Heidi Wolfsberger

Wolfsberger is new to the marathon, but has proven she's ready to take on the competition at the Olympic marathon trials.

March 19, 2008

Well, you moved up a few places late in the race. You obviously were running well within yourself. Were you surprised to feel that good that late in the race?
Yeah. I was just wondering when I was going to hit that wall. You hear a lot of stories about how it could hit you in mile 24 or 25. I was just hoping that that wouldn't happen.

What had your mileage gotten up to in this marathon training period?
It was probably around 75 or 80 miles a week at the most.

From looking at the Moravian College records, without any false modesty on your part, it seems like you're the best female middle distance and distance runner that they've ever had .... Now you can say "aw, shucks."

You still have quite a lot of the records there. Were you a high school runner who might have been able to go to a Division I school if you wanted to?
Well, I really came on late (in high school). My senior track season is when I really started progressing. I just had more desire and got into it. I was a state champion, but that was my senior year, in the two-mile (actually 3200 meters, in Pennsylvania). In my fall cross country season, I was the last person to qualify for States and I did horribly at the state meet. I know that's when they do a lot of recruiting. I thought I was going to stay local, that was the other thing. I was happy to go as far as Bethlehem (to Moravian).

Did you get go to NCAA Division III Championships?
I went several times. In cross country, we went all those years as a team. I finished 28th as a freshman, 26th a sophomore, and then second my junior and senior year.

Even though you did quite well at the shorter stuff, do you think these longer distances like the half-marathon and marathon may be your metier?
I'm not really sure. I have no idea what I can do yet. I'm very, very new to everything. I'd like to up my miles and see where that leads. I don't think that even on April 20 (the Trials date) that I'll be in the best shape for this distance. I think I'll need more experience for that.

And your job now is assistant cross country coach at Marywood University (in Scranton)?
And I'm a fourth-grade teacher.

How did Marywood do in cross country this year?
They did well. The men are building, and the women won their league (Pennsylvania Athletic Conference) meet for the fifth year in a row.

Do you run with the team?
I'm a morning person, so in the fall I'd do mine before I went to school. Sometimes I would meet team members, and afternoons, sometimes I'd run with the team and sometimes I wouldn't.

You've had some pretty good success at local races in recent years - like the Run For The Cookies (in Berwick). What do they give you for winning that?
A baker's dozen of cookies. They give you raisin and cherry cookies.

What will you do next?
I'm actually going to run some indoor meets and outdoor track meets, and a 10k road race and another half-marathon. Tentatively, the 10k would be in February in Bethlehem and then a half-marathon in Williamsburg, Virginia on February 24.