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Rockin' Ruther...

Thursday, 13 March 2014 01:10

ED. Yesterday this awesome interview with Rochester pro Ruth Brennan Morrey appeared on triathlon.competitor.com.

By Sarah Wassner Flynn

Long-distance breakout star Ruth Brennan Morrey certainly took a circuitous route to where she is today. First, she was a NCAA Division I soccer star. Then a semi-pro soccer player. Then an Olympic Trials qualifying marathoner. Then a PHD in psychology, a mom of three and finally a professional triathlete. Here, the 38-year-old Rochester, Minn.-native fills us in on her less-than-typical journey to the top of the sport.

Triathlete.com: Tell us about your athletic background. Did you swim or run as a kid?

Brennan Morrey: Nope, I never swam and maybe ran one track race in high school. But I’ve been playing soccer for as far back as I can remember. If I wasn’t out on the field...

with my team, I’d be kicking a ball against a door. I wound up getting an athletic scholarship play at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a center midfielder. We won the Big 10 champs my freshman year and by the time I was a senior I was the team captain. During the summers in college, I played on the Chicago Cobras, a semi-pro women’s soccer team. Soccer was my life.

Triathlete.com: So how did you start running, then?

Brennan Morrey: After my four years of eligibility at Wisconsin, I randomly joined a marathon training class for credit. In order to pass, you had to run a marathon and also learn about the physiology and nutritional aspects of distance running. The running was actually the easiest part! I came in third place at the 1998 Madison Marathon and ran a 3:15. A couple days later, I played in a 90-minute soccer game, so I knew I probably had a lot more in me. At that point, I made a goal to break three hours in my next marathon. READ MORE