When the bell sounded, Maggie Vessey knew that time was running out not only in the Herculis 800m race in Monaco, but also in her season.

She had 400 meters to make another chase of the A qualifying standard for the World Championships. Should she fall short, like she had all summer, she knew quite well that it would leave her down to one final chance on Friday.

A little bit of pressure? You bet.

But somehow, Vessey was able to continue to run carefree, almost naïve to circumstances that have, in the past, felled more accomplished runners, let alone an upstart like her.

“I was oddly calm,” Vessey said in a phone interview from Monte Carlo Tuesday night. “I can say that I was probably the