CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (October 7, 2007) - Kate O'Neill placed 3rd at the LaSalle Banks Chicago Marathon. Running in her first marathon, O'Neill started off fairly conservatively before moving up through the competitive international field as the race progressed.

"My mile splits started slowing down a little bit," Kate said, "but somewhere around the 25 kilometer mark, I heard my coach Terrence and teammate Jen Rhines yelling that I was in seventh place and that the sixth and fifth place women were within striking distance.  Hearing that distracted me from my splits as I just concentrated on moving up in places.   After I caught the next two women, I heard Terrence again and my boyfriend Adam.  This time they both said to forget about times and just go after placing high.  That was all the encouragement I needed to stop looking at my watch!"

O'Neill moved into 3rd place around 35k and refused to relinquish her spot, battling both fatigue and the extremely hot and humid conditions. Her time of 2:36:15 easily qualifies her for the 2008 Women's Olympic Trials, which will be held in Boston on April 20. O'Neill will be looking to make her second Olympic team, having previously run the 10,000m in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.