In Her Own Words: Skyler Bollinger - So Close To Ritz



This past weekend, the single greatest picture in the history of all pictures was taken. This one picture, will soon be framed poster size in my room because it is that amazing. What is this masterpiece you ask? This beautiful picture is me and none other than THE DATHAN RITZENHEIN IN THE SAME PICTURE!

Dathan may have been unaware at the moment that I was getting a picture with him, but I’m sure, deep down inside, he is as excited as I am. For those of you that don’t know, Dathan Ritzenhein is a professional runner on The Oregon Project team coached by Alberto Salazar. He is obviously one of my favorite runners. 

Our team volunteered at a water station for the Chicago Marathon last weekend, which Dathan ran, and that is how I was able to get the picture with Dathan. Thank you to the amazing and highly talented Kelsey Leedy for using your photography abilities to take this great picture. Aside from the picture with Dathan, I also got a picture with the top group of runners, including the winner and new course record holder, Dennis Kimetto of Kenya, but I still like my picture with Dathan better. 

The marathon volunteering was a lot of fun even besides the picture. Our team was in charge of the Gatorade section and it was a very long day. We arrived in Chicago at 6a.m. and were mixing and serving Gatorade for nearly eight hours to serve over 40,000 people running the marathon! Along with seeing all the great professional runners, it was exciting to see people we knew. For instance, a very important person in my life finished her 8th marathon (including Boston) and her 3rd Chicago Marathon;  my MOM!  She finished in 4:14 and I couldn't be more proud of her. She works hard everyday and still finds time to train and compete in such challenging races. She sets a great example for me and my sisters. Congrats, love ya Mom!

I would also like to send a shout out to our lifting coach, Coach Chatman, for completing his first marathon in 3:53 and to Allysia Muth, Coach Muth’s wife, for running an outstanding time of  3:29.  It was a long sticky day, but was a lot of fun for all of us. That’s all for this week. GO FOXES!

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