I watched the Olympic Trials Marathon last Saturday. I had two reasons for watching the broadcast of the marathon in Atlanta. One, because I enjoy watching running events, whether it is a track meet or long distance running, like a marathon. The second reason is because the race outcome is different. The Olympic Trials Marathon only takes the top three runners. It helps to run a good fast time, but the time is secondary to placing in the top three. This makes for some different strategy for runners.
The race for the top three runners was open this year as only a few of the best United States marathon runners were entered. To run the race, every runner had to meet a qualifying standard. There are a couple of axioms that marathon runners go by. One is that it is a long race and there is no need to go too fast too soon. Even for us slow marathoners this holds true. I have been in more than one marathon race where the fast starters are sitting on a curb at mile 23, or walking at mile 24. The second thing that marathon runners will tell you is that the halfway point is at 20 miles.
For the men it was an interesting race. Shrader, a runner from Northern Arizona, took off on a break away at mile 12. He was at least 40 seconds in front of the main pack of runners. He looked strong, had an efficient stride, and good running mechanics. The point that marathon runners mention, “It is a long race,” kept popping into my head. It was much too early in the race to go that fast. It reminded me of watching the LeTour De France bike races. The breakaway groups take off and the peloton group just sits back and waits. Some of these breakaway riders can be 15 minutes ahead of the pack. When the time is right the pack starts to reel them in. It is still amazing to watch the pack swallow the lead bikes up and leave them behind. This is the same scenario in the Olympic Trials Marathon. The pack just swallowed the lead breakaway runners and left them behind at around mile 18. After that the more experienced runners took over and slowly the pack became a group of runners in single file.
