Julia Roman-Duval

Julia is a French-born astrophysicist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, and a competitive distance runner. She started distance running in early 2014. Prior to that, she was a competitive triathlete, having won several sprint and Olympic distance triathlons. In 2007 and 2008, she was the collegiate champion for the North-East conference. She also qualified for the ironman 70.3 world championship in 2008. After the birth of her 3 children in 2009, 2011, and 2012, she joined Bobby Gessler’s Tuesday/Thursday training group and the Striders Racing Team in 2013, which launched her on a competitive running path. Distance running then became a lifestyle. In December 2015 Julia met the Olympic "B" standard by running 2:40:55 at the California International Marathon. After securing her US citizenship Julia competed in the US Olympic Trials in February 2016 and finished 50th in a field of more than 200 competitors.

In October 2018 Julia made headlines by winning the Baltimore Marathon during a training workout. Her strategy paid off in December when she placed 20th in the US Marathon Championships with a personal best time of 2:36:31 and secured the Olympic “A” standard. She currently holds Striders Racing Team records in every distance from the 5k to the marathon.