Don't let her 5-foot-2, 110-pound frame fool you. Or the pink knee socks. Or the brown pigtails.
Megan Hovis is a beast — when she's running, at least.
Just ask all those runners whose only glimpses of her have come from behind, like the 1,217 women she beat in the Gateway Bank Outer Banks Marathon last November. Hovis entered the race as a tuneup for the U.S. Olympic Trials and went out at what was — for her — a comfortable pace. She finished as the top woman, more than eight minutes ahead of her nearest competitor.
That won't be the case when Hovis, a nutritionist and coach at Upgrade Lifestyle in Huntersville, runs in her second Olympic Trials Marathon. When Hovis stands at the starting line Saturday in Houston, she'll be on unfamiliar ground. And not just because she'll be more than 1,000 miles from home.
While Hovis rarely finishes outside the top three women in any road race she runs, she has no illusions about capturing any of the three U.S. women's marathon spots for this summer's Olympic Games in London.
"The real work goes into qualifying for the Trials," says Hovis, who has run 100-120 miles a week in preparation for Saturday's race. "Once (the qualifying) is done, the goal is to improve upon that time and make it to the Trials healthy."
Mission accomplished. Hovis qualified for the Trials by turning in a time of 2 hours, 45 minutes at the Gold Coast Airport Marathon in Australia. And in a final tuneup for the Trials, she breezed to a win in the inaugural Huntersville Half Marathon Dec. 3 with a time of 1:22.
"I will go into the race as if it is the icing on the cake," Hovis says of her approach to the Trials. "I have no pressure of being near the top, but I would like to represent North Carolina well and do the best I can."
That's exactly what she did in her first trip to the Trials in 2008, when she took 12th in the marathon in Boston in a personal-best time of 2:37.
Of the nearly 200 women who have qualified for this year's Trials, seven women have turned in times under 2:30, and the three Olympic qualifiers are likely to dip below that time Saturday. Hovis doesn't expect to be that fast. And that's okay with her.
In fact, Hovis is anxious to get Saturday's race out of the way because, she says, she's lost interest in marathon training — but not for the reason you might expect.
"I plan on moving into 'ultra' racing, which is where my real passion is," Hovis says.
Ultra-marathons are races longer than a 26.2-mile marathon.
"My favorite part of marathon training is the three-plus hour runs," Hovis says. "I love just forgetting about pace and just enjoying the satisfaction of completing a really long run. I also enjoy trails and dirt surfaces (on which most ultra races are run), so I think my legs will thank me as well."
Hovis, like most runners, is thankful for every day she can get out on the road or trail.
"I run because it is a part of me," Hovis says. "If I don't run one day, I don't feel whole. I am tired, moody, sluggish, irritated, etc. Starting my day with a run puts a smile on my face and keeps me going. I am lucky to have married a runner who feels the same way. My husband, Ben, and I plan all of our trips around races and interesting places to run. It's perfect!"
And while Hovis is typically at the front of any pack, she acknowledges that speed is not a prerequisite for running.
"It is funny how many clients I have had that told me they weren't runners," Hovis says. "All it took was a pair of shoes, and someone telling them they could do it to get them started."
Her advice for those who want to run but don't think they can?
"Runners come in all shapes and sizes," Hovis says. "Make small goals. Start with 10 minutes a day ... then enter a 5K race and train for that, etc. It will not be easy at first, but it will get better every time you get out the door."
