Jenny Spangler was 32-years-old and in her supposed prime when she shocked the field at the 1996 Olympic Trails Marathon by winning in a career best 2:29:54. However, injuries that plagued her for years after the Atlanta Olympics coupled with motherhood had kept Spangler out of the running-game until as recently as last year. Spangler, now 40, and with the 2004 Olympic Trials less than a week away, might be more prepared to run her best marathon now than at any other point in her career.

Spangler is completely healthy and more intelligent about her training, and her time of 2:32:39 at the 2003 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon cemented her return to the marathon elite.

"My goal was to run under 2:40, but I felt good so I started thinking I could go a bit faster," Spangler said after the marathon last fall.

Spangler enters the Trials with the sixth fastest qualifying mark, a time that meets the Olympic 'A' standard and is the U.S. Masters Record, and she just recently finished fourth at the LaSalle Bank Shamrock Shuffle 8K in 27:33 as a tune up for the marathon this weekend.

"This was like a rehearsal for the trials and I thought about them at each mile," she said. "'This is what it's going to be like with two miles to go, with one mile to go...'"

Kim Miltz, 29, of Hoffman Estates, will also represent Illinois at the Olympic Trials, after running 2:47:00 at the 2002 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.

Miltz, who never competed at the state level as a runner in high school and walked-on the track team at the University of Illinois, decided to stick with the sport after graduating college in 1997. She progressed from a 2:56:41 at Chicago in 2000, followed by a 2:52:19 in 2001, until her dream run in 2002.

"I did good!" Miltz proclaimed after her Trials qualifying run. "That's what I wanted to do. Conditions were perfect, except for a little bit of wind, but other than that it was awesome."

Miltz ran 1:20:22 to win the Mardi Gras Half-Marathon in February, and is hoping for a PR this weekend.

The best of luck to both these women as they chase their Olympic dreams all the way to the finish line in St. Louis, where we'll be there cheering for them.