Background

Ever since her early days at Willoughby South High School in Ohio, Katie McGregor has been a winner: state champ at 3200m as a freshman, state champ at 1600m as a senior. In college, she was a three-time NCAA titleholder, and was named University of Michigan’s female Athlete of the Year in 1998-1999. So it was a logical progression for Katie to win her first national title as a pro in the summer of 2005, when she regained the lead on the last turn of the 10,000m to sprint home for victory at the USA Outdoor Championships. She followed that up in the fall with a win at the Tufts Health Plan for Women 10K, the national road championship at the distance, and defended her title a year later.

Katie made her long-awaited marathon debut at the 2006 ING New York Marathon, where her time of 2:32:36 made her the fifth-fastest American woman for 2006. In 2008, Katie was a prolific racer, indoors and outdoors, on he roads and cross country. She began her year with a fourth place finish at the USATF Cross Country Championships, and then a week later, Katie took another fourth place, this time at the US Indoor Championships over 3000m. Just two weeks later, Katie was second at the USATF 15km Championships, and later that month finish 22nd against stiff competition at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Following a fourth place finish at the US Olympic Trials over 10,000m, Katie returned her focus to the roads and finished second in the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach. Later in the fall, Katie finished tenth in the ING New York City Marathon, breaking her personal best from two years before.