Valerie Constien is the United States’ third-fastest steeplechaser heading into the Olympic Trials with a personal best of 9:25. That’s also good enough for No. 14 in the world for 2021. She is a graduate of the University of Colorado and now competes for the Tracksmith Amateur Support Program while being coached by Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs.

We’ll be featuring a few more Tracksmith athletes before we kickstart our daily podcast series – Trials Talk with Chris & Kyle – live from Eugene, Oregon. Kyle Merber and I will be bringing you a show recapping the biggest performances and surprises from each day of the Trials.

The women’s steeplechase will certainly be one of them. Do not sleep on Valerie for that third possible spot on the Olympic team since there’s still a few question marks around Colleen Quigley since she hasn’t raced since February or steepled since 2019. That race has gotten super interesting in recent weeks with some big performances by Valerie, Mel Lawrence, Marissa Howard and a slew of collegiate women. Get to know Valerie before she possibly shocks the country.

Follow Val on Instagram here: @valerieconstien

Photo by Jake Willard: Follow him @runjwill

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SHOW NOTES AND QUOTES

Looking Back at Her Time at Boulder, Post-Collegiate Start

“College was amazing. I had amazing teammates. I had some of the best coaches in the U.S. But, I really struggled with a lot of health issues – both physical health injuries and mental health. Being able to step away from college and even during the pandemic year, a lot of healing took place. Now, two years after college, I’m in a really good place physically and mentally. Being happy and healthy has made a huge difference.”

Opening Up On Her Struggles

“It’s actually super common. I think a lot of women have been open about it too. I know Grayson Murphy has been open about her eating disorders in the past. I actually did suffer from some eating disorders early on in college. Freshman and sophomore year there was a lot of pressure to be good. I kind of saw that as a shortcut. I did end up qualifying for nationals in the steeplechase that year but shortly after that success and making it to nationals, I actually broke my foot due to bone density problems. After that, I had to take a lot of time off. I transitioned straight from an eating disorder to some depression, which was horrible. When you can’t run and you’re not really looped in at practice and you can’t see your friends every day and school’s really hard, it’s just easy to fall into these really bad cycles. My junior year I was dealing with that. Then, I had another injury. Going into my fourth year of college, I started to feel better. Things got better and I was able to take that momentum into my fifth year. That’s when we won the national championship in cross country, which was amazing. I was a second-time All-American in the steeplechase outdoors. It was a long road and I think I’m finally far enough removed from all those mental health problems where I can finally focus on being happy and my physical health too. I’m really happy that other women have been open about their mental health illnesses so that it’s easier to share my own.”

Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs Taking A Chance

“I was very transparent with Mark and Heather after my outdoor season that I wanted to keep training. They were very transparent with me that they would give me a chance. Basically, the conversation was: ‘Val, we’ll give you two years and if you can put something together in two years, show us that you’re making improvements and you can show us that you’re on your way to some post-collegiate success then we’ll keep you around.’ The injury was a major hiccup and I’m sure they had as much doubt as I did with that first injury out of college. But then, I was able to pull things together and put some really solid blocks of training together. After my first couple of races, I think that any doubt that they had hopefully has been washed away.”

Her Improvement for 2021 and A Shot At The Olympic Team

“I was talking to my coaches the other day at the track. Heather was like, ‘Val, we need five seconds.’ What are you going to do to get that five seconds?’ At the end of the day, it is on me to make that happen. I do think I have five seconds in me. Colleen better show up because there’s a bunch of other people who are running for that spot. I think if Leah Falland has a good day, she has just as good of a shot as me. As well as Mel Lawrence, she’s been there countless times and she’s a gamer. I think Colleen better show up because we’re all coming for her. That’s the truth.”

Did She See Colleen Quigley’s Instagram post saying: “Sticking with a red, white, and blue motif until I make my second Olympic team in 2 weeks from today.”

“Oh, I saw it. Fuel for the fire. Fuel for the fire. That’s all I have to say…I looked at it and the first thing I saw was, ‘Oh wow. Her hair looks really pretty.’ Then I read the comment and I was like, ‘OK. Cool.’ But the thing is, this is not a committee decision. This isn’t Great Britain or Germany. This is the U.S. The top three fastest people get to go. I have the A-standard. And so does Mel Lawrence and so does Leah Falland. Obviously, Emma has it and obviously Courtney has it. So there are five women right here who all have an equal opportunity to go. It’s a steeplechase. Need not forget that. People fall down. There are barriers. There is a lot more to this race than just a two-dimensional 5K or 10K. I think the last thing you want to do is count your chickens before they hatch.”

How She Envisions The Steeplechase Final Playing Out:

“We have no idea what’s going to happen. I wouldn’t be surprised if Emma takes the steeple out, even the final, at 9:15 pace to kind of separate the wheat from the chaff. I could see Courtney going with her because I’m sure she’s in shape to run 9:15 right now. I would not be surprised if Mel Lawrence and Leah Falland just try and do it. As Prefontaine said, the best pace is a suicide pace, right? I could see that happening. If Colleen is not ready to open up in a 9:15, that could be detrimental.”

“I think it’s going to be a fun race to watch and I encourage anyone to tune in, because like you said, it’s going to be dramatic.”

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