Q&A with Distance Runner Fiona O’Keeffe

Fiona O’Keeffe (Portrait courtesy of Puma)

This is kind of a full-circle moment between you and Sactown  magazine: You previously appeared in a photo essay about the Sacramento Ballet’s Nutcracker  in our very first issue in December 2006, when you were 8. What’s your memory of that?

It’s funny, I did ballet for like five years growing up. I think that photo was taken at a tryout, which I was pretty nervous for, I remember. It felt kind of intense because they lined up all the kids and measured your height, and then you had to practice your little dances and stuff.

It was probably good practice for the intensity of things to come!

[Laughs] Yeah!

An 8-year-old Fiona O’Keeffe graced the opening spread of a photo essay on the Nutcracker auditions in Sactown ’s premier issue

Speaking of which, I imagine that you’re busy training for the Olympics at the moment. [This interview took place in early May.] What does that look like for you day-to-day?

A lot of miles. Right now we’re doing a short altitude camp in Park City, Utah. That’s where I am right now. I’m getting ready for a 10K, and then we’ll start the full marathon build in a few weeks.

What is “a lot of miles”?

Right now, I’m running probably between 90 and 100 miles a week. And then during the build itself, I’d like to hit 120.

Your record-setting run in the February trials for the Paris Olympics was the first marathon you competed in. [O’Keeffe finished in 2 hours, 22 minutes and 10 seconds, besting the previous trials mark by over three minutes.] Had you run the length of a marathon before?

Not in a race setting, no. I’d covered the distance once in the buildup to the trials, so at least I had that in my back pocket.

Amazing. As you made it to the finish line and saw your time, what was going through your head?

I was just wrapped up in the emotion of making the team. That’s what I came in with the goal of doing. I had gotten myself to the point that I believed that I had a good shot at making the team, which is top three [finishers in the trials race]. So I was just really excited that that was happening. I took one look behind me in the final stretch because at that point, it was like, “OK, I think I am going to hang on for the win here.” I saw the time, but I didn’t really get the [record-breaking] context until later in the day. The time wasn’t really the primary goal.

When that context finally hit you, how did you feel?

It was just surprising, honestly, to hear about [having] the fastest trials record. I knew it would take a really big race to make the team, but I wasn’t expecting to come out and do that.

Now that you’ve had time to process it, why do you think you ran such a great race?

I guess my natural skillset is geared towards the marathon. I was prepared really well by my team and my coaches. One of my coaches is Amy Cragg, who actually won the [U.S. Olympic marathon] trials herself. I think it was also a benefit to come in completely under the radar. There was no external pressure on me, so that was really nice. I was just able to show up excited and curious about the marathon distance and see what it was going to be like out there.

What advice did Amy Cragg give you?

A lot of it was just about staying calm and patient in the days and weeks leading up to the race, and even through the first chunk of the race itself. You’re out there for a long time. If you’re just burning a ton of extra mental energy early on, it’s not a good thing. She was basically saying that the trials is a race where sometimes the people who just keep their sh-t together the most are the ones who make the team.

O’Keeffe crosses the finish line in record time at the U.S. Olympic marathon trials on Feb. 3 in Orlando, Florida. (Courtesy of USA Track & Field)

And now you’ll be running in the Olympics [the women’s marathon will be held on Aug. 11, the final day of the Summer Games], and you’ll probably have to run the race faster to win it or to medal, right?

Yeah, I would certainly have to level up my performance to be contending for a medal in Paris. It’s truly another level of competition—with the Kenyan and Ethiopian women, especially. All of them have best times that are significantly faster than mine. [The current women’s world record was set by Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa this past September in Berlin, who finished in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 53 seconds. Assefa will also be competing in Paris.]

What do you think about when you’re out on the route to stay calm? Are you singing a song in your head? Do you have mantras you’re repeating?

At the trials, I was kind of just trying to break the race up into chunks. And yeah, I did have a few mantras that I would use in training, and I was able to use them on race day too. One was, “First with the head, then with the heart.” It goes with that theme of trying to stay a little bit more calm and composed for the first bit, and then, as it gets into the later going, and you’re really feeling the pain of it, being OK with getting a little bit more into that emotional side and tapping into the passion.

You attended and ran track at Davis High School. You were born in Davis—did you grow up there too?

Somewhat confusingly, I was born in Davis but we didn’t move there until I was about 13. I bounced around the Sacramento area a little bit. I spent the most time growing up in the Carmichael area. I went to Catholic school—St. John the Evangelist out in Carmichael.

What was your first indication that you could not only run long distances but actually run them faster than anybody else?

Starting out just in P.E. class or something, I would just try to run the fastest, like when they did the timed mile [in elementary school].

Wait—elementary school was when you first realized that you had that competitive instinct?

Mm-hmm. And then in middle school, I went out for our track team, and I was running pretty well in the half mile and mile. I just kind of gradually moved up in distance throughout. I guess I realized what [competition] meant once I was in high school. I was really training. My coach really believed in us—Bill Gregg at Davis High. He did a great job of fostering the sense that it’s OK to have big dreams. Sometimes he would tell me things like, “OK, Fiona, I think you can win this race.” And I’d look at him like, “No way.” [Laughs] But then it would happen.

Who did you hear from back home when you won the marathon at the Olympic trials?

I heard from basically all my former high school teammates and coaches and everything. And they were just really happy for me. So that was really nice. I was back in Sacramento for a couple weeks after the trials too, to see my parents and catch up with everyone.

I feel like Sacramento was a really great place to get started. I know that it’s still a really fun and vibrant [running] scene out there. I’m very grateful for all the coaches that I had, especially in high school. I think it really set me up to do this for a long time.

What are some of your favorite places around town?

The American River Bike Trail is always a winner. That’s where I first started running a lot. It’s always nice out there. My parents live in midtown [Sacramento] now, so that’s a fun spot to come back to. There are lots of good restaurants around there, like Tower Cafe. I typically like to go out for brunch if possible. Fox & Goose is definitely a go-to spot, although the wait can be pretty long.

Going back to the Olympics, I was looking at the marathon route before we talked. It’s inspired by a legendary women’s march that went from Paris to Versailles in 1789. What do you think of the route?

It’s definitely beautiful, but I don’t know how much of that I’ll notice when I’m competing. [Laughs] Maybe [there will be] some good distractions early on. It’s a challenging course, but I think that’s actually exciting. I think it creates opportunity for people who are smart and really prepared for it.

Challenging how? And what kind of opportunity?

Challenges, like it’s quite hilly—which is definitely a complete departure from the trials course, so it’s interesting. But I do think there’s opportunity, because depending on how you play your cards out there, it could be the kind of course that really hurts people if they make certain decisions early on. For example, there are a lot of women with really fast personal bests coming into it, and I’m guessing that if they were to try to run that same pace up these hills it might come back to really, really hurt later in the race.

Because you’d be worn out for the sprint at the end?

Right.

You’ll be doing your best to focus and compete at the highest level possible. How will you also try to savor your first Olympic experience?

I’m trying to have a sense of gratitude around all of it, because I feel like that also helps take off some of the pressure and keeps everything in perspective. This truly is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and something I’ve dreamed about for years, so I definitely want to keep reminding myself of that. I’m just very excited to get to be part of Team USA.

This interview has been edited for length, flow and clarity.