Julie Culley, who competed in the 5000 meters at the London Olympics, is expecting her first child in a few weeks.
By Paul Franklin
for NJ Advance Media
Julie Culley didn't know what to expect. Would she be jealous? Depressed?
She and her mother were watching the U.S. Olympic Trials on TV last month, and during the 5,000 meters her mother was holding her hand, "Because she thought I'd be crying or something,'' Culley said last week. "But I felt really excited for them.''
Four years ago Culley was one of them, competing for a spot in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. She did more than win a spot in the 5K. She won the Trials.
On the eve of the Olympics in Rio she is reliving the experience. No jealousy. No depression.
"I was shocked how excited I felt,'' she said. "Obviously I'm excited about the baby, but I wondered if watching would make me feel heart-broken because I didn't have the opportunity to try and go after it again; especially since people I was competing against were still out there. But it brought back so many awesome memories."
The graduate of North Hunterdon High School and Rutgers University is excited about more than just the Olympics right now. In a couple of weeks she is expecting a baby boy.
Now 34, she and her husband Chris Farley are expecting their first child. They live in Alexandria, Va., where he owns several running stores. Culley for the past two years has been an assistant track and field coach at Georgetown University.
Currently taking post-grad courses in communications and marketing, just one year ago she still had aspirations to qualify for Rio. But, as it was in the Olympic finals, injuries took their toll.
"I was in good shape last spring (2015),'' she said, "and then I had a stress fracture in my foot. I was out about eight weeks, started training again, and the (2016) trials were still a possibility. Then I had another stress fracture in October, so that was the nail in the coffin.''
She shut down cross-training 25 weeks into pregnancy, a workout she will eventually resume six to seven days a week. If she does return to competitive running it will not be at the level she was.
"I'll just see what life throws at me I guess,'' Culley said.
A life of running eventually brought her to its biggest stage, one she now appreciates more than ever. She was not the favorite in the U.S. Trials in Oregon that year, but she came on to win. After running a personal best 15:05 in the Olympic preliminaries, a hamstring issue forced her to limp through the final mile of the finals.
Watching the recent trials she realized more than ever how amazing it was that she reached her goal of getting to the Olympics and was, "Absolutely thrilled'' to reach the finals.
"When you're in it and an athlete and still competing at the highest level, you never feel that sense of satisfaction. You come off a race and all you're thinking about is, 'OK. How much better can I do? OK. What's next?' But I think transitioning to this other part of life has put things in perspective for me,'' she said.
"I really surprised myself in feeling excited about it,'' she said about the accomplishment, "and feeling so grateful. You really realize watching the Trials how unique and special that moment was. And how heart-breaking it can be, too. Three make the team and everyone else goes home, for the most part disappointed.
"That was a life-long goal and I worked hard for that, but there's a lot of luck that goes into that, too: someone doesn't clip you from behind; you don't get sick the week before; that untimely injury. You realize how special and magical it is, and it really has to come together and nothing can go wrong. I realize that, man, I was really lucky I had that opportunity and things wound up the way they did.''
Although she coached at Loyola-Baltimore and American University prior to the Olympics, she isn't totally sure of her professional future.
"It's nice to be at a point in my life where you don't have to train really hard; just kind of enjoy it. Running will never not be part of my life,'' she said, "but in this very moment it's nice to have the ability to exercise and then kind of get excited about the baby. It could be that life is taking me in a different direction.''