pretty good at it. Towards the end of my first season of cross-country, I started to understand why people enjoyed running so much and continued on to Track and Field, mainly focusing on the mile and two-mile distances. After that season, I dropped volleyball to pursue running more seriously.

Jasmine: Can you talk about your transition from track and cross-country to longer distances?

Peyton: My high school coach had really great foresight and saw me as a 10K runner, though I resisted it. I ran collegiately at Baylor University, and transitioned to 3K and 5K for track and cross-country during the start of college. I was never a fast miler, but I really liked the 5K distance. During my senior year, I trained for the 10K, but never dabbled beyond that.

Jasmine: From 10K to Marathon is a big jump. When did getting Olympic Trials Qualified (OTQ) become a goal?

Peyton: So, this all happened in the last year. I didn’t know if I was ready for a marathon. I was always up for doing trail races or ultra-marathons but wasn’t particularly excited about road races. I was inspired by my teammates, Brittney Perkins and Erin Hogston, who were going for an OTQ (who also qualified!) and started to consider the idea. I started with a half marathon in Spring 2019 and felt really good after. I thought, “I could probably do this for double the distance.” My coach planted the idea in my head of an OTQ, and after some thought, I committed to training for my first marathon in mid-summer 2019.

A lot of my training was similar, mainly just adding long runs. In marathons, I like that I have more time to go through the ups and downs of the race, to adjust my pace, catch up, etc., because you're running for a long time. I didn’t quite know if I was prepared for it mentally, but I kept checking in with myself throughout the run.

Jasmine: The U.S. Olympic Trials was a hard course in Atlanta! Three loops, a lot of hills, and not to mention the wind. How was your experience?

Peyton: I’d never been in a big event like this before, so it was pretty daunting. My coach told me that there were going to be people who go out hard as they get caught up in the atmosphere but then gas out. He encouraged me to maintain control and focus. But, I also had in my head, “What if I’m one of those people?” So, throughout the race, I kept doing self-checks.

My only goal going in was to be competitive, to prove that I deserve to be in this competitive space and can run alongside these top runners. A lot of people were happy to be there, and yes, I was, too, but I wanted to prove to myself that I can compete and perform.

Peyton Thomas at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trails in Atlanta, Georgia, February 29. Photo via Peyton Thomas.

The race didn’t go exactly as planned. I started towards the back of the corrals and I had a setback later on in the race. On the start line, I reminded myself I have 26.2 miles to advance and get to my goal. I felt good until I caught a calf cramp around mile 18 and had to stop a few times along the way because it was painful to put weight on it and especially made running downhill tough. It hurt, but I’m glad I got myself to finish. During those last miles, I had to keep telling myself that I didn’t come here not to finish this race and to remember all the people who showed up to support me, friends and strangers who came out to show me love, and that was a majority of what was driving me.

Jasmine: We can't overlook that you were the only African-American woman at the start line. How does that affect you?

Peyton: It wasn’t top of mind for me because I included African women in my idea of Black women running, plus they’re always the top distance runners in the world. But there should be some distinction, because they are completely different stories. Since the race, hearing how much me running at the Trials has impacted other people makes it real for me. Now that I’m here, I hope to inspire more Black women to pursue the sport and realize, ‘You can do this, too’. It shouldn’t be rare or an anomaly [to see us here].

Jasmine: What advice do you have for women looking to improve their own marathon running?

Peyton: What I found made me the strongest was long runs. And not just taking it long and easy, but incorporating intervals at (or faster than) marathon pace. For example, for a 20-miler, we’d do a mile warm up, then three miles at marathon pace, six miles easy, then 2x2 miles at marathon pace, and then finish at two miles at marathon pace. Not only are you proving that you can run the distance, but you can run it at marathon pace, so you shouldn’t be afraid to run as fast as you think you can on race day.

For your mentality, always remember that you’re stronger than you think you are. I struggle with that and I put personal notes on my wall for encouragement. One of my favorites is, “You are brilliant, bright and beautiful”. Not all workouts will go well, you’ll have your ups and downs, but trust your training and don’t compare yourself to others. Don’t make the mental part too complex, just trust yourself.

Jasmine: What’s next for you?

Peyton: First, recovery and rehab. I’m talking to my coach soon about training for a fast fall marathon at a large race. I’ve proven to myself that I can be in a top group, so I want to expose myself to these bigger races. In between, I’m looking to have fun with some shorter distances!

*Footnote: Standards determined by U.S.A. Track and Field. Times are listed in ‘hours:minutes:seconds’.