You can probably count the number of national-class marathoners who started out as competitive bodybuilders on one finger. That digit would be pointed squarely at Dallas dentist Melisa Christian, who in her early twenties was striking oiled-up poses in the glare of buff-babe spotlights around the country but is now among the best marathon runners in the U.S.
A week ago, the 31-year-old Christian placed 27th in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials Marathon with a time of 2:41:18. Her first marathon, in 2001, took her 3 hours, 31 minutes and 20 seconds to complete, and it wasn't until 2006 that she broke three hours. She only started running in her second year of dental school, which was presumably not long before that 3:31 (when she would have been around 24 years old).
At age 23, Christian upheld an entirely different athletic standard, rating high in amateur bodybuilding competitions. The sequence of pictures below show her at age 23, age 29 (when she first qualified for the Olympic Trials by running 2:46:30 at the 2006 Boston Marathon) and age 31 (at last Sunday's Olympic Trials). It's hard to believe that all of these pictures are of the same human being. Obviously the transition from 1998 to 2006 is most striking, but something seems to have happened in the past couple of years as well. I can't quite put my finger on it.
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Anyway, we're obviously looking at a serious case of talent combined with willpower here. This is someone who decides that she's going to literally mold herself into a perfect specimen -- be it one who stands still or one who keeps up a six-minute, ten-second-per-mile pace for 26.2 miles -- no matter what it takes. Her time at the Olympic Trials was her best by almost a minute, so expect Christian to get even faster before she's through.
Comments
She stopped using anabolic steroids and took out (or got smaller) breast implants?
Posted by: PhysioProf | April 27, 2008 10:10 AM
"took out (or got smaller) breast implants?"
That's it! I was going to suggest she had a bilateral lung lobectomy or something, but I knew that wasn't quite it.
Whew! I always get so close to the facts without being able to wrap my mind around 'em.
Posted by: Kevin Beck | April 27, 2008 12:00 PM
Maybe it's just me but I think she looks far hotter and healthier in the bottom two pics. I'm not really into the shoe polish rubbed all over the body look.
Posted by: mgordon | April 27, 2008 5:07 PM
No, it's not ust you. Despite what she managed to do with her body at age 23, on the whole she doesn't look a day over 40 in the bodybuilder shots. She was obviously aiming for an extreme-outlier look in those days, and she certainly achieved it.
You guys have probably already Googled her for other pics, but her professional photos (like this one hearken to neither a musclehead extraordinaire or a withered runner. She just looks like a healthy woman in her late 20's.
I don't mean to make this about her appearance per se so much as marvel at the physiological range she's enjoyed. Only a tiny fraction of women have the potential to run 2:41 for the marathon, and of those who do, a vanishingly small proportion could bulk up the way Ms. Christian once did -- with or without chemical aid.
Posted by: Kevin Beck | April 27, 2008 5:14 PM
Agreed, it's not about her appearance, but I have to say that her running form in the last pic is beautiful. Talented runners always look so graceful (well most of them anyway, I've seen a few bizarre styles on good runners that make me wonder how they manage to move so fast).
Posted by: Norm | April 27, 2008 5:47 PM
Let's explore the inner world of the once pumped body builder turned runner.
Consider she was never a runner in school (high school or college) and is beating all american types with 2+ years of serious running.
Consider she stated that due to her dental school commitments, she didn't have time to commit to running. Hmmm.......I guess body building only takes a few minutes of your day.
Consider that about the same time she ran 3 marathons in 4 months and finished by qualifying for the OT, her then boy friend was setting PR's. After they broke up he went back to his "normal" times. Was it her aura?
Consider she was quoted in a RW interview saying she had food allergies that prevented her from running faster times years ago. This was never mentioned when she was flatly accused of doping a few years ago. Maybe a convenient reason to state in a national pulication to deflect suspicion?
Consider her statement in the same article about her reasoning for being able to recover from a hot Chicago race to run a PR 4 weeks later in New York. "Recovery is all mindset."
Consider in the same article that she stated she just listens to everything her coach tells her to do. IF that is true her former coach has no business coaching vulnerable high schoolers.
Consider she hired attorneys to force the body building site to take down her profile. Wonder why?
The USATF and everyone will figure out what the running community in DFW already knows. In my opinon this chick is juiced and will eventually join the long line of deniers like Marion Jones and Regina Jacobs.
Posted by: Arf | May 15, 2008 12:30 AM
Bodybuilders.com still has a profile of her up, and if you scroll almost all the way down you find this:
What Supplements Have Given You The Greatest Gains?
1) 19 Nor-Andro and 2)19Stenediol
Those are converted in the body to testosterone and nandrolone, respectively. Both are very popular, very illegal substances per WADA/IAAF/USADA/USATF/etc guidelines.
Good thing she's not into bodybuilding anymore or we might have to suspect her of cheating!
Posted by: Kevin Beck | May 15, 2008 12:46 AM
Her profile was removed for a brief period, but came back.
If you read any of her interviews, you will notice she selects her wording very carefully to make it appear that she follows her coaches plans to the letter and she is simply their vehicle. Her claim a few years ago when the suspicion started to fly was fish oil and healthy eating. She is all over the map. The latest RW article has her spouting about some miracle recovery supplement.
Like I said, she will fall by the wayside with the likes of Deeja Youngquist.
Posted by: arf | May 15, 2008 2:54 PM
You eggheads are pathetic! Have any of you ever met this woman? Or are you jaded runners that have simply had your butts kicked by this person in a race? Im assuming that the attorneys services were sought out more on the basis of libel and slander. Based upon the fact this woman is a doctor, I would believe it to be possibly damaging to be accused of abusing drugs!!! It is not within reason to say that these accomplishments have come via hard work and committment! The human body is an amazing thing, and most people never come close to maximizing their genetic potential based upon lack of willpower and dedication. It seems pretty clear that this woman has both. Maybe you should be out there training right now instead of playing on your computers... I BET SHE IS!!!! People like you make me want to puke!!
Posted by: jst | July 4, 2008 11:48 AM