LT Grad DeProsperis Running After U.S. Olympic Trials in Women's Marathon

After coming so far as a marathon runner, Kate (Reicher) DeProsperis only wanted to smile last December at coming painfully close to her dream.

The 1997 graduate of Lyons Township High School tried to achieve a time of 2 hours, 46 minutes to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic women’s marathon trials at the California International Marathon Dec. 5 in Sacramento, Calif., less than two months after dropping out during the Chicago Marathon.

Her mother, Denise Reicher, and husband, Ryan, waited at the finish chute, anxiously watching second by second elapse and the cutoff time pass. DeProsperis arrived shortly thereafter in 2 hours, 48 minutes, 27 seconds, a personal record.

“I was happy. (But) they had tears in their eyes. They were upset for me,” DeProsperis said. “I was obviously upset that I didn’t make it, but for me to PR, after feeling as horrible as I felt during that (training) cycle, I was relieved and happy.”

DeProsperis, 32, of Downers Grove has heightened her efforts to achieve the coveted 2:46 B-standard qualifying time by Dec. 14 for the Olympic trials Jan. 14, 2012 in Houston.

Her next try comes at the Chicago Marathon Oct. 9. It was there back in 1999 that DeProsperis ran her first marathon. That time of 3:48.15 is about an hour slower than these days, the most successful and rewarding of a long running career.

“That’s the reason I have to pinch myself a lot of times. I was an average runner in high school, above average maybe,” DeProsperis said.

“I never would have thought that I would even be at this point, where I would be garnering elite starts to races and being asked to run races for free and maybe qualify for the Olympic trials and run with these professional runners who get paid to run. Even if I don’t drop any more time, I’m proud of what I’ve done because I would have never thought that I would have ever done this.”

This season has been the culmination of years of dedication, race experience and plenty of miles with her feet and car.

DeProsperis has been making the nearly 100-mile round-trip to Lake Forest usually twice, sometimes three times, a week to work with 1996 U.S. Olympic women’s marathon runner Jenny Spangler and her training groups.

If DeProsperis realizes during the marathon that she won’t reach the qualifying time, she plans to drop out and take one last shot at the CIM Dec. 4.

“You’ve got to go into Chicago thinking and knowing you can do it,” DeProsperis said. “I’m not going to go into Chicago with CIM in the back of my head as my backup, but I know it’s a possibility and I’m going to smart about it.”

In 2009, DeProsperis was bogged down personally, overseeing the building of a new house and going through switching jobs. Already, she had completed six marathons -- the 2002 Boston Marathon and five Chicago Marathons with three in a row from 2005-07. Her Oct. 20, 2007 wedding came two weeks after the Chicago Marathon.

She didn’t complete the 2009 Chicago Marathon, her participation merely a workout. Her twin sister, Carrie Assell, suggested coming for a visit and participating in the CIM. Also a successful marathon runner, Assell moved to California in 2007 and still lives there with husband David.

Everything worked out. It was an unseasonably cold December day by California standards in the 30s, even catching Assell off-guard without a scraper to get rid of frost on her car windows.

DeProsperis took full advantage. She finished in 2:50.40 – not only her first sub-3 hour finish but a then-personal record by 14 minutes.

“That was the big step where I knew, ‘Gosh, this is possible,’ ” DeProsperis said.

“For me, it was the weather I was used to training in here. I felt that race was hard, as any marathon is hard, but I felt I could improve on that. I wasn’t plateauing. After that one, I was just like, ‘I’ve got to focus on this.’”

The effort already has been noticed this year. DeProsperis was among 75 runners nationwide selected to represent Saucony shoes, which provides her with shoes and gear, and also is part of PowerBar’s TeamElite program, receiving gear and nutritional products. DeProsperis was a member of Dick Pond Racing the previous five years.

DeProsperis has trained for roughly five years with Spangler, who began training individuals and small groups a decade ago. She was introduced to the Olympian after Carrie, then working at Deerfield High School, discussed her running with a co-worker who just trained with Spangler.

Of course, the twins knew of Spangler. They were excited to meet her and somewhat startled to be working with her shortly thereafter.

“We met up with her one day at the coffee shop. Jenny is the nicest woman ever, so approachable,” DeProsperis said.

Even at that point, DeProsperis had made extensive progress as a distance runner. She grew up in Burr Ridge and was a varsity cross country and track runner for LT. As seniors, she and Assell were an all-state third with the 3,200-meter relay at the 2007 Class AA girls track state meet. The previous year, the Lions won the state title in the event after DeProsperis ran with the relay at sectionals.

DeProsperis then was a walk-on member for the University of Notre Dame women’s cross country and track teams her first two years. In her first season not on the cross country team, she ran the Chicago Marathon.

Assell competed in track for one season at the University of Illinois as a walk-on. Assell has somewhat curbed her marathon training because of motherhood, but she achieved her goal at the 2010 CIM of a sub-3:00 finish with a time of 2:56.59.

“I feel I was given a talent but I’m not overly talented. I feel like I’ve always had that drive to be the best I can as a runner but if I just had one inch more of talent, maybe I could be at that (elite) level,” DeProsperis said. “I think I’ve shown with drive you can make it fairly far and have success you would have never imagined if you just work hard. I’m running way faster now than I ever did in high school.”

Spangler’s running group has been the final push. Recently, DeProsperis has been making long runs on Sundays with the distance runners and joining the larger group for speedwork on Tuesdays and tempo work on Thursdays, which she sometimes does on her own. Tempo work, going different speeds within designated training distances, is where DeProsperis feels she has improved most in recent years.

Amy Haney of Libertyville also is working with Spangler for the women’s marathon Olympic trials and did so for the 2008 trials as well. Haney is among 15 members (12 men, 3 women) of the Jenny Spangler Racing team.

“I feel like they’re part of my family now and it’s a long process. I’ve been through Kate getting married so it’s been fun, but with work and stuff like that, it’s harder (to train),” Spangler said. “They’re not at that elite, elite level where they don’t have to work. They’re very lucky that they have very supportive, I think, spouses and family and friends to help them out.”

Since August, however, Haney has been training from her other home in Arizona with another coach and group while consulting with Spangler.

Still, there are numerous talented men and women among the training group at any time covering the full spectrum of training goals – from faster marathons to improved 5Ks.

“There’s always someone to chase (in workouts),” DeProsperis said.

“Jenny and my teammates are so encouraging. When you find a group that you know is supportive of you and able to push you, it’s the only reason I’ve gotten as far as I’ve gotten. You’re only going to get better if you run with faster people. You see them succeed (with their goals) and makes you realize what’s possible.”

There’s also the added expertise and motivation from Spangler. And with more marathons has come more experience in racing and training. DeProsperis even entered random 5K and 10K races where she didn’t care how she competed to learn to suppress nerves that she felt affected her as a runner especially in high school.

“I give the workouts and try to give the workouts that I think will help to race well, but to be honest I think it’s the group that really does the trick for everybody,” Spangler said. “What’s nice about this is everybody supports each other and everybody’s watching what Kate’s doing and cheering for her, even if they’re into the 5K, so it’s a nice bond and group effort.”

In many ways, it’s no surprise that DeProsperis is peaking. Many women’s marathoners are at top form in their early 30s.

Spangler was 32 when she stunned the running world by winning the 1996 Olympic trials for Atlanta with the 61st qualifying time. Spangler jokes that even her parents had gone back to the hotel after the start of the race when they discovered from the television coverage that she was in front.

Deena Kastor, the event’s last U.S. medalist at the 2004 Olympics, was 31 when she earned the bronze medal in Athens.

As early as Jan. 1, 2010, women’s marathon runners could qualify for the Olympic trial, where the top three finishers will represent the U.S. at the Summer Olympics in London. The A-qualifying standard is 2:39.

“You can’t just wake up and run (among the elite), unless you’re fantastic, very gifted,” DeProsperis said. “There’s a certain amount of patience that’s required for marathon training and just patience of being able to put in the time and dedication to the training. It’s a lot of long hours and learning from your experiences.”

In Chicago, DeProsperis won’t be running alone. Ryan and Denise Reicher will be there again, and Assell is flying in for the race. Roughly another 10-to-15 people, friends, an old training partner, will be there and possibly her brothers, Mike and Dave, and Ryan’s parents.

Preparing for the trials, top U.S. women will not be there, but there should be several other women going for the cut. Spangler said other nations don’t select their teams through trials so many international elites will be battling in Chicago for times that could be taken into account for the selection of their respective Olympic lineups.

“That just adds to the excitement down there. Everybody’s focusing on who’s winning but the side story is there’s all of these women that are trying to qualify for the trials,” Spangler said. “It’s not about place (for them). It’s about time.”

Haney probably won’t be a pacing partner because she typically uses a different racing strategy and starts out slower than DeProsperis.

However, Jenny Spangler Racing member Rob Wiley is an official Chicago Marathon pacer for the women’s B-qualifying time. He ran 2:26.06 in Boston and had aspirations for the men’s Olympic trials but had his training deterred by stress fractures in his pelvis.

Wiley is contracted to maintain his pace for at least the first 18 miles.

“Rob said that if I’m still there with him, he’ll try to get me as far as he can,” DeProsperis said.

The goal is to be at roughly 1:22.30 at the halfway point (2:45 pace), about 45 seconds slower than her 13.1-mile split at CIM. At that race, DeProsperis said she began “getting lightheaded” around miles 15, 16 and 17, yet she persevered for her fastest finish. That makes her even more confident that the right mindset can finally earn that Olympic trials berth.

“I just need to run a little smarter, not go out that fast, and just make sure it kind of happens on that day,” DeProsperis said.

“I’ve matured a lot, realized that running is for fun and the fact that having success is even better, but it’s not my end all. My family and Ryan – I have a lot more going on in my life than just running but it’s still such a great thing to do and if I can chase this dream, I might as well.”

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