Jen Bergman left Arizona in 2013 with her name all over the record book.
 
To this day, she has the third-fastest 10K and the fourth-fastest 5K in school history. She is a five-time All-American and became Arizona's first Pac-12 10K Champion in 14 years after winning in 2013 during her senior year.
 
Bergman continued running competitively after leaving Arizona and ran the marathon at the U.S. Olympic Trials in both 2016 and 2020. She finished in 61st in a race with over 200 runners in her debut at the Olympic Trials and made huge strides in 2020, finishing in 17th out of nearly 400 runners.
 
To her, training to run the marathon at the trials was something she enjoyed, but to most people, the training would be grueling.
 
"When you're training for a marathon, it's one of those things that builds on top of each other," Bergman said. "You try to tack on one to two miles every weekend and then it just builds up from there. Then you run a 90-mile week with a 22-mile workout and a 16-mile workout that same week, so it can get tough."
 
Her experiences running at the Olympic Trials are some of the most memorable moments of her life, specifically the course at the 2016 Olympic Trials in Los Angeles.
 
"I loved it," Bergman said. "In 2016 it was loops, and I love doing loops because I knew where my family, my boyfriend and coach were going to be. Typically marathons are point to point or one big loop, so this one was the most unique course I have run on. There is a point where you run down the street and you do a U-turn and go back up the same street, so you could see your competition for a full mile of the race. You can see them ahead and behind you, so I like that strategic part of the race."
 
Part of her success post-Arizona was finding a club where she could capture that feeling of being part of a team again.
 
"Since I joined my club, I felt that I had a solid training group with a few girls that I could run stride for stride with since I was at Arizona, and that help me take some time off my PRs."
 
She also attributes a lot of her collegiate success to the environment and experiences she had while at Arizona. It became clear to her how important her teammates and coaches were to her after she graduated. She didn't have quite the same amount of success she had planned on having right away, but she stayed with it and was able to qualify for the trials.
 

"After I graduated I moved to Washington, D.C. and I think that was a little too quick of a move," Bergman said. "In college, everything is taken care of for you. Especially at Arizona, you have a strong support system, and I loved every coach that I had there. You live with your friends and teammates, and I think leaving right away to go run professionally was too much at once, so I didn't run well there and I wasn't happy there. After a year and a half, I moved to Portland where I lived for three years. After that, I took a year off of racing and traveled through South America for a few months, and then I moved to Boulder."
 
Up until recently, Bergman was hitting her stride in regards to her racing career, but then a few roadblocks got in her way.
 
"I had a great 2019 and also had a great start to 2020," Bergman said. "I was healthy all the way through and ran two marathons and a few half marathons. But all plans changed a couple months ago. Like everyone else, everything is up in the air. I'd like to say I can race in the fall, but I just don't know."
 
She also picked up an injury that has required her to change her training for the time being, but it has also helped her appreciate being able to do what she loves to do.
 
"The only positive of an injury is it makes you appreciate being able to lace up your shoes and go out for a run, so I am going to focus on enjoying running," she said. "Putting on your shoes to go on an elliptical is incredibly boring. I am super excited to be running again. I don't want to get into race shape anytime soon, but I want to have a strong base and be patient."
 
For now, Bergman will wait like the rest of us for life to get back to normal, but until then, she will stay ready, and she will stay hungry.