Emily LeVan, Caroline Annis, and Carly Graytock

Known for:
Finishing 12th, 13th, and 14th in the 2005 Boston Marathon, the first, second and third American finishers, respectively, in 2:43:14, 2:43:46, and 2:44:02.

LeVan went on to represent the USA at the IAAF World Championships Marathon in Helsinki, in August 2005, placing 35th in a PR 2:38:32, the third American to finish. She was selected as New England Runner’s female Runner of the Year.

What we didn’t know:
LeVan was training for the Twin Cities marathon when she got the call to run in Helsinki, only three weeks before the race. She sharpened up with a 35:53 at the Beach to Beacon 10K on August 6th, then finished her greatly-abbreviated taper with the marathon on August 14th.

LeVan then weathered a three-week layoff in September of 2005, when she cut her foot moving a chicken pen on the organic farm in Wiscassett, Maine, where she lives with her husband. “I was frustrated when it happened,” she says, “but I didn’t have many races planned for the fall, so it couldn’t have happened at a better time.”

Since getting back out on the roads, she’s confident in her recovery. “Being able to discuss my training with Jeff Staab, the B.A.A. coach, has helped me structure my training and turn up the intensity,” she says. “The biggest difference has been getting down to do the training runs on the course. That’s been really helpful.”

Annis, a native Floridian who has trained in the San Francisco Bay area for the past eight years (since she was a Stanford undergraduate,) likes the strength she gets from San Francisco’s famous hills. However, it wasn’t until a teammate pointed out the resemblance that she noticed how her long run route resembled the Boston course profile.

Annis and Graytock ran together into the hills in 2005, and counted themselves lucky not to be running alone as the women’s field spread out. With the early start, both recognize that running solo is a real possibility. “Once I settle into a pace and start going, I don’t worry about what’s around me,” says Annis. “I like being one of the first people the crowd sees, even if I’m not with the lead pack.” Graytock agrees, and adds, “Once we got to the hills, we could see people coming back [from the lead pack.] I was feeling pretty good then.”

Both Annis and Graytock work in different areas of biomedical research. Graytock is a research associate in an Immunigen lab in Cambridge; Annis coordinates clinical trials for Genentech in San Francisco. Like many of her college teammates, Annis majored in Human Biology, one of Stanford’s most challenging departments. “Runners tend to be interested in the human body and how it works,” she explains.

Since returning to the Boston area in December, Graytock has taken advantage of regular B.A.A. workouts on the marathon course. “I was ready for the uphills” in 2005, she says, but now, “I want to work on the downhills after the uphills.”

Graytock was a pacer for a group of women aiming to run the 2008 Olympic Trials “A” standard at the Freescale Austin Marathon in February. She led the group through 25K at 2:40 pace, which she hopes will be her marathon pace in Boston.

Both Graytock and LeVan have joined the B.A.A. since the 2005 marathon, making the B.A.A. one of the most competitive women’s teams expected for the 2006 race. “We’re excited about the possibility of scoring high as a team,” says LeVan.

What they’ve been up to:
LeVan finished her nursing program at the University of Southern Maine in December, and is now working in the Emergency Department at the Miles Memorial Hospital in Damriscotta, Maine. She’s hoping for a PR (“Always a challenge on the Boston course,” she says,) and an Olympic Trials “A” qualifying time—sub-2:39:00.

Annis ran a San Francisco half-marathon in early February, then the 8K at the USATF cross-country championships in Van Cortlandt Park two weeks later. When we spoke with her, she had only one more race, a 12K, on her schedule before the marathon.

Graytock left the Hansons/Brooks Olympic Development Program to return to the Boston area in December of 2005. “It was a hard decision, and I didn’t make it lightly, but there were more factors pulling me to the East Coast than keeping me in Michigan,” she says. Among them was the chance to work full-time in her field while continuing high-level training. Since the Twin Cities 10-miler in October of 2005, her Austin pacing effort was her only race; she expects to use the New Bedford Half Marathon as a Boston tune-up.