Megan Youngren of Soldotna was among 450 women to compete in the U.S. Olympic marathon trial in Atlanta on Saturday.
As the first transgender athlete to participate in the marathon trials, h/she finished in 2:50:27, which was 230th place out of 390 women who finished.
Youngren, 28, started transitioning to living as a woman in 2011, first with hormone drugs, before going public to openly identify as a woman in 2012. H/She began running to control weight gain associated with hormone treatments and deal with a reoccurring case of shingles.
Youngren only learned last week that h/she had low enough hormone levels to qualify in the women’s division.
Other Alaska women racers in Atlanta included:
- Keri McEntee of Fairbanks: Did not finish.
- Anna Dalton of Anchorage: 2:49:24, finished 212nd out of 390.
Alaska men running in the Olympic marathon trial in Atlanta included:
- Aaron Fletcher of Anchorage: Did not finish.
- Anthony Tomsich of Fairbanks: 2:25:16, finished 102nd out of 174 men.
