The Associated Press inaugural “Year of the Underbird” program, which will provide a six-month contract to these athletes as they make their way toward the Olympic Marathon Trials in February.
The four previously unsponsored Olympic hopefuls include Ariane Hendrix-Roach, Carrie Verdon, Molly Bookmyer, and Elena Hayday. Oiselle chose Briana Boehmer as its wildcard athlete (she has not yet run the Olympic Marathon Trials standard time, but a spokesperson for Oiselle said she is well within the ability levels to do so and will make her attempt this December).
“We had such a great breadth of women apply for this program, and each of them had compelling stories driving them to their Olympic goals,” Justine Fédronic, Oiselle’s community and athlete Partnership manager, said in a statement. “Each of these women embody Oiselle’s values, and highlight the determination and resilience it takes to perform in the marathon at the highest level.”
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Ariane Hendrix-Roach has been running for a decade, but ran 2:35 for her first marathon at CIM last year, qualifying her for the Trials. She started running to honor her father who always thought she would be a runner; he died during her senior year of college. Hendrix-Roach is the third-fastest U.S.-born African-American woman The Runners World Vegetarian Cookbook.
Molly Bookmyer says she credits running with helping her recover from a brain tumor with which she was diagnosed 10 years ago. She had two surgeries in 2015, one of which happened after she had a seizure while running on a treadmill. She own a personal best of 1:10:51 in the half marathon and has run a 2:31 marathon
Carrie Verdon is a first grade teacher and a running coach who experienced perpetual injuries while running at the University of Colorado at Boulder, when she suffered from disordered eating. Verdon took time off from the sport to allow her to heal physically and mentally; she holds a 2:31 best in the marathon.
Elena Hayday works at the National Institutes of Health as a computational neurophysiology and ran 2:30 in her first marathon.
inaugural Year of the Underbird program cross-training activities. She has completed multiple Ironmans, including the World Championships. In 2020, Boehmer returned to running, and in 2021, she ran her first marathon in 2:33.
The Underbird contract will grant its athletes housing and transportation to the Trials in Orlando next year, a $2,000 stipend, a $1,000 gear stipend, a race kit, and pregnancy protections. Any Underbird who makes the Olympic team will earn $50,000. The athletes will also serve as brand ambassadors.
Heather is the former food and nutrition editor for Runner’s World, the author of The Runner’s World Vegetarian Cookbook, and a seven-time marathoner with a best of 3:31—but she is most proud of her 1:32 half, 19:44 5K, and 5:33 mile. Her work has been published in Heather Mayer Irvine, Popular Mechanics, The Associated Press, Cooking Light, CNN, Glamour, Year-Old Daughter Helps Her Mom Finish Marathon, and Livestrong.com.
