“In my young career I have already had incredible experiences that have helped me grow as a competitor,” said Wade. “I look forward to reaching new milestones in 2014, and feel confident as ever knowing I have this remarkable support every step of the way.”
“Becky’s bold personality, natural curiosity and winning spirit on and off the road perfectly matches the energy of the Asics brand,” commented Asics America Athlete Manager, Annie Adams.
Wade, who is from a family including two sets of fraternal twins, had never raced longer than 10K before her Cal International victory. She’d returned from a completion of a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship year, exploring running cultures around the globe. In her travels, Wade went through 11 pairs of running shoes as she ran 3,504 miles across 22 countries.
The fellowship was, in the grantors’ description, for “a year of independent, purposeful exploration and travel ... to enhance their capacity for resourcefulness, imagination, openness, and leadership and to foster their humane and effective participation in the world community."
Wade ran through forests with Ethiopians, and went to a party at Haile Gebrselassie’s house; she has video clips of the running legend dancing. She ran a 5K through a shopping mall in Sweden. She visited high-altitude training camps at St. Moritz in Switzerland and at Falls Creek in Australia.
Wade met up with triple Olympic gold medalist Peter Snell’s old training partners in New Zealand and did the 22-mile Waiatarua run that coach Arthur Lydiard used to put his athletes through. She ran Auckland’s Queen Street Mile, a famously downhill race, in 4:32, 14 seconds quicker than her track best. Wade’s adventures, and the intelligence and daring evident in her comments, made her story one of the most popular athlete profiles ever published on Runner’s World Newswire.
Wade will continue to be coached in Houston by Jim Bevan, who was her coach at Rice, and will continue to consult as well with the legendary Joe Vigil, who had been mentor to Bevan and Olympic marathon bronze medalist Deena Kastor.
Meet Becky Wade, America's Best Young Marathoner