Brett Gotcher = Marathon Trials Dark Horse

I was skeptical but this article confirms he's training well:

http://running.competitor.com/2016/01/olympic-trials/resurgent-brett-gotcher-taking-the-hard-road-to-u-s-olympic-trials-marathon_144156

He currently is training with Arciniaga who is another dark horse.

Totally. And if you follow his Instagram, you can see he's ready and has a good support crew locally and at his training locations. Should be a good one.

Can you think of anyone who's gone 4 years between good marathons?

Mouse Speed wrote:

Everyone seems to forget he was 5th at the Trials 4 years ago.

He hasn't done much since, BUT his workouts are on point right now and he's healthy. When he's got both those things going for him, he's in the mix. I'm placing bets on Brett for the 3rd spot. GO Brett!

If you want a realistic & practical dark horse look no further than Jared Ward = the millennial Brian Sell.

I like Bret, but wrote:

Can you think of anyone who's gone 4 years between good marathons?

Meb

Too much El Nino Rain in Aptos lately...his training has been hampered, and he won't be ready for Global Warming/El Nino warmth on race day in SoCal.

I run in Aptos and my training (though only 30 miles a week) hasn't been hampered much at all. I've had to run (2-4 times) in some light rain the past month, but only once in rain of any significance. El Nino hasn't hit the area yet. Some rain, but nothing steady. There's always breaks during the day.

Why do I feel like all these guys are posers? Like no one is really doing the legit marathon training to be great? I hope Gotcher busts a great one, but he ran 2:10 coming off the best racing of his life. He doesn't have that confidence now and that's a big part of the marathon. I hope we hear 10-15 stories like this before the Trials. Give me some long shots, I love it.

Interesting workout. 12x 1 mile at MP with a 400 jog. That should feel like absolute cruise control with a recovery jog. Didn't say it was a super hard workout, but it almost seems too easy.

I like Bret, but wrote:

Can you think of anyone who's gone 4 years between good marathons?

Waldemar Cierpinski.

see 2005-2009 cited Meb as someone who went 4 years between good marathons. Not quite. After his 2004 Olympic silver, Meb ran 2:09:56 at NYC in Nov 2005 and the same time in Boston Apr 2006. He ran a 2:15 at the 2007 USOT Marathon, but he was running on a broken hip. Not a 4 year gap by any stretch of the imagination.

see 2005-2009 wrote:

I like Bret, but wrote:

Can you think of anyone who's gone 4 years between good marathons?

Meb

He was 3rd in NYC in 2:09 in fall 2006, then 2:09 in London in spring 2009, so 2.5 years between really good marathons.

good example, however wrote:

see 2005-2009 wrote:

Meb

He was 3rd in NYC in 2:09 in fall 2006, then 2:09 in London in spring 2009, so 2.5 years between really good marathons.

My mistake. As someone pointed out, his 2:09 for 3rd in 2006 was in Boston, not New York, so 3 years between good marathons.

good example, however wrote:

see 2005-2009 wrote:

Meb

He was 3rd in NYC in 2:09 in fall 2006, then 2:09 in London in spring 2009, so 2.5 years between really good marathons.

I believe that was 2005 not 2006. 2006 he bombed. Okay, so 3.5 years.

1. Kibet 2:09:56

2. Rupp 2:10:31

3. Chelanga 2:10:36

he's still got more left and my bet is he'll bust out a 2:10 for that final spot.

Meb ran 2:09 in NY in 2005 and 2:09 in Boston in 2006. His 2:15 at the trials was due to a broken hip, not training issues. I would call that a damn impressive time while hurt. So not 3.5 years. Let's not forget Meb ran the 10,000 at the 2008 Track trials and he had that bout of food poisoning in NY in 2006 where he ran the 2:20 something. I don't recall a Spring marathon in 2007 (or what that the year he DNF'd in London with the blisters?)

Good article from a couple days ago: http://running.competitor.com/2016/01/olympic-trials/resurgent-brett-gotcher-taking-the-hard-road-to-u-s-olympic-trials-marathon_144156

Brett will not be the first Stanford Grad across the finish line.