Sandy Jacobson is down to her last chance to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics. Last month, the Edmonton marathoner thought she could pull off the feat in a race in Rotterdam, but poor conditions held her back.

Just as she had declared during a press conference announcing that the city would host the 2005 world half-marathon championship, Jacobson pulled out of the Rotterdam run as soon as she realized she was well off the pace she required to reach the qualifying time.

Now back at home, Jacobson is trying to get refocused on the run that will either make or break her Olympic dream. Ottawa's National Capital Marathon on May 30 will settle the issue once and for all.

"I'm trying to be really optimistic. It's really going to have to be the race of a lifetime," said Jacobson, who will use today's St. Albert 10 Mile Road Race as a tune-up event.

Her final two races before running in Ottawa are a derby in Lethbridge followed by Edmonton's own half-marathon on May 16.

It won't be easy for Jacobson to reach her target. Her personal best time is 2:33.51, which leaves her a mere minute shy of having her ticket to Athens punched if she lived in any other country but Canada. Much to her chagrin, Jacobson must hit the Canadian Olympic Committee's qualifying time of 2:28.14 which is based upon the world record held by Paula Radcliffe and the top 12 finishes from the 2000 Summer Games.

DOWN TO THE NITTY GRITTY

If Rotterdam hadn't been such a miserable experience, Jacobson might not find herself in such dire straits.

"The weather was so ugly right before the race and then the high winds made the pace very slow," explained the 38-year-old. "I knew it was going to be difficult to set a personal record there and at the 15-km mark I saw that I wasn't on the pace that I needed to be at. I decided to pull out and save myself for Ottawa. It was a business decision based on how I thought things would unfold.

"After I came back I was very disappointed because I had spent a couple of months away from my family. I was very discouraged and I felt under so much pressure trying to reach that time standard that I just decided that whatever happens, happens. I would go into it in the best shape I could be and give it my best performance."

Getting back into the training groove wasn't an easy task. Seeing her Olympic dream starting to fade away made it an even bigger challenge.

"It was hard getting back into it. I just felt like I was beating a dead horse," said Jacobson, who warmed up for Rotterdam by training at the U.S. Olympic training centre in Chula Vista, California.

"I certainly felt like I was climbing a mountain but I was never going to see the top. My aspirations were to make it this year because I'm not sure what things will be like in 2008."

Should Jacobson fall short of the Olympics, she will certainly make a fine witness for the prosecution of the COC, which has come under fire from a number of national sports organizations for its higher-than-acceptable standards to earn a spot on the Olympic team.

"Maybe some changes can be made for 2008 so that it's not so difficult for more athletes to reach those standards," said Jacobson.

A BITTERSWEET VICTORY

"It would be a bittersweet victory but I would like to bring to light what those standards are and why other countries' standards are much less. Maybe the Canadian Olympic Committee needs to be a bit more informed and maybe we have to lobby more so that athletes in my place can make their teams.

"In synchronized swimming there's only 36 countries that compete so there's a lot better chance of being in the top 12 where in the marathon there's women from 210 countries.''

Jacobson has made good things happen for herself in the Ottawa marathon (26.2 miles). Her first crack at the course yielded a 2:33.52, nearly a minute under the time she needed to qualify for the world championship in 2001.

She pulled off the same feat again two years later, so her confidence is at an all-time high that the same race will result not only in another win and national title, but that she can hit the tape in a time that will send her to the biggest sporting event in the world.

"I won't know until 26.1 miles whether it's yeah or nay," said Jacobson.

"I've spent a lot of time visualizing the course. I know where each marker is and what my times should be at each point. By the time I'm five kilometres in I'll know whether it'll be a good effort or a struggle.

"The key will be to have patience and let the race unfold and not jeopardize my plan thinking about what place I'm in. If you think about it too much, you'll definitely screw up."