In her marathon debut, Megan Lacy hit the B standard for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.
Lacy, a 2012 graduate of Cherokee High School, ran 2:39.08 and finished 12th among 2,951 women in her marathon debut at Grandma’s Marathon Saturday in Duluth, Minn.
Her time met the B standard of 2:45 for the U.S. Olympic Trials, scheduled for Feb. 29 in Atlanta. The A standard is 2:37.
Lacy averaged 6:05.7 per mile over 26.2 miles. She ran the first 13.1 miles in 1:18.40 and the second 13.1 miles in 1:20:28.
Lacy, now based in Boise, Idaho, has a half-marathon PR of 1:16.46 in Tempe in Arizona, which is an average of 5:50.2 per mile. So she ran only 15 seconds per mile slower in her first full marathon than in her half-marathon PR!
Lacy’s close friend, Amanda Marino, a former Jackson High star, was fifth in 2:35.04, meeting the Trials A standard. Her previous PR was a 2:38.04 at the Chicago Marathon last October.
Lacy ran within two minute of the Burlington County marathon alumni record of 2:37.20, set on Feb. 4, 1995, by Northern Burlington graduate Laura Mason at the Las Vegas Marathon.
At Cherokee, Lacy ran 4:55.66 for 1,600 meters and 10:22.02 for 3,200 meters and won state titles in both events as a senior. Her 3,200 time remains No. 3 in South Jersey history (behind Michelle Rowen’s 10:12.8 in 1983 and Chelsea Ley’s 10:19.31 in 2009) and No. 13 in state history.
Lacy ran for Stanford through the spring of 2016 and then finished her NCAA eligibility competing for Boise State in the spring of 2017.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 