Laura Thweatt’s return to competitive running left little doubt that she is ready to return to form after 11 months away to rest an injury.
The 29-year-old professional runner from Durango finished first Sunday at the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K in Chicago. She completed the 8-kilometer road race in 26 minutes, 2 seconds. She won in a field of 11,646 women runners. Her time was good for 110th overall out of 20,893 runners of all genders.
Thweatt ran a 5:15-mile pace, which was the high-end goal she set along with Boulder Track Club coach Lee Troop for her first race back.
“Today, I came to (Shamrock Shuffle) with the aim to see where my fitness was,” Thweatt said in a post to Instagram. “It is extremely hard to gauge in training and particularly at altitude as I’m only at (70 to 80 percent) training workload, but my coach thought 5:15-5:30 pace for 8K would be fair, and I certainly exceeded my own expectations by winning the race and running 26:02.
“Words cannot describe what today means to me and how wonderful it is to get back out there and race. Thank you to the race organizers for having me, my wonderful support network of family, friends, teammates and sponsors. I’m excited about the next month of increasing the workload and getting stronger and faster.”
Thweatt’s time was dominant. Her Boulder Track Club teammate Janelle Lincks was second in 26:46. Anne-Marie Blaney of Florida was third in 26:48. Alicia Nelson of the Boulder Track Club finished 11th in 27:39. With her result, the Boulder Track Club won the team event.
Thweatt made her return from a lingering pelvic injury that forced her to withdraw from last year’s marathon world championships in London. She will continue to aim for the 2020 Olympics in the marathon distance.
Last year, Thweatt, a 2007 Durango High School graduate, ran the London Marathon and finished sixth overall in 2 hours, 25 minutes, 38 seconds. She was the top American woman.
She ran the 2015 New York City Marathon in a time of 2:28:23, which was good for seventh overall and again was the top performance by an American woman.
After those races, Thweatt battled the osteitis pubius injury, and she was forced to shut down her training last year to allow the injury to heal while she underwent extensive treatment.
With her return race a total success, Thweatt will look to build on that form and up to longer distances this season.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
