Molly MF Seidel. Marathoning has become the final destination for all great distance runners, most of today's top marathoners at least dabbled in professional track and field before settling into the 42 kilometer endurance test. Molly Seidel made her own path. After accomplishing about you can on the amature levels of competitive running, both in high school and college, Molly Seidel opted to jump straight into the marathon distance, well almost.

Last year for the 2020 Marathon U.S. Olympic Trials, for the first time half marathon times were accepted as trials qualifying marks. It seems like an odd thing to do, given how many already qualify for the trials, and anyone who's run both a half and full marathon will tell you they are very different events. Regardless of motive, this left the door wide open for Molly Seidel, who had never raced a marathon but had punched her ticket with a fast half Houston. With her first attempt at the marathon distance, Molly shocked everyone, including herself and finished second in the U.S. punching her ticket to the 2020 Tokyo olympics. An insane story already but if you don't remember, March of 2020 was an odd time for the world. After being delayed a year Molly completed one marathon in her training period before Tokyo, this only being her second try at the distance. Many olympians worried about the hot and humid conditions Tokyo would bring, but Molly just put her head down and trained.

Once Molly found herself on the starting line in Tokyo, she shared it with women who's personal records dwarfed hers by nearly 10 minutes. Molly stayed composed and latched on to the lead pack early. As the race went on, the lead pack shrunk and shrunk, but Molly stayed composed and never lost a step. After a long ride in the lead, Molly would fall to thrid place in the last few miles, but still built to the finish, showing poise and grace in a time most would shrink in the moment. Molly Seidel took bronze in the Tokyo Olympic Marathon, the first U.S. woman to do so in over 20 years, in just her third marathon. It's unknown when Molly will race the full distance again, but there's one thing we do know, that we'll be watching.