Running for Olympics

Her race is a bigger deal.

Sunday, the Tucsonan will participate in the United States women's Olympic marathon trials. She is one of eight Arizonans and the only one from Southern Arizona to qualify for the race. Morrison, 34, will compete against about 150 runners for three spots on the U.S. Olympic team, earning a berth to the Beijing Games in August.

Morrison, a Utah native who graduated from the University of Utah, qualified for the event by finishing the 2006 Austin Marathon in 2 hours 45 minutes 23 seconds.

Here are six things you need to know about Morrison and her Olympic shot:

1. She has an outside chance. Morrison does not have any grand illusions of placing in the top three but knows she belongs in the race. She qualified for the 2000 Olympic trials and participated in the 2004 trials. She said she figures she is "probably in the top quarter to half" of Sunday's participants.

"A lot of people would have to have a bad day," she said. "But it's exciting to be able to race against some of the most amazing people in terms of running."

2. She has been working on her speed. Morrison has focused mostly on 5K (3.1 miles) and 10K (6.2 miles) races on the advice of Art Siemers, her personal coach and coach at the Colorado School of Mines. Siemers — her coach for the past year and a half or so — has made her focus on plyometrics and hill workouts, among other drills, to increase her speed. Morrison said she feels like she is in the best shape of her life.

"Because I had made the move for the marathon so early (in my life), I've been training for this distance for the last 10 years," she said. "I don't run a really fast 5K or 10K, and you have to do that to run a faster marathon."

3. She has not run a marathon in over two years. Morrison admits it will be "an interesting test" to see how she does after not running a marathon since Austin in February 2006.

Her personal best is 2:44:50 set in St. George, Utah, in 2002.

"I tend to race a lot," she said. "I do a lot of racing, because I really like racing. My new coach has had me do a lot less racing and a lot more training. We'll see how it goes."

4. She is a teacher. When Morrison is not training, she is teaching advanced math to students at Accelerated Learning Center Laboratory, a Tucson charter school. At the school, she said, third-graders are studying college-level math.

"We teach gifted-level education to all kids," she said. "We administer an intense education that you would do for gifted kids."

5. She does not drive. Morrison said she has never had a driver's license.

She rides the bus part of the way to work and then either runs or rides her bike the rest of the way. She showers at school after she arrives.

6. She is a fan, too. Morrison is excited about the course, which will utilize the Boston Marathon's legendary finish line on Boylston Street. The course makes five loops, which Morrison said will allow her to view the marathon as both a fan and a competitor.

"I'm going to be able to watch the race as I do the race," she said.

"And the Boston Marathon is Monday, so I'll get to watch a bunch of people I know race the Boston Marathon — and they'll be watching me at the trials."

OLYMPIC TRIALS

• What: Women's Olympic marathon trials

• Where: Boston

• When: 5 a.m. Sunday

• TV: Live webcast at nbcolympics.com/ marathon; highlights will be televised April 27 from 9 to 10 a.m. on MSNBC