Blake Russell is an American long-distance runner who represented her country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After finishing third in the marathon at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, she went on to finish 27th in the Olympic marathon in Beijing. She was the only American woman to finish the Beijing Olympic Marathon. She is a many time USA National Champion in Cross Country and the USA Road Racing Circuit over various distances. A high-school standout in North Carolina, Russell won 11 Independent School State Titles in the 800, mile, and 2 mile. She walked onto the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill team in 1993 and eventually earned All-American Honors and ACC Championship titles in the 1500m and 5000m her senior year. She set the school record in the 1500 meters went on to place 13th in the NCAA Track and Field Championships. She met her husband Jonathan Russell, an All-American runner at Wake Forest University while at the NCAA meet. While attending Elon University for Physical Therapy, Russell continued to train and qualified for the Olympic Trials, not in the marathon, but in the 10,000m by having met the 10,000m standard of 33:00. 

July 24th, 1975 in Winston-Salem (Age 49)