Jen Rhines Profile on Eve of Carlsbad 5000

This nice profile from the San Diego Union-Tribune. Jen is coached by her husband (and fellow former Villanova All-American Terrence Mahon).

Three-time Olympian set to run in Carlsbad 5000

By Don Norcross

Friday, April 1, 2011
Jen Rhines, who lives in Mammoth Lakes, hopes to compete in the 10,000 meters at the 2012 London Olympics.

Jen Rhines, who lives in Mammoth Lakes, hopes to compete in the 10,000 meters at the 2012 London Olympics.


CARLSBAD — Jen Rhines was all of 14, a high school freshman in upstate New York. She was on the varsity track team but had never run cross country.

One day she hears about the Foot Locker National Championships in San Diego, cross country’s most prestigious event for preps, and says to herself, “I think I want to do that.”

That, you might say, personifies self-confidence. Her junior year, Rhines qualified for the event, visiting California for the first time.

“For some reason,” said Rhines, “when I latch onto something, I’m able to get excited and make it happen.”

Rhines is 36 years old now, a three-time Olympian, each time at a different distance. A Mammoth Lakes resident, Rhines will be the most touted American hopeful on Sunday at the Carlsbad 5000, and she’s still dreaming big.

“I don’t think I’ve tapped out all my potential yet,” Rhines said. “I just feel like I have room to improve, especially in the 5K and 10K.”

It’s not unusual for female distance runners to achieve greatness in their late 30s. Usually, though, it’s in the marathon, where speed, which tends to decline more rapidly, is not as important as endurance.

In 2008, Romania’s Constantina Tomescu-Dita won the Olympic Marathon in Beijing. She was 38.

Rhines, though, is bucking the norm. In 2000, she qualified for the Sydney Olympics in the 10,000, where she didn’t advance out of qualifying. In 2004 at the Athens Games, she moved up to the marathon, finishing 34th. In 2008 at the Beijing Games, Rhines placed 14th in the 5,000.

Now she has her sights set on the 2012 London Olympics, again at 10,000 meters. Judging from 2011 results, betting against Rhines making her fourth Olympic team may not be wise. In January, she won the Houston Half Marathon in 1 hour, 11 minutes, 14 seconds, a personal best. Last month, she added the 15K (9.3 miles) national championship to her résumé.

Terence Mahon, Rhines’ coach and husband, thinks there’s a simple reason for his wife’s success as she shifts down in distance at a relative late age.

“She doesn’t place barriers in front of her,” Mahon said. “I think where most good athletes get stuck and don’t become great is they place artificial barriers in front of their ability. She doesn’t take it (as gospel) that as you get older, you get slow and you move up to the marathon. She followed that model, didn’t like the model and moved down (in distance). She realized it was more of a psychological issue.”

Rhines lists two simplistic reasons for moving to the 10,000.

“I just feel in the 10,000, I can place highest in the Olympics,” she said. “And I really enjoy running on the track. There’s an excitement running championships in a giant stadium with that many people watching. It’s a different vibe than being out on the road running marathons. It’s something I thrive off of.”

As for why Rhines is still running so well heading to her late 30s, Mahon thinks he knows the answer.

“She has the desire. I think that’s number one,” he said. “Two, she’s very methodical doing all the little things needed that cut most careers short. The attention to detail. Stretching, sleep, recovery, nutrition. All those components that as you get older, one by one, they sometimes fall by the wayside.”