Editor's Note: This interview took place in August as Rosario was in the final throes of training for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Men's Marathon, scheduled to be held Nov. 3, 2007 in New York.

The Olympic Trials hold a special meaning for all athletes who participate. For some, the Trials are only one step on the road to the Olympic podium. For others, they're the product of 4 years of hard work culminating in this one event.

Every athlete who toes the line has a story and for St. Louis' Ben Rosario, the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials will hold a special place in his story. That race will be a personal record of a different kind for Ben. It will be his final race as a competitive runner. Rosario plans to retire from professional racing after the Nov. 7 race and focus his energy on maintaining his running shoe store, Big River Running Company. As Rosario puts it, "For the last 13 years of my life my #1 priority has been running and my own running, but I've gotten to a point where, in my heart, it's not my #1 priority. Now, the store and my fiance are."

The career Rosario will look back on after hanging up his racing shoes will be an illustrious one. Starting his running days at St. Louis University High School, Rosario quickly rose through the ranks of Junior Billikens to become one of the top runners at the school. By his senior year he had earned All-State honors with an 18th place finish in the 1997 cross country state meet, led SLUH to a 4th-place team finish, and earned a scholarship to Truman State University.

While at Truman Rosario became the picture of success as a collegiate runner. Establishing himself as a team leader in his first season as a Bulldog, Rosario became the model athlete. He was the living embodiment of the track coach mantra of "desire plus preparation equals success." So dedicated was Rosario that on one rare occasion when a sore throat kept him from a morning run his coach personally called, fearing what horrible malady could keep Rosario from practice. Truman cross country would rise from failing to qualify for nationals to a 4th-place national finish during the 4 years Rosario ran there. During the time he donned the purple-and-white of Truman he would garner one All America award, as well as win one conference title in the indoor 5000m, and claim 10 other all-conference honors in cross country and track.

Those achievements led Rosario to his next running home, Rochester, Michigan. After college, Rosario joined the Hanson's Brooks Distance Project, a development team focused on turning strong college runners into elite professional athletes. In addition to running the team, the Hanson brothers, Keith and Kevin, owned a running store where the athletes worked. Seeing how a running specialty store with a dedicated and informed staff could contribute to the fitness needs of a community sparked an idea with Rosario: what if St. Louis had something like this? According to Rosario, "I forever am grateful to [Keith and Kevin Hanson] for the things they did for me. What I took from them in terms of the store and how to build a community is that the #1 thing is to have a great store. To have your store be an awesome resource for the running community and give back to the running community, and the bottom line will come." As Rosario's stint with the Hansons ended, it was time to come home again.

Rosario returned to St. Louis, and partnered with former teammate Matt Helbig, began the financial endeavor of opening a small business. Now, one year later, Big River Running is quickly becoming the training authority in St. Louis. For the partners, this is only one step in a plan. Rosario says, "Matt and I have made it our goal to be one of the best stores in the whole country. When I say we want to be one of the best stores in the country I don't mean dollar-wise, I mean that I don't want there to be anything we do poorly and I want anything that we do to be absolutely first class."

Now, with 12 weeks to go until the Olympic Trials Marathon, Rosario has some major training to do. "I plan to be around 100 to 115 miles per week. I've done more in the past. I've done 120 to 130 and I can handle it, but I probably will go with 110 to 115 with the workouts being really quality and the long runs being really quality," says Rosario. Upping the intensity of his training isn't the only way Rosario is preparing for the marathon. He also plans a return to the spartan existence that worked for him in college. Rosario says, "I'm going to Flagstaff, Arizona for 3 weeks in September to exclusively train, no working, just eat, sleep, and run for 3 weeks and hopefully that will make me pretty fit for when I return to St. Louis to finish my training."

Now with a handful of weeks left in his professional running career Rosario can say that he's ready to dedicate himself fully to his new role as a mentor for St. Louis runners. Some of his fondest memories have come through running and he wants to end his racing days on a positive note. Rosario said, "I've decided that running will always be something that's fun for me and I don't want to make it a chore. I just want to go out with a big bang and say I was happy with my career."