Photo by Victor Sailer

In two years, the Olympic Marathon Trials for Athens will be held in Birmingham, Alabama and a berth on the American team would be a great reward for several years of training, travel, and competition. Keith Dowling of Reston, Virginia, is focused and relaxed during a one hour interview at a coffee shop near his home; the marathon is a demanding event that requires high mileage for endurance and speedwork to stay in the front of the pack. An athlete follows a careful program to maximize talent and minimize injury and fatigue. Dowling knows the empty feeling of a missed opportunity - in April 2000 he placed tenth (second American) in the Nortel Networks Cherry Blossom 10 Mile with a time of 48:01 and would have run the Olympic Marathon Trials the following month, but an injury to his metatarsal (a bone that runs between toe and ankle) days later forced him to cancel those plans.

Keith Dowling's top American finish at the Boston Marathon this year with a personal best of 2:13:28 (5:06 per mile, 1:05:22 at the half mark) and second place in the 2001 USATF Half Marathon Championship in Parkersburg, WV with a time of 1:03:59 has brought him greater prominence as a top distance ace.

Hidden Assets In 1996, Dowling became one of four athletes named as a RRCA Road Scholar during the first year of the program, which offers financial assistance to runners who compete in elite road races. Keith Dowling graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1991 with an english writing/communication major and turned professional almost immediately; sponsorship by Adidas made it possible. For years, he trained at high altitude in New Mexico and Colorado under the guidance of Mike Mittelstaedt but kept his ties to the Big East college conference. His wife, Michele, is a former All-American runner at Villanova; his friend and a workout partner, Peter Sherry, ran for Georgetown. In October 2000, Dowling finished a disappointing 7th place among Americans in 2:18:31 - he ran the first half in 1:06:25 - at the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. A few months of doubt about continuing with running followed; guitar playing in a band, factory work and a stint running with the Army World Class Athlete Program under coach Arturo Barrios was followed by a decision to move back to the East Coast where Dowling and his girlfriend (now wife) both have family.

He trains occasionally with a group of former Reebok Enclave members and top-ranked American road athlete Andre Williams (Georgetown Running Company and source on the local scene) under the guidance of Matt Centrowitz, American University coach. Cheri Kenah, who competes on the international track & field circuit, and Rich Kenah, a former top 800 meter runner, live near the Dowlings in Reston; Carole Zajac, a former Villanova runner and RRCA Road Scholar in 1998, also lives nearby. Alan Webb, after one year at a Big Ten school, has decided to move back to Fairfax County, close to his family and high school coach. Russian agent Konstantin Selinevich works with elite marathoners in Rockville. Darrell General, four-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier, and Jim Hage add experience to our local running community but Washington still maintains a low profile compared to other American hot spots like Boulder, Portland, New York or Boston. The nation's capital is diverse and focused on politics; athletes are well-camouflaged. The most famous runner in town, President George W. Bush, lives in the White House and runs sub-7:00 per mile pace. Another well-known runner is three-time Olympian and 1500 meter silver medalist Representative Jim Ryun of Kansas.

Keith Dowling scouted the Washington area while living with Michele and training in Boulder; the access to altitude in Colorado and his coach, Mike Mittelstaedt, led him to move there from Albuquerque in 1997. In 2000, Peter Sherry offered hospitality in Great Falls, Virginia and introduced Keith to some of the hills and trails of the area, including Great Falls Park along the Potomac River - a favorite destination for local hiking and mountain biking enthusiasts. The Dowlings sold their Boulder home and moved to northern Virginia in 2001, where Keith discovered plenty of hilly terrain. The hot, humid summers here are good preparation for race conditions at next year's World Marathon Championship to be held in Paris during August. Much of the men's marathon field wilted at the last IAAF World Championship in Edmonton, Canada!

Grass Roots Back during his high school days, friends went out for the football team at York Catholic, a smaller division high school in Pennsylvania; there was neither lacrosse nor soccer at York. Common sense indicated that the best use of his athletic talent would be as a member of the cross country and track teams; he also nurtured his skill with a guitar. His senior year he finished fifth overall at the state cross country meet, a repeat of his junior year achievement. Progress is important to Dowling - for the first time, he trained during the off-season to garner a better result for the track and field team. He was disappointed, earnest and took action against mediocrity. In the spring of 1987, he won his first and only state title in the 3200 meter. Dowling continues to race in small Pennsylvania events. This July, after facing a deep field of talent in Atlanta's Peachtree 10K and placing third among Americans with a time of 29:47, he won a community event, the Spirit of Gettysburg 5K, in 14:36 with Peter Sherry second in 14:42 and Mike Mykytok (winner of the Pike's Peek 10K) third in 15:03. It's important to enjoy an occasional win against regional competition.

His college coach, Jim Lear, gave Keith room to breathe and found a training system that worked well for him and other members of the team. Dowling, who has a tendency to push himself hard, prefers to input his own ideas into workouts and Lear kept his door open to suggestions. Lear found the jet inside Keith Dowling, who became a three-time All-American at the University of Pittsburgh, and won the Big East Cross Country and 3000 meter Track Champion titles his senior year, 1990-91.

The arduous lifestyle of a marathoner and a sense of humor makes Dowling an articulate and patient ambassador for running. This spring he got together for bagels and a chat with the Reston Runners. He also pulled off a shoe collection project for Tanzanian recipients, an amusing tale of club runners emptying their closets of used running shoes and flooding the Dowling basement with footwear. A hunt for corporate donations towards the shipping costs brought contributions from Acumen and Commonwealth Chiropractic's Dr Neil McLaughlin. Dowling has a quiet enthusiasm and willingness to share a common passion. Throughout the interview, he emphasizes collaboration with other runners and "advisers" like Jack Daniels, Ph.D.

In 1991, Steve Spence captured a bronze medal in the World Marathon Championship. Keith Dowling credits this fellow Pennsylvanian prep runner and "mentor" with cutting a trail for other American athletes. Dowling decided to dedicate himself full-time to long distance running; he studied the sport and made connections (via email) with researchers, promoters and coaches. Spence clued Dowling into a fount of knowledge on physiology, Dr David Martin in Atlanta. Keith Dowling started talking to Martin at the 2002 Boston Marathon and followed up with a telephone call. This lead to a visit to "Dr. Dave's" laboratory for testing; the results were used to draw up a training plan (a sample is available on the Reston Runners website, www.restonrunners.org). Dowling makes his initiative sound casual; he says it is a matter of taking responsibility as an athlete for finding the resources - it is a challenging puzzle to bring the pieces together.

Balance The value of a close relationship lies in another's ability to broaden ones vision of the world and avert self-absorption. The right friendship can make one a better person. Keith's wife, Michele, prevents his focus on running from turning into a consuming obsession; her love prevents him from developing tunnel vision, worrying too much about his weight or a poor workout, for example. "She is very level headed and laid back", the perfect person for him. Michele runs about 50 miles a week while working full-time as a pharmaceutical drug representative. She ran a 39:10 at the Peachtree 10K this July.

The need for balance is also reflected in Dowling's training program, developed with high altitude coach Mike Mittelstaedt, who taught him the value of combining all elements of long distance preparation: "VO2/threshold/speed/long runs/volume". Now Dowling travels to Boulder for a few weeks of high altitude training and allows his body plenty of time to recover at sea level before major competitions. He has dealt with the resistance of a low oxygen atmosphere for many years (intense effort becomes more difficult at higher altitudes) and needs to get away from a year round mountain base. Dowling is willing to experiment and learn what works for him.

Dowling's ability to work well with race directors, coaches, trainers and friends keeps him on a steady course. His calculated approach and cooperative nature puts him in fast company with the integrity to progress. He does not have an agent, the situation for several of his running friends, but he has the capacity to build connections. Dowling has found the freedom to run.

Thanks to Chuck Thomas, massage therapist to Keith Dowling, for suggesting this runner profile.