Brianna Torres - McMillan Elite

January 7, 2008

The McMillan Elite running team provides coaching, resources and an ideal training environment in Flagstaff, Arizona, for post-collegiate athletes. The team is coached by Greg McMillan and currently has seven members.

Brianna Torres, 27, has been the sole female on the team. Torres heard about McMillan Elite from her husband, Carlos Paradelo, who read about the team on a LetsRun.com message board thread. Since the team is relatively new, she said they are always looking for new members, especially women.

"If women are interested, they should apply," she said. "We're looking for people who are a good fit. The guys are great. So far we've been really blessed."

As the only woman, Torres does most of her workouts alone after warming up with the guys. Fortunately, Trina Painter, a former 20k American Record holder, recently joined the staff and paces Torres in workouts. Also, fellow 2008 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier, Michelle Gallagher, 22, joins McMillan Elite this month.

In college, Torres was a 6-time NCAA qualifier. She ran for Arizona State University and a year at the University of Colorado. After she graduated in 2003, Torres returned to Phoenix to open two "Run AZ" running shops with Paradelo. Torres moved from Phoenix to Flagstaff five months ago, but stays involved with the stores by selecting the women's apparel.

With its high altitude (7000 feet) and miles of trails, Flagstaff is a mecca for distance runners. Every Thursday morning, there is a "Bagel Run" in front of Biff's Bagels at 7:30 AM. Torres runs it as an easy run, about 10 miles, then visits with local runners at the bagel shop. Although she does not always like to wake up so early, Torres said the Bagel Run is a lot of fun.

"Flagstaff's pretty unique," Torres described.

The McMillan team officially meets Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at Coach McMillan's house for workouts. On Sundays, they have a long run. The team often travels to Camp Verde and Sedona for workouts and long runs. McMillan's training begins with gradually building a high mileage base. Torres runs about 90 miles per week at the most.

"Greg is pretty smart about mileage," she explained. "We've been very conservative."

Torres said she has just entered the hill phase of her marathon training. A typical hill workout for her is repeats around a 5000-meter loop that includes a hill 600-meters long, with strides in between.

"I feel really good about the training," she said.

Torres ran her first marathon before she joined McMillan Elite. She qualified for the trials at the 2006 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, with a "B" standard and personal record time of 2:45:57. Her goals since joining the McMillan team are to achieve the "A" standard of 2:39:00 and represent the U.S. at the Olympic Games and other international events.

"I think I can run around 2:35:00," Torres stated.

Brianna Torres and her new teammate, Michelle Gallagher, will represent the McMillan Elite team at the U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials in Boston, April 20.

*Photo from mcmillanelite.com

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#3	Seb January 10, 2008 at 10:14am good stuff steph! reply
#2	Cara Hawkins January 8, 2008 at 8:08am I remember being an only girl on a team-work-out can get pretty lonely-I'm glad that she will soon have some female teamates.. reply