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Esther Erb Turns Dreams to Reality

Published by
ArmoryTrack.org   Feb 26th 2015, 2:30pm
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Since winning this past October’s US Marathon Championships, Esther Erb has found it hard to keep from daydreaming.

And that’s a good thing.

Her solo runs through the cold are a little less dreary now that she can think on having qualified for the marathon at this August’s IAAF World Championships. 

"I imagine the heat, the crowds, the competition, the finish line in sight," said Erb, who will compete on the US national team for the first time. “There are bigger things at stake now that I’m going to be representing the US and I’m super excited about that. “

The excitement helped Erb carry her success over to the 2015 indoor season, as she’s so far recorded personal bests in the mile (4:55.72), 3k (9:26.55) and most recently the 1600m leg (4:49.69) of her NYAC team, which won the Club Distance Medley Relay at the 108th NYRR Millrose Games. 

“Running the DMR was really fun. I really love the opportunities where I can put myself out there and be a team player.”

In addition to being a team player, Erb is also an assistant cross country coach at Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ under Bob Hamer.

“Being a coach has been a huge factor in my ability to be a better athlete. Knowing that I’m an example to my athletes is making me do a better job of taking care of myself.”

Erb, now 28, began running during her junior year of high school while studying abroad in Germany. Following in the footsteps of her road running host, Erb picked a daily 3.35 mile loop to test her abilities, and became hooked on running after finally breaking 28:00.

She went on to graduate from Case Western Reserve University in 2008 as an NCAA Division III National Champion in the 10,000m and then spent two years teaching and studying in Vienna, Austria under a Fulbright Scholarship.

Erb ran her first two marathons while living abroad, debuting in 2:46.15 at the 2008 Berlin Marathon and dropping down to 2:39.02 at the 2010 Seville Marathon.

Between returning from Vienna in 2010 and winning 2014’s US Marathon Championships, Erb has sung the national anthem before competing for 27th place at the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials (2:37.21); placed third in the 2013 US Marathon Championships (2:34.30); and in 2014 finished 20th at the Boston Marathon (2:33.15).

“Every time I step on the track, or course or whatever starting line I have, I just want to be able to back up my last performance and prove that that one wasn’t a fluke.”

With her times consistently dropping, who knows what the future holds for Erb. Though she’ll certainly be worth looking out for at the upcoming World Championships, she admits her chances of making the 2016 Olympic marathon team are slim, but is more confident in her chances for 2020’s Games in Tokyo, Japan.

“I just don't think that I'm realistically in the Olympic picture right now, which honestly is an exciting place to be. If I do have another break-through year, then awesome! But even if I just hold on to the kind of shape I'm in right now and continue to chip away at my PR, I'll be happy.  I think that in this sport, staying healthy and consistent is huge and very impressive in itself.”



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