By Peter Gambaccini
Photo By Victah Sailer
Mike Reneau, 29, who ran his personal best of 2:17:46 at the Chevron Houston Marathon in January, will be in the U.S. Men’s Olympic Marathon Trials on November 3 in New York City. Reneau, who is now 
a part of the Hansons-Brooks Distance project, was eighth place and first American in Houston; he was also eighth and first American in the 2006 Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, where he ran 2:20:28. Reneau, a former high school and college wrestler, was 12th in the 2007 USA 25K in 1:20:01. His father Jeff Reneau was tenth in the 1968 U.S. Olympic Men’s Marathon Trials in Alamosa, Colorado.
Tell us a little bit about the progress you’ve made since you ran 2:17:46 in Houston. Have you seen a lot of good things happen with your running since then? Do you think you’ve taken strides forward, as it were?
Mike Reneau: Yeah, I do. There’s no question that when I came out here (to Michigan and the Hansons team) in February that I felt there was some ground I needed to make up to compete at the same level as a lot of these guys. It was frustrating at times, but I kind of knew it would be an adjustment, so it wasn’t anything that would drive me away from the group by any means. The first six months was a big adjustment period, and I’d say when we started to focus in specifically on the Olympic Marathon Trials, I could start to see a change, I could definitely tell that I felt stronger. And that physical adjustment was starting to come along. I think initially, you make that leap mentally, believing that you can run with this caliber of athlete - the Mike Morgans, the Chad Johnsons, the Clint Verrans - and then it takes a little while sometimes for that physical adjustment to come along. I think it’s finally started to in this (training) segment.
