Olympian Kate Smyth Needs Your Help ...

Want to train with an Olympian?

Kate Smyth, the Australian marathoner who finished 3rd at Saturday's Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon in Duluth in 1:16:32, is looking for training partners.

The Australian Olympic team nominee will be training in the Twin Cities through mid-July and is interested in finding athletes who could help pace her through some tempo workouts during that time. Smyth said athletes would can run 1:10 to 1:12 for the half marathon would be ideal partners for her.

Smyth, who earned nomination to the Australian team after her 2:28:51 runner-up finish at Japan's Nagano Marathon in April, has been training in the United States for two weeks already. She flew from Boulder, Colorado to race in Duluth last weekend and plans to stay in Minnesota through July 10th. After that, her preparations for the Beijing marathon will take her to Long Island, New York and Hong Kong.

Smyth was "nominated" to the Australian Olympic team after her Nagano performance and expects to be officially named to her country's Olympic team later this summer as long as she remains fit and uninjured. Smith finished 7th in the 2006 Commonwealth Games marathon.

If an elite runner from "Down Under" training in Minnesota reminds you of three-time Grandma's Marathon champ Lorraine Moller, it's no accident.

"Lorraine, I know, loved coming up here," Smyth told DtB. "We're quite similar. I'm almost mimicking her progress. I knew that she loved this area, I thought there's a good chance that I'm really going to love it too."

Workout Helpers ... If you're interested in helping Smyth train for the Beijing Games, contact DtB editor/publisher Charlie Mahler are cmahler22 [AT] yahoo [DOT] com.