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Sunday, February 20, 2000 By Lori Shontz, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
Joe LeMay went to Sacramento last December for the California International Marathon with one goal in mind. He didn't care if he won -- not even where he placed, in fact, as long as he ran faster than 2 minutes, 14 seconds, the A standard to qualify for the Olympic Games. Nothing else mattered.
He had figured out his splits, calculating exactly what he needed to run to meet his goal. With 26 miles finished, he had left only 28 seconds to run the final two-tenths of a mile. Said LeMay, "I had cut it pretty close."
Why no leeway? LeMay has a ready answer. "I don't think people are really built to go 26 miles," he said. "That's my personal theory. It's something I have to work on."
For the previous 26 miles, he had concentrated on keeping his new running form, the slightly straighter posture that has helped to alleviate his chronic back problems. Now he just sprinted for the line, with only the time in mind.
He made it, finishing third overall in 2:13:55. "I turned around and looked up after I crossed the line," LeMay said. "I saw the clock roll over to 2:14, and I knew I was under the time."
LeMay's coach, Tom Fleming, wasn't quite so nervous. He figured that LeMay, whom he had coached since 1989, when LeMay graduated from Princeton and started graduate work at Penn State, had planned the whole thing.
"He had it all figured out," Fleming said. "He was actually that cool. To get within five seconds, that cut it a little close. I was hoping he didn't get to the finish line and didn't see 13:58, 13:59, and I'll be damned if it almost didn't work out that way."
And so LeMay, a 33-year-old systems administrator from Danbury, Conn., is one of only two men who will arrive in Pittsburgh for the U.S. Olympic Trials for men's marathon with the A standard.
"He wasn't blessed, probably, with the greatest speed in the world," Fleming said. "He has the greatest mind and great preparation. He focuses on the goal, sticks to the plan. He thinks on his feet when he's running."
His thought processes, however, are sometimes a bit off, as evidenced by his personal web page. LeMay includes a bit of everything:
His favorite cow jokes (What does a cow do after writing a book? Have it cowpyrighted).
A photo album of his marriage five months ago to ultramarathoner Ellen McCurtin.
A "short" biography that ranges from the title of his senior thesis at Princeton ("Data Acquisition via Pulse Width Modulation for an Airborne Telementry Unit using a 6502 based Microprocessor) to the medication he takes to regulate his hypoactive thyroid (0.175 mg daily of Synthroid) to an explanation of why he left his first job after college -- "Got fired from it in 1994. Boss was, um, not a nice guy."
Also included: LeMay's running log since 1996.
"He has a bizarre sense of humor," Fleming said. "Don't let the web page kid you. He's an incredibly serious person who knows exactly where he's going. He's fun to coach. You can't just be serious and run and train all the time."
LeMay has always wanted to run, ever since he saw Bill Rodgers dominating the New York City Marathon; that's why he made his marathon debut there in 1993, at age 26. It went badly; LeMay was unable to get an elite number, was forced to start back in the pack, didn't get anything to drink for 45 minutes before the race and hit the wall at 18 miles.
But he continued to run the marathon, although he concentrated on the track to work on his speed. "I guess the marathon was where the biggest spotlight was," LeMay said. "I like the attention. The 5K and 10K, you never see them on TV. Nobody knows anything about them. But the marathon is the biggest running event there is."
Still, LeMay attempted to make the 1996 U.S. Olympic team at 10,000 meters. And he did ... kind of. LeMay finished second in the 10,000 meters, but he didn't meet the A standard necessary to compete in the Olympics. He and Fleming knew achieving the time would be difficult in Atlanta's heat and humidity; LeMay was upset when he missed the standard by 13 seconds at the Penn Relays a few months earlier.
"It was so windy that night that effort was probably a qualifying effort," he said. "But the time wasn't there."
So LeMay looked for a meet at which he could run a fast 10,000, but there was none to be had. Fast runners who had already qualified for the Games weren't going to waste their time running another one. So he tried twice, but he didn't come close to meeting the standard.
"A good lesson was learned," Fleming said. "Get the A standard out of the way."
Which is exactly what LeMay did at Cal International. And it's why he's frustrated that if the winner of the Olympic Trials doesn't break 2:14 -- a possibility LeMay and Fleming consider likely if it's warm and/or humid on May 7 -- he will not compete in Sydney, either.
LeMay and David Morris, the other A standard holder, can earn berths on the Olympic team by winning the Olympic Trials no matter their time. If they finish in the top three and break 2:14 again, they also are assured of Olympic team berths.
But if someone else wins, and if he doesn't break 2:14, no one else will go to the Olympics. If the winner but no one else breaks 2:14, LeMay and Morris can still go, provided they finish the race.
Both qualifiers think the United States should send the greatest possible number of marathoners, and that if the winner in Pittsburgh doesn't break 2:14, they should go to Sydney. But USA Track and Field decided last month that the winner of the trials must go, which upsets LeMay.
"It makes it very confusing for me," he said. "Before they made this change, all I had to do was finish in the top three, seeing as I have the qualifying time. Now there's about a dozen different ways I can make or not make the team."
Which changes LeMay's strategy a bit.
"I guess I have to run to win," he said. "I think Dave Morris is going to win the trials, which will solve a lot of problems. He's got three minutes on the guy in second and he's over four minutes ahead of me. It's his race to lose, and I think he'll probably win. But if he doesn't I have to make sure I do."
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