HOUSTON — The U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials are Saturday and one local mom will be running for a chance to head to Tokyo.
Most Olympic marathon hopefuls are professional runners but that's not the case for a Kingwood mom of three.
“I started after the birth of our twins, just to lose some weight and just to find some time — a ‘mommy timeout’ is what i used to call it,” Amanda Cruise said.
In just seven years, Amanda went from casual runner to qualifying for the Olympic trials.
“I just want to go and soak it in! All the hard work that's gone into it — i just want to enjoy every second of being there,” Cruise said.
The road to trials has been a bumpy one, including Amanda losing her home in Hurricane Harvey.
“It happened leading up to my qualifying race in California for the trials,” she said. “I think it's just staying determined with what's going on in your life and Harvey was definitely a setback for us, for our family and our kids, but we pulled through it.”
With a packed schedule as a mom, an online running coach and a nursing student, and nursing injuries, she's still managed to get months of solid training in.
“The main thing is to go out there and feel healthy,” she said. “I think that's the best thing for me right now is to be completely pain-free.”
After three years of waiting, the day has finally come for Amanda to show the nation what she's made of. And for luck, she's bringing a little taste of Texas with her by decorating her race-day water bottles.
“It's just a reminder of who I am, how I started and all the people that I love.”
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