Running Start

Kelly Flathers’ dreams keep stretching.

A few months ago, she never thought about running more than 16 miles. She had proved herself as a miler at Mater Dei, ran for a successful cross-country program in college and last year popped up on the victory stand at a few 5Ks around Orange County.

But Flathers is really stretching it out now. She’s hoping for a spot on the U.S. Olympic marathon team in 2000.

Flathers seems fit to make a try. She proved it by winning the female division at her hometown Huntington Beach Marathon Jan. 25, her first race at that distance.

Flathers, 26, finished in 2 hours 55 minutes 6 seconds, about six minutes behind the men’s winner, Rob McNair, and fourth overall.

“I thought if I could finish the marathon, feel good and run a decent time, that I would commit myself to running in the Olympic trials,” Flathers said. “My goal, right now, for the Olympic trials is to run the eighth standard [qualifying] time, which is 2:42.”

Flathers has more than two years to prepare, and is confident she can knock 30 seconds off each mile, especially since she started cautiously the first time. Flathers, who also works full time as a veterinarian assistant, said she will begin specific marathon training in late July.

In the meantime, Flathers has reverted to the shorter distances, including Sunday’s prestigious Carlsbad 5000, which attracts numerous past and future Olympians because of a fast layout that has produced nine world records and seven U.S. records in its 12 years.

But don’t expect any magic from Flathers, she’s still trying to regenerate some leg speed that has been absent since the marathon.

“I thought the marathon didn’t take much out of me, but it did take a lot out of me,” Flathers said. “I cruised in, I felt fine, I wasn’t sore, but it took a lot of energy out of me.”

Just 10 days earlier, Flathers donned her Walkman and ventured out on the longest run of her life, a 20-mile trek from the border of Huntington and Newport beaches, around Balboa Island, through Corona del Mar, and into Laguna.

Flathers felt so good afterward, she entered the Huntington Beach Marathon that day.

“I needed to run the Huntington Beach Marathon to gain my confidence,” she said. “Once I ran it and got that time, I knew that I would be able to run a competitive marathon.”

Planning a racing schedule has never been a strong point for Flathers. Ask the date of her next half marathon, and you’ll probably get a rough estimate. But Flathers can show you, in writing, how many miles she ran exactly six months ago or what type of training she used that week.

“I keep all my training schedules, I keep everything the coaches have given me along the lines,” Flathers said. “I can’t say I’m the best at planning ahead. I usually don’t specifically look at a race until a week before, and that’s when I start picturing the race.”

Flathers was 11 when she first ran cross-country. Her mother and stepfather belonged to a social running club called the Hash House Harriers, which is known more for trotting from bar to bar than anything else. At the club’s summer camp, Flathers borrowed a pair of oversized boys’ shoes before a group run.

She ran cross-country and track at Mater Dei, gaining attention around Orange County during a competitive period that produced several girls who routinely broke five minutes in the mile. “My fastest mile was a 5:03, and it still didn’t get me to state,” Flathers said. “You had to break 5:00.”

Flathers had some scholarship offers but chose to walk on at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She was drawn to the school more for its animal science program and location than for its cross-country teams.

“I saw San Luis Obispo when I was 12 or 13 years old, and I said this is the school I want to go to,” Flathers said. “I was traveling through town and I said this is it.”

In order to get any financial aid, Flathers had to qualify for the nationals, which she did her second season.

After graduating in 1995, Flathers continued running in various road races around Orange County and began to show up among the leaders. Some of her victories in 1997 included a 5K in Huntington Beach July 4, and another victory at the Bastille Day 5K in Newport Beach a week later. Back then, winning a marathon didn’t seem like a possibility.

“Now that I have committed myself mentally and physically for the trials, and possibly the Olympics, I’m going to start being more specific with my training,” Flathers said. “That’s when I think my times will be really dropping.”