 Photo courtesy of Victah Sailor
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PULLMAN, Wash. – WSU Alumnus Drew Polley is getting set to participate in the upcoming Olympic Trials Marathon in Houston, Texas, on Saturday (Jan. 14).
Polley qualified for the trials in his second-ever marathon at the Boston Marathon in April, 2010. In that race, he placed 16th overall and fifth among all Americans with a finishing time of 2:16:36.
Polley graduated Magna Cum Laude from WSU in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Throughout his time at WSU, he also ran cross country and was captain of the team, but he never tackled a marathon until grad school.
“Drew did a great job as an engineering student, but we were excited to watch him as he took a chance to become a world-class runner,” said Brian Lamb, Regents Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering who is also a runner. “We’ll all be cheering him on from here in Pullman.”
In November, 2009, Polley ran his first marathon while a graduate student in WSU’s Laboratory for Atmospheric Research. His time of 2:20:59 in hot and humid conditions in San Antonio, Texas, was nearly good enough for an Olympic trials qualifying time of 2:19. Shortly after the race, he was approached by recruiters for the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, which trains elite U.S. runners. They asked him to join their group. He has lived in Michigan since then, training with the Hansons-Brooks team.
Since December, Polley has been training in Florida, where he is becoming acclimatized to the relatively warmer temperatures that he might encounter in Houston. The top three runners from the men and women’s events in Houston will qualify to participate in the 2012 London Olympics.