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A HUGE, HUGE, HUGE congratulations to our beloved Statesboro Pacer, Turena Johnson-Lane, who Sunday (8/14/05) competed in the Women's Marathon IAAF World Championships held in Helsinki, Finland and placed 26th with a personal best of 2:34:43!

8/1/05...Statesboro Pacer, Turena Johnson-Lane, makes the USA team bound for the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, August 6-14, 2005!

Hubby, Todd Lane, and Greg Brown, both Pacers who left Statesboro for the chilly north, announced our mutual friend and former running partner, Turena Johnson-Lane, qualified as a marathon representative for the USA team bound for the 2005 IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, Finland!

Todd reported, "We do miss the wonderful interaction and zaniness of the group. Pretty much runs on our own here. I run a little in the mornings, Turena runs all the time. I bike with her on her long runs and some of the tempo runs. She's 18 days out from World Champs [as of 7/27/05]. The past 4 weeks went, 100, 102, 85, 100 miles a week for her, probably the best 4 week period she's ever had. We leave for Finland next Thursday, Aug 4, race is Aug 14."

Greg sent us the following link that lists the USA Team headed to Helsinki: http://iaaf.org/WCH05/news/Kind=2/newsId=30669.html

And check out Ball State's press release on Turena: http://www.ballstatesports.com/article/0,1382,34503-13-team,00.html

Todd, Turena, and Greg...we miss you guys!! Come back and visit/run with us some time soon, when the heat index is not 125 degrees!

If you'd like to email these "transplanted" Pacers...

Gregory Brown <brownga@unk.edu> says he absolutely loves his position at the Human Performance Lab at University of Nebraska at Kearney. Still he says he misses all the runners in Statesboro and hasn't found a running group up there. We're encouraging him to start one!

Todd Lane <toddlane10K@yahoo.com> sounds like he's finally thawed from the freezing winter climes, and he sounds like he's THE best "athletic supporter" Turena could ever ask for!

Turena Johnson-Lane <turena10K@yahoo.com>, on behalf of all the Pacers, a HUGE congratulations for making the USA team and we'll be cheering you the whole way from this side of "the pond!" You ROCK!!

The women's marathon is scheduled for Sunday, August 14, 2005. I'm not sure how much of the marathon will actually be televised, let alone the middle of the pack where I hope to be at least. The world record holder in the marathon, Paula Radcliffe is expected to race so they may show more if she's in it.

If you are a really hardcore track fan you can get webcasts for all events everday. More info on that at www.wcsn.com

Results, media guide, and more info on championships are available on www.usatf.org

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Previous News...

4/27/04 Statesboro's local star runner, Turena Johnson Lane qualified and competed in the 2004 Olympic Marathon Trials

Photo: by Jim Hite, Millen Milers or More; Turena at U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials, 4/3/04

Turena qualified for the Olympic Trials by completing the Twin Cities Marathon (26.2 miles) October 5 in Minnesota with an incredible time of 2:40:12. To help put that in perspective, she averaged a pace of 6:07 minutes/mile for 26.2 miles AND this was her FIRST marathon!! She was the 6th woman overall in a race of over 7,090 finishers. We truly have one of the fastest women in the world living right here in Statesboro, and unlike other celebrities she is very humble and the absolute PERFECT ambassador for Statesboro and the U.S. See Statesboro Herald coverage (335K PDF).

Prior to the Olympic Trials, more than 26+ Pacers and friends gathered at El Sombrero, Tuesday, 3/30/04 to give Turena a warm send off and show her how much we all love and support her. We surprised her with a picture signed by many of our Pacers. The picture was of her crossing the finish line at the NIRSA Day 5K along with a famous quote from Theodore Roosevelt that read "Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in that grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat." -To Turena, A great champion whom we love and admire! From the Statesboro Pacers and friends. See the Statesboro Herald's coverage on this celebration below.

To help commemorate this special lady and offer her our full Statesboro Pacers' support, continue checking back to this site for the latest coverage on Turena. Congrats Turena from ALL of us!!

4/18/04, Turena's thank you letter and story about her Olympic Marathon Trials experience!

Now that I can walk normally again...I wanted to say THANKS for all the support and good wishes from you all since we got back from the Olympic Marathon Trials. I know Todd has an update which kind of gave you the nuts and bolts of what happened. We had a great weekend, the experience was wonderful, the crowd was loud (especially those Hite's), and it was good to see family and friends. And the race... that was pretty fun too, until about mile 24.

My plan was to go out at 6:00 minute pace and see how long I could hold on. I did a good job of holding myself back and sticking to that pace. From mile 10 to 20 I moved up pretty well and eventually got myself up to 16th place. But of course it gets a bit harder after mile 20 and this marathon was no different. Mile 24 to 26 was pretty brutal and I ended up getting passed by 4 people. Finished in 20th place. Half marathon splits were 1:18 and second half was 1:22.

When I keep everything in perspective (lack of mileage, lack of marathons), I am pretty happy with what I did on so little. On the other hand, being 16th at mile 24 sure does sound alot better than 20th at mile 26, so that was the most disappointing thing about the race. When Todd said my tires went flat that was a bit of an understatement. I was pretty much running on just the rims- the tires where long gone! But like I said, given what I had going into it, I'm happy where I finished and finished pretty much where I thought I would. I just wanted more.

At the same time, that bit of disappointment just adds fuel to the fire and it is nothing but motivating to me. After 2 weeks off I'm back and going again. Like most of you, now just have some road races planned for the summer so I'm looking forward to those.

Again, I do just want to say THANK YOU to all of you for your love and support. I couldn't ask for anything more. Hope to see you all out there running!

Turena

4/12/04, Statesboro Herald "Local runner happy with Olympic trials" (reprinted w/permission from S'boro Herald)

It wasn’t a top three finish, but it certainly was impressive.
Georgia Southern head cross country coach Turena Johnson Lane didn’t qualify for a trip to the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, but she did finish 20th in the highly competitive U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials held last Saturday in St. Louis, Mo.
The race featured 128 of the fastest women in the country with the top three finishers earning a spot in this summer’s Olympics.
Lane finished the marathon (26.2 miles) in 2:40:58.
“That was where I thought I’d end up,” said Lane, who also serves as an assistant coach for GSU’s track team. “I met my expectations, but I didn’t exceed them.”
But Lane doesn’t plan on abandoning her dream of making it to the world’s most prestigious athletic competition. Lane says she’ll continue her quest to the Olympics and is motivated by the fact that the top finisher at the trials was 39 years old. At the young age of 28, Lane’s running days are far from over.
“My best running days are still ahead of me. There’s always room for improvement and that’s encouraging for me. I want to continue to run and see what I can do in 2008,” said Lane.
Finishing in the top 16 percent of the competitors only serves as additional motivation for the athlete.
“I was happy how I did. Knowing I want more fuels the fire for me to continue with the sport and see what I can do,” said Lane.
Despite the intensity of the marathon, Lane says she did take time to enjoy her surroundings.
“I really tried to take it all in; the crowds, people waving American flags and cheering ‘USA’. I enjoyed the moment and I certainly won’t forget it,” said Lane, who was cheered on by her family and numerous friends who made the trip to St. Louis.
Lane thanked the Statesboro Pacers (a local running group), the Statesboro Herald, the Georgia Southern Health Science and Exercise Science majors (who organized a fund raiser to support her training efforts) and her coach/husband Todd for their support.
“I couldn’t have done it without them,” said Lane.
Alex Pellegrino can be reached at (912) 489-9413.

4/4/04, Turena's coach & husband, Todd Lane, recaps Turena's Olympic Marathon Trial Experience!

Turena ran U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon, Saturday in St. Louis. She had qualified in October in her run at Twin Cities Marathon.

A neat little course in St. Louis as it was a 6.88 mile looped course repeated, 4 times. Made it very easy to watch. Within the distance of three minutes of walking, you could see the runners, 4 times per loop, if you hoofed it quickly and covered more ground you could see them 6 times per loop. I think all Trials races should be like this. Lots of spectators out and easy to watch.

Turena started out in 40-45 place through the first three miles and slowly made her way up throughout the race. 6:00 pace for first half was the instructions. She reached as high as 15th or 16th at around mile 20. Was in 16-17 place half mile to go when she was passed by 3-4 runners. The wheels really came off for Turena around mile 22 and then at 24 there is a significant incline and the wheels really started coming off.

20th place overall, 2:40.58, which was 40 seconds slower than her qualifier. Halfway at 1:18.37, which was good. Earned $1,000 for the efforts. She was disappointed afterwards, mostly in getting passed in the last .5 mile. There was really nothing she could do at that point, her wheels were flattened and off, or you've all heard the term, she had "hit the wall" only it looked like she had hit two of them.

I think if you consider where the injury put her so far back in her training it was well done. She had 12 weeks of training in, after a 7 week layoff due to injury. Mileage topped out at 60.

Some rest, her quads are very, very sore, for a few weeks and then figure out some racing for later in the summer. I think wait until 2005 for another marathon.

With the looped course you could see so much of how the races were unfolding. Having never run a marathon, I have no desire after watching people look so good at points of the race and then with 2 miles to go looking so bad. I can't imagine the agony.

The top 4 places all changed in the last two miles of the race. The spot for third changing with a half mile to go as one faded and the other charged on by. That race was pretty cool. The women who ended up 4th, by being passed in last half mile was out in 16:30 at 5k!!!! That is sub 5:20 pace. Almost held on.

4/2/04, "Save Your Fork," a beautiful story about Turena by Millen Milers & More friend, Ray Miller

A couple of months ago, Turena Johnson Lane made the drive over from Statesboro to speak to the Millen Milers. I had never met Turena, but I had read several articles about Turena and her quest to make the 2004 Olympic Team in the women's marathon.

I've heard a number of world class runners speak, but I don't recall hearing a more motivating speech. I'm not much for listening to people (runners) give out numbers. Well last week I ran 85 miles, yadda-yadda-yadda. (Remember Seinfeld???) As a former basketball coach....we used to call it X's and O's. After all, I'm not going to go out and run 100 miles next week, but I am going to run! Turena didn't give us her work-out schedule, she gave us something much better, she gave us her reason for running. She talked about how much she enjoys running. She gave each of us a little card with two words.....I CAN! She reminded us how important those two words are. When she hears how difficult any task is, she repeats, I CAN!

While we ate, Turena asked us to keep our forks. As we held our forks, she told a story about a family friend named Millie. Millie was making plans for her funeral. She, like many people, wanted to take care of as many arrangements as possible before her death. She picked out her favorite song, her favorite dress, some of her favorite flowers, but then she told a friend that she wanted to be buried with a fork. Naturally the friend was a bit curious about this unusual request. Why a fork? Millie replied, "When I was a little girl and we finished our meal, mom always reminded us to keep our fork. We all knew what that meant, dessert was coming. In other words, we had already eaten a great meal, but the best was yet to come." That's how Millie approached the end of her life here on earth, "The best is yet to come."

Debbie Gleason and a group from the Statesboro Pacers had a send off dinner for Turena on Tuesday. One of the comments that Debbie made was that Turena is doing something that all of us admire.......not trying to make the Olympic Team.....but following her dream.
After the cheers and good luck wishes had died down, Turena thanked the group for their support. As Turena sat in the middle of that group, thanking her friends for the gift and for being there on this special night, I could see several ladies around me getting a little misty eyed. (By the way, if anybody says anything about me, I did get some pepper in my eyes from my Mexican dinner.) As I sat there watching, I thought to myself, boy, what a great night!

I have no idea if Turena will make the Olympic Team tomorrow morning, but I can tell you that a lot of people in Southeast Georgia will have their fingers crossed for over 2 1/2 hours Saturday morning. But whether Turena makes the team or not, I hope she hangs on to a fork from St. Louis .......because........I can guarantee one thing........for Turena Johnson Lane.....The Best is Yet to Come!!!

For more of Ray Miller's wonderful stories visit the Millen Milers or More website www.millenmilers.com

3/31/04, Statesboro Herald "Good Luck, Turena! Friends send off local Olympic hopeful"(reprinted w/permission from S'boro Herald)

Photo: MICHELLE BOAEN/Staff
Georgia Southern head cross country coach Turena Johnshon Lane reactes to receiving a gift from the Statesboro Pacers, a local running group, Tuesday night. Lane will be competing at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in St. Louis, Mo. Saturday.

It was an appropriate send-off for a well deserving athlete.
The local running community gathered at El Sombrero restaurant Tuesday night to show their support for Statesboro’s own Olympic hopeful, Turena Johnson Lane.
Lane, the head cross country coach at Georgia Southern, will board a plane Thursday heading to St. Louis for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, where she will compete for a shot at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
On Saturday morning, Lane will be up against 130 of the fastest women in the United States with the top three finishers earning a trip to this summer’s Olympics.
The Statesboro Pacers, a local running group, dedicated Tuesday evening toward showing their support for Lane.
“We wanted to take the opportunity to let Turena know that the Statesboro Pacers and the entire running community are behind her cheering her along,” said Debbie Gleason, coordinator for the Statesboro Pacers.
The group wished Lane well and presented her with a framed picture of herself crossing the finish line at the NIRSA Day 5k run where she was the top female finisher in February. Well-wishers signed the picture with words of encouragement and motivation for the athlete.
“We wanted to support Turena in her pursuit of her life long Olympic dream,” said Stateboro Pacers member Wendy Deal. “Her had work and dedication is an inspiration to all of us.”
Lane has spent years training to get to where she is today and earned a spot at the trials after qualifying at the Twin Cities Marathon in Minnesota last October.
As the trials near, Lane says she’s very exited, but is keeping her excitement contained so she can keep a level head.
“I know how much work it’s going to be. I’m just going to go in, run a smart race and see what I can do with it,” said Lane, adding her gratefulness for the support she’s received.
“I definitely feel like I’m not going into this alone,” said Lane, whose mother, husband, sister and numerous other friends are making the trip to St. Louis to cheer her on.
“We love her, we admire her and were so proud of all her accomplishments,” said Gleason. “It’s not just the metals and championships she’s earned in the past, it’s because she’s following her dream which motivates and inspires all of us.”

3/13/04, Turena places 6th in the Gate River Run-USA 15K National Championship in Jacksonville, FL

This was the venue for the USA 15K National Championship which brought in elite runners from all over the world, which included Pacer Turena Johnson Lane who was the 9th female overall finisher, and the 6th overall U.S. female champion!! She ran this 9.3 miles in 52:44:00 with an INCREDIBLE average pace of 5:39 per mile. The beauty of these types of runs is it allows all of us an opportunity to participate in the same event as these elite runners, and to my knowledge, no other sport allows one to do that. Pacers Wendy Deal, Bill Reynolds, and Rhonda Bledsoe (Wendy's sister) also thoroughly enjoyed running in this event, and afterwards were able to cheer Turena on at the awards ceremony along with her hubby and coach, Todd Lane. Wendy highly recommends this race and says it's one of her absolute favorite events of all time! Great job Pacers; you ROCK!!

8/14/05...Statesboro Pacer, Turena Johnson-Lane finishes World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, with a PB!

4/18/04, Turena's thank you letter and story about her Olympic Marathon Trials experience!

4/12/04, Statesboro Herald "Local runner happy with Olympic trials" (reprinted w/permission from S'boro Herald)

4/4/04, Turena's coach & husband, Todd Lane, recaps Turena's Olympic Marathon Trial Experience!

4/2/04, "Save Your Fork," a beautiful story about Turena by Millen Milers & More friend, Ray Miller

3/31/04, Statesboro Herald "Good Luck, Turena! Friends send off local Olympic hopeful"(reprinted w/permission from S'boro Herald)

3/13/04, Turena places 6th in the Gate River Run-USA 15K National Championship in Jacksonville, FL