Paul Stoneham (no relation) of Fort Worth, Texas, hopes to run the 10,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials at the end of this month. Paul is 37 and has some good credits: He ran 29:11 six years ago. But the Eugene qualifying standard is 28:15 (or be in the top 24 on the U.S. list, which is now sub-28:42). Good luck. But you know me. I’m a sucker for impossible dreams. “I would be something you would call the darkest of dark horses,” Paul told his local paper. “I think if I didn’t have a chance at all, I wouldn’t be doing this. I’m putting my confidence in not so much what I can do, but what God can do through me.”

Here’s the article, in case the link goes dead:

Monday, Jun 2, 2008
Posted on Wed, May. 28, 2008
Fort Worth runner is still living his dream
By CHAREAN WILLIAMS
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Paul Stoneham knows his Olympic experience isn’t going to turn him into a household name or earn him a single endorsement. He has no chance of winning a gold medal, and he admits his chances even of making the U.S. Olympic Team are “slim.” But Stoneham said he is “living my life as it’s in my heart” in pursuing the Olympic dream he’s had since he was 11.
Stoneham, 37, has given up much, including his job, to train full time, but he said he has gained much more in return.
The Fort Worth resident had not run a race in six years before competing in the Michael Johnson Classic last month. He won the 5,000 meters in 15:02.84. He since has won the Mayfest 10K, taking the first-place check of $500 in the Luke’s Locker Mizuno Challenge with a time of 31:14.
To qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 10,000 meters, Stoneham must run 28:15 or better in a sanctioned race by June 15. His personal best is 29:11, which he ran six years ago.
“I would be something you would call the darkest of dark horses,” Stoneham said. “I think if I didn’t have a chance at all, I wouldn’t be doing this. I’m putting my confidence in not so much what I can do, but what God can do through me. If I’m looking at it from that perspective, then, of course, I can make the Olympic team. Of course, I can run faster than I ever have.
“I have great expectations. I don’t want to say I don’t have a chance, because I’ve been blessed with some really good gifts.”
Stoneham ran his first 5K race when he was 8, finishing in 20:50 and beginning “a 29-year journey and a metaphor for my life.” While other kids his age had Nolan Ryan and Joe Montana as heroes, Stoneham’s room was covered with posters of distance runners Tom Marino, Jeff Wells and Kyle Heffner. And instead of wearing Larry Bird’s Converse high tops, the young Stoneham proudly sported a pair of women’s light blue New Balance 420 running shoes.
By the time he was 11, Stoneham was a legend in the Waco road racing community.
“I knew I was good at it, and I knew I loved it,” Stoneham said. “Every decision I’ve made since then, I’ve made to try to maximize my running.”
When Stoneham was in the seventh grade, he called Waco Midway coach Bill Farmer to ask if he could run with the junior varsity team. Once in high school, Stoneham went on to win the 1988 Class 4A state cross country meet (16:12), the 1989 Texas Relays 3,200-meter run (9:16.71), and he was the 1989 Class 4A state champion in the 3,200 (9:24.80).
“It was pretty obvious very quickly that God had blessed him with a lot of talent,” said Farmer, who is retiring from Midway at the end of this school year. “It was easy to see he was going to do pretty well.”
Stoneham went to the University of Texas, where he was the Southwest Conference indoor 5K champion in 1992. His encore was a transfer to Adams State, a Division II college in Alamosa, Colo.
Adams State became the home of distance running in 1968 when it hosted the U.S. Olympic Trials marathon. ASC coach Joe Vigil went on to lead the Grizzlies to 18 national titles, including in 1992, when his team became the first in cross country history to record a perfect score at a national championship. Stoneham still has fond memories of that team and that accomplishment.
But Stoneham’s post-college career has been defined in medical terms: plantar fasciitis, hip dysfunction, sacroiliac instability, mononucleosis. Every time he thought about quitting, Stoneham said he always received a reason to keep running.
“He’s had kind of one consecutive injury after another,” said Heffner, now Stoneham’s advisor. “I think he’s just the poster child for persistence. He’s just really consistently going after his dreams and is inspired to do that and led to do that.”
Almost three years ago, Stoneham quit his job at Alcon, where he was a corporate fitness administrator. He took $8,000 out of his savings and cut out non-essentials. He lives in a low-rent duplex without Internet and without cable. He flips the hot water heater on and off. He rarely goes out to eat. His 1995 Acura Integra has 200,000 miles.
Stoneham estimates he lives on $40 a day. Friends and family help the cause, with food, money and the use of a car every now and again. Kolar Advertising and Marketing, an Austin-based company that counts Subway, Dell computers and Baylor University as clients, recently became Stoneham’s biggest sponsor.
Bryan Christian, the president and general manager of Kolar, was a high school cross country teammate of Stoneham’s. A monthly stipend from Kolar pays Stoneham’s rent and most of his bills. Stoneham, in return, has become the first face of Kolar’s new heroes campaign.
“We wanted to find someone whose story is remarkable, someone who has been able to overcome,” Christian said. “His story fits a lot of that. Every time he’s gone for it, something has gotten in the way. But he’s always kept running, and he’s always kept his belief.”
Stoneham’s closet tells his story, with 30 pairs of running shoes and two pairs of dress shoes. He goes through a pair of running shoes about every three weeks. His running clothes are hand-me-downs from Alan Culpepper, who finished 12th in the marathon at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
Stoneham weighs 135 pounds. He has 3 percent body fat. His resting heart rate is 34. He runs 110 to 120 miles a week, usually along the Trinity Trail. Rain or shine, heat or snow, most days a week, most days a year. He last missed a day in February.
Most days, Stoneham loves going to work. The hard parts of the job, he said, are eating right and going to bed early. His nutritionist, Michelle Senchyna, requires him to weigh and account for “every gram, ounce and milligram” of protein, carbs and fat he eats, with the goal of keeping him as healthy — and as light — as possible. He is asleep by 10:30 p.m. in order to get the recommended 9-10 hours of shuteye.
“I’m still 11 years old for all intents and purposes,” Stoneham said. “I’m just able to drive now. That’s about the only difference.”
Stoneham is running out of time to qualify for the Olympic Trials. He would have attempted to qualify for the Olympics in the marathon, but the U.S. Team Trials were held at the New York Marathon in November. Injuries set back Stoneham’s training and forced him to try his hand at the second-longest race in the Olympics.
He is looking at competing in upcoming sanctioned races in Toronto, Illinois and Oregon in a last-ditch effort to qualify for the U.S. Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., where the 10,000 is set for July 4.
“Paul has always shown these flashes of greatness,” said Troy James, Stoneham’s longtime friend and Dallas-based agent. “That’s what would have to fall that day. But he’s done the work, and he’s done the time, and he’s certainly wiser for the experience.”
Whatever happens, Stoneham said his career isn’t at the finish line.
“I want to do this until it’s obvious I’m not supposed to be doing it anymore,” he said. “I know I’m on my last lap, but I think I have a long last lap.”