Neely Spence Gracey
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 16, 1990 |
| Residence | Boulder, Colorado |
| Sport | |
| Country |
 United States
|
| Event(s) | Marathon |
| College team | Shippensburg |
| Club | Adidas |
| Coached by | Steve Magness |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | Half Marathon: 1:09:59 (2015) Marathon: 2:34:55 (2016) |
Neely Spence Gracey (born 16 April 1990) is an American long-distance runner who competes in distances from 5000 metres to the marathon. She twice represented her country at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and was the top non-African runner in 2013. She also ran at the 2011 Pan American Games.
She attended Shippensburg University and won eight NCAA Division II titles while there. She ran her first half marathon in 2013 then made a marathon debut at the 2016 Boston Marathon, where she was the top American. She is the daughter of former marathon runner Steve Spence.
Spence Gracey was born to Kirsten and Steve Spence. Her father was a world championship medallist in the marathon and her mother was a high standard amateur runner. Born on the day her father ran at the 94th Boston Marathon, she grew up in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania and soon took up running herself. Home-schooled by her parents, she began taking part in road races in her early teens and showed an aptitude for the sport.
She went on to study Human Communications at Shippensburg University and ran for their Shippensburg Raiders collegiate team, as her father had done. Although the institution was not in the top level of collegiate sports, Spence Gracey performed well in NCAA Division II competition. She was an eight-time champion in NCAA Division II races, including back-to-back wins at the NCAA Women's Division II Cross Country Championship from 2010 to 2011. She broke Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) records in the 3000-meter run and 5000-meter run indoors and outdoors, as well as several distance medley relay records. She won 17 PSAC regional titles and was named the conference athlete of the year for all her seasons while at Shippensburg from 2008 to 2011.
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