making
headlines

Runaway Bride: Soon-To-Be-Wed Steffens New U.S. Women's 20K Champion

The United States road running community has five days to get used to the name Jill Steffens, the virtual unknown who never ran a 20K
in her life and then stole the United States Women’s 20K Championship out from under an elite class of runners Monday at the Stratton Faxon New Haven Road Race.

On Saturday, she’ll be introduced for the first time as Mrs. Michael Swope, and we imagine you’ll be hearing the name Jill Swope for several years to come.

Steffens, 24, passed the renowned Elva Dryer, a two-time Olympian and one of Steffens’ idols, with about 50 meters left to capture the $8,000 first-place check in a time of 1 hour, 8 minutes and 48 seconds.

“This is the third competitive road race of my career (as a professional), and I never ran over 10K before,” said Steffens, a petite blonde who could pass for a teen. “So this is all very intimidating to me. The women I was running against ... I mean Elva Dryer is an idol to me.”

When Steffens passed Dryer in the stretch, Dryer surely must have done a double take. “Who is that woman?”

There was certainly nothing to be gleaned about Steffens from the informational pamphlet of professional runners, where her name was accompanied by air. She had no bio at all. She also had no luggage (until Sunday night), but we’ll get to that later.

“I don’t think (Dryer) knows who I am, but she was an Olympian in 2004, and that’s my dream for 2012,” said Steffens, moments after the race. “So I absolutely, 100 percent, respected the field I was running against. But I did feel I belonged here and wanted to see how I could do.”

It wasn’t until about an hour after the race that Steffens caught up with Dryer to introduce herself, share a hug — and mutual respect.

“It’s getting harder to keep up with the young ones,” chuckled Dryer, 36, who found the prospect of being called an idol quite humbling. “I think she’ll be an idol to young ones pretty soon.”

Steffens instantly stamped herself as a force to be reckoned with in women’s road racing, even if that still sounded so unusual to her.

“You know, I hope I am (a force in the future),” Steffens said. “Running is a passion of mine, and now I’m really excited to finally be in the game. Now I can go places and say, ‘Good to see you.’” And have someone actually know who she is in return. If nothing else, Steffens joked, she’ll have some text to go in her bio next year.

Steffens, born and raised in Illinois, called herself a “nasty point guard” in basketball in high school, but at 5 feet 2 and 102 pounds, there are limitations, even for an all-state point guard.

“I was very tenacious, but no height and not a lot of weight to throw around,” Steffens said. “I played basketball, soccer, softball, gymnastics, and it seemed that every theme was that I could run forever. I had more endurance than everyone, so it became obvious that running was my prominent sport. So I really fell into it. I didn’t choose it.”

Steffens was an accomplished runner at the University of Georgia, where she won three Southeastern Conference championships and graduated in 2006, but her first season (2007) as a professional was dreadful, in large part due to severe anemia.

“I ran many months with low iron and kind of kept blaming it on one thing or another,” Steffens said. “Then we found out I had very low iron, and now that I’m healthy again, it’s kind of like I’m back where I should be.”

She was hoping that the Olympic trials for the 10K in Eugene, Ore., two months ago would catapult her pro career, but she finished a disappointing 18th and progress seemed to have taken a step back.

We think she learned Monday that the longer distance might suit her even more than 10,000 meters or the 10K. She displayed a 10,000-meter finishing kick, plus the endurance to thrive at the longer distance.

“I don’t think she wanted to know that (how talented she could be at longer distances),” cracked Steffens’ fiance Michael Swope, who was also a talented distance runner at Georgia. “I think she wants to run the shorter distances ... and she certainly has the speed and ability to do that. But this will give her confidence (in the longer distances).”

Steffens’ ascension to national champion was made even more problematic by the fact her luggage did not arrive at Tweed with her on Saturday. But she was effusive in her praise to the race organizers for helping her through the ordeal.

“I will be a regular in New Haven for as long as I’m running,” Steffens said. “It’s just absolutely beautiful. I have to say that John Tolbert, who’s the elite athlete coordinator, has been fantastic. I’m an unknown who lost her luggage. I didn’t get my bags until (Sunday night) at 10:30. So I had to wear the same outfit, I had no toothbrush, I had nothing.”

Tolbert took her to Trailblazer, a race sponsor, “and bless their hearts, they gave me a new pair of New Balance shoes that I always run in.” Steffens said. “Please get that in. They’re my sponsor, and I think they’ve been wondering when I was going to throw something down.”

Until Monday, it wouldn’t have meant much anyway. Now she’s the U.S. national champion and a recognizable name in road running. At least for the next five days.

“I’ll be Jill Swope the next time I race, so maybe I’ll be able to sneak up on people next year,” Steffens said. She’ll have to settle for a warm greeting by her peers and the adulation of the U.S. road running community.