Law student prepares for Olympic trials

By Cecile Nguyen

He may be a long shot, but third-year law student J.T. Service will attempt to qualify for the Olympics next weekend.

On Nov. 3, Service will compete against more than 100 of America's best marathoners at the U.S. Olympic Trials in New York City, where only the top three finishers will earn a spot on the team headed to Bejing in 2008.

"It's all very exciting," Service said. "My parents, best friends throughout the years, old teammates and some of my coaches are coming (to New York) with me. They're all very supportive and know how important this is to me."

After months of training -- at times running up to 110 miles a week -- and recovering from a recent calf injury, Service feels he is ready for the meandering 26.2 mile course that winds its way through Central Park.

Service qualified for the event at the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minn., this past June. His time of 2:21:31 was good enough for 8th place among the race's 10,000 participants.

"You need a time of 2:22:00 to go to trials," said his father, Tom Service. "There were 35 guys trying to qualify for the trials, and of that group, only three people, including J.T., qualified."

The elder Service is the head coach of the men's and women's cross country and track teams at Santa Clara, and has been providing coaching support for his son throughout his entire running career.

"I've done all this work for the last 10 years, and to know in the last two hundred meters -- seeing the clock ticking and knowing that I'm going to get the Olympic qualifier was the most satisfying feeling," said J.T. Service.

However, qualifying for the race didn't come easy. Service had a chance to qualify for the trials during the Los Angeles Marathon last February. He fell just two minutes shy of the qualifying time in a race that was largely impacted by especially warm weather.

Originally a cross country and track runner, Service has made a nice transition to marathoning in only a year and a half.

His debut in the marathon came shortly after the death of his brother, an tragedy that has since inspired Service to continue training.

"His death pushed me to run long distance," he said. "For me, running was a healthy escape."

The 2006 San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon was Service's first attempt at the longer distance. He finished with a time of 2:24:42 and was the top American in that event.

"I ran pretty fast for not training for the marathon," Service said. "At that time I saw the Olympic trials qualifier as being not so far off for my first marathon without any marathon training. I thought that if I started training, the qualifier was within reach."

A San Jose native, Service attended Archbishop Mitty High School, where he played basketball and baseball in addition to running both track and cross country.

Service is the first to admit that he wasn't a standout in any of the sports he played -- including running.

"I loved going to school there, but my running career was kind of dismal," Service said. "It was decent, but it's nothing to get excited about. I wasn't thinking Olympic trials as an 18-year-old running 9:50 in the two-mile."

Service continued his education and running career at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

"Santa Barbara is where things really took off for me," Service said. "I had a great coach in Pete Dolan, and great teammates that ushered me along through the four years."

Former Gaucho teammate and current assistant coach for Santa Clara's cross country and track teams Felipe Montoro said that Service never had a bad race when it counted, and seemed to thrive on the pressure of running in a large race.

In 2001, Service helped lead the UCSB men's cross country team to the school's first-ever NCAA Division I nationals appearance.

"There were 16 guys on the team, and when J.T. came to UCSB he was number 16," Tom Service said. "When he left, he was the top runner in the school."

After graduating, J.T. Service worked as an assistant coach for a year at Santa Clara, and trained with the Asics Aggies, a group of post-collegiate athletes in the Bay Area.

Now in his third year as a law student, Service is primarily training with a group of athletes also competing in the U.S. Olympic Trials. Included in the group is Tom McGlynn, who will be competing in his third U.S. Olympic Trials at the 26.2-mile distance.

"J.T. is a real student of the sport," said McGlynn. "He does a lot of research and will often pick his dad's brain."

McGlynn has been acting as somewhat of a coach for Service during his training for the trials.

"He will sometimes come to me with questions about injuries, and we have been talking about his most recent injury," said McGlynn.

McGlynn is no stranger to the coaching scene -- he currently coaches Jim Sorenson, the world master's (40 and over division) record holder in both the 800 and 1500 meter events. After training with Service, McGlynn believes Service has the potential to place in the top 20 next week.

"The first time I noticed his potential was last year at the San Jose Half Marathon," said McGlynn. "Up until that point, he hadn't beaten me. I think if he runs the second half of the race well next week, he can break 2:20:00 and place in the top 20."

Placing in the top 20 in the event is harder than it sounds. According to McGlynn, roughly 5,000 individuals feel they have the chance to qualify for the trials. This year, only about 150 qualified and 130 will be racing. Among those racing will be the 2004 Olympic Silver medalist, Meb Keflezighi, two-time Olympic team member Alan Culpepper and former Stanford standout Ryan Hall, who ran his first marathon in 2:08:24.

Service would certainly be content to share their company in the top 20 finishers.

"I think that if there's such a thing as the darkest horse, that would probably be me," Service said with a laugh. "I don't have a great chance, but the great thing about the marathon is that everyone lines up on the same line and races the same distance. It's a long race and weird things happen so, hey, who knows?"

Contact Cecile Nguyen at (408) 551 1918 or cnguyen@scu.edu.