Desirée Ficker (born December 9, 1976) is an American long-distance runner and former professional

triathlete A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the d ...

Personal life

Ficker was born in

Potomac, Maryland Potomac () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, named after the nearby Potomac River. Potomac is the seventh most educated small town in America, based on percentage of residents with postsecondary deg ...

to Annette and

Robin Ficker Robin Ficker (born April 5, 1943) is an American disbarred attorney, real estate broker, former state legislator, political activist, sports heckler, and perennial political candidate. Ficker ran unsuccessfully for Montgomery County Executive i ...

; her father is a perennial political candidate and well-known sports heckler. She has two younger brothers, Robby and Flynn. She currently resides in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

with her puppy, Pandora. Outside of training, she likes snowboarding, shopping for

vintage clothing Vintage clothing is a generic term for garments originating from a previous era, as recent as the 1990s. The term can also be applied in reference to second hand retail outlets, e.g. i''n vintage clothing store''. While the concept originated ...

, camping, sewing, photography, and reading. Married Matt Berry Nov. 2012.

Athletic history

Ficker began running with her father at a very young age. Her parents were big

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

fans. She traveled with her parents to places like

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

to go to track and field races. She started competing in the cross country/track and field Junior Olympics when she was nine. She continued running throughout high school and college at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

where she graduated in 1998 but became interested in triathlon from watching Ironman Kailua-Kona in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. She bought her first triathlon bike in March 1999 and qualified for Kailua-Kona that summer.

Career

Kailua-Kona career

In 1999 Ficker completed Kona with a time of 11:15, and 2nd in her age group. In 2000, she took home a time of 10:45, and 2nd in her age group again. In 2006, she came in 2nd place overall at Kona, with a time of 9:24, behind

Michellie Jones Michellie Yvonne Jones ( ; born 6 September 1969) is an Australian triathlete. She has won two ITU Triathlon World Championships, an Olympic silver medal, and the 2006 Ironman World Championship. She won a gold medal at the 2016 Summer Paraly ...

. In 2007, Ficker was diagnosed with

strep throat Streptococcal pharyngitis, also known as streptococcal sore throat (strep throat), is pharyngitis (an infection of the pharynx, the back of the throat) caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a gram-positive, group A streptococcus. Common symptom ...

before the race, but was feeling optimistic and started the race. Her swim time was 1:01:02. Her bike time was 5:14:30. Her marathon was 4:19:42. Overall, her time was 10:40:43. Her place was 643. On 11 October 2008, Ficker finished 39th in the Women's Pro division at the Ford Ironman World Championship in a time of 11:07:48 (1:00:37 swim, 6:02:00 bike, 3:55:03 run).

2007

On January 28, 2007 in the 3M Austin Half Marathon, Ficker finished in a personal best 1:14:07 (5:39/mile pace) to place third behind

Kathy Butler Kathy Butler (born 22 October 1973) is a long-distance runner who competes in the 10,000 metres and marathon, as well as cross country running and road running. Born in Scotland, she has competed internationally for both Great Britain and Canada. ...

(1:11:12) and Caroline Cheptanui (1:13:55). On February 18, 2007 in the 2007 AT&T

Austin Marathon The Austin Marathon (also known as Ascension Seton Austin Marathon presented by Under Armour for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in Austin, Texas, since 1992. The race weekend also features a half marathon and a 5K run with a ...

, only her second marathon raced, Ficker ran a 2:40:28 then personal best time to finish second, 42 seconds behind Moges Zebenaye of Ethiopia. This qualified her for the 2008 US Olympic Marathon Trials.

2008

On 18 January 2008, Ficker won the 2008 Spec-Savers South Africa 70.3 Ironman in Buffalo City in 4:46:46 (24:09 1.2 mile swim, 2:42:34 56 mile bike, 1:36:03 run). She finished 12 minutes ahead of the next finisher,

Heidi Jesberger ''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published in 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' (german: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre) and ''Heidi: How She Used ...

of Germany.

2008 Olympic Trials

On 20 April 2008, Ficker competed in the Women's Marathon 2008 U.S. Olympic Team trials in Boston, racing for club ASICS. She finished but did not make the Olympic team, placing 79th out of 161 entrants in 2:48:11 (6:25/mile pace).

2009

On March 29, 2009, Ficker won the Austin Statesman Capitol 10K race for the second year in a row with a time of 34:56 (5:38 minutes/mile pace). On November 1, 2009, Ficker finished tenth in the ING

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor) is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishe ...

in a personal best time of 2:39:30 (6:05 minutes/mile pace), earning $500. She was the second fastest American woman in the race.

2010

On February 14, 2010, Ficker won the 8th Austin Half Marathon in 1:17:41 (5:56 minutes/mile pace), improving on her second-place finish in 2009. On April 11, 2010, Ficker won the Austin Statesman Capitol 10K race for the third year in a row with a time of 35:36 (5:44 minutes/mile pace). On November 7, 2010 she finished 45th in the ING New York City Marathon, in a time of 2:52:30 (6:36 minutes/mile pace).

2011

On February 20, 2011, Ficker won the 20th Austin Marathon in 2:50:35 (6:31/mile), beating the second-place finisher Jessica Mike by 11 minutes, 18 seconds. On March 27, 2011 Ficker failed to win her fourth consecutive Austin Statesman Capitol 10K race, finishing fifth with a time of 36:11 (5:50/mile). On December 9, 2011, Ficker announced she is giving up triathlon to focus on her running career.

2012

Ficker did not have a qualifying time of under 2:46 in the past two years to be able to compete in the 2012 US Olympic Marathon trials in Houston on January 14, 2012.

2014

On May 31, 2014, Ficker won the Zooma Annapolis, Maryland Half Marathon with a time of 1:26:52.

Personal bests

* Half marathon - 1:14:07 (2007 3M Half Marathon, Austin, Texas) * Marathon - 2:39:30 (2009

)

References

External links

Official website

Twitter page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ficker, Desiree 1976 births Living people American female triathletes American female marathon runners American female long-distance runners People from Potomac, Maryland Sportspeople from Montgomery County, Maryland 21st-century American women Alabama Crimson Tide women's track and field athletes