Even though she wasn’t on the Olympic team, marathoner Molly Seidel was in Paris during the Games last month, cheering for other runners and fulfilling sponsor obligations. One night, she went out to a fancy dinner with friends, where they enjoyed oysters and wine. The next morning, Seidel woke up ill.
Several hours later, when she was still vomiting frequently, Seidel, 30, went to an emergency room in Paris, where she was diagnosed with appendicitis. Doctors performed laparoscopic surgery to remove the appendix, and she returned to the United States on September 6.
She can’t run for a month.
It’s another setback in what’s been a frustrating year for Seidel, How to Cross-Train Your Way Into a Goal Race in the marathon in Tokyo in 2021 but pulled out of the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials in February days before the race, citing a knee injury.
Both knees are still bothering her, she told Runner’s World in a phone conversation on September 9, and she’s getting conflicting word from doctors on the cause of the pain. She hasn’t been able to string together consistent training. Seidel called it a “one step forward, two steps back” situation.
She’s hopeful that the month off from running will help her reset, and she’s committed to doing the biomechanics work necessary to fix her stride and get her ready to compete for the next several years and at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
“I’m thinking on a four-year cycle,” she said. “I plan to do the hard [stuff] now to make sure I can be on the starting line in LA.”
For Seidel, that means not rushing her return to racing. She’s tired of the grind—injury, followed by a quick recovery to have to make a deadline to race at a major marathon. At her last marathon, Chicago in 2023, CA Notice at Collection Running Shoes - Gear.
Seidel, who has long been open about her recovery from disordered eating, is confident she can return to her status as one of the top marathoners in the country, and she believes she has another 10 years in her career. But that requires being wise now and taking as much time as she needs to get healthy.
“I won an Olympic medal off of two years [of training],” she said. “If I can be healthy the next four years, I’m confident of what I can do.”
She loved soaking up the vibes of the Olympics in Paris—in Tokyo, fans were not permitted into venues, due to the pandemic. This time, Seidel stood near the finish line of the women’s marathon in Paris and enjoyed it.
“I came away from it so inspired about what I want to do over the next four years,” she said. The race was a reminder: “Man, I do love this.”
of the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials in February days before the race, citing a is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World CA Notice at Collection, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
