she`s so skirt!

Laurie Knowles is in it for the long run.

"Running is my time to just think and relax," says Laurie, a qualifier for the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials. After realizing her lack of coordination would keep her out of cheerleading, she picked up running in junior high. "I still can't do a cartwheel," admits the 29-year-old. Like Nike, Greek Goddess of Victory, Laurie has always been athletic. After graduating from The University of Arkansas, she moved to Atlanta with her husband, got her MBA at Georgia Tech and began to shift her focus to longer distances. Since then, she's finished as the top Georgian in the Peachtree Road Race for three years. She runs 80 miles each week, sometimes with her mom. After an hour jog together, "we've caught up on all the nutty things going on in our lives." The training pays off, as seen in her performance at the '06 Chicago marathon. She finished the 26.2 miles in 2:46:31, averaging 6:25 per mile. "I love that if you train smart you can really see yourself accomplishing goals."