Breaking: Chris Derrick, "I am currently training for the marathon trials"

This is good news, this is turning out to be a great race.

His 63' half is sub-par, but he was coming from the West Coast to a 7:00 am race (so 4 am his time) and it was pretty rainy. I think he'll be fine.

I don't disagree. It can be done, I suppose. In the case of Kempainen, he didn't break 2:12 until his fourth marathon, and his great race at Boston was in his fifth marathon. Talent and training matter more, but experience in a marathon, one which serves as the trials for the Olympics no less, matters greatly, also.

kdeomvoe wrote:

Montesquieu wrote:

A far from brilliant half marathon from a known commodity who knows exactly what he's doing in training--what works and what doesn't--and has experience in the marathon itself is one thing, but Derrick lacks both of these. I'd be a bit worried. He is a very talented guy, but the pressure of the trials coupled with almost complete inexperience in road racing generally and no experience at all in a marathon, these are difficult things to overcome.[quote]rojo wrote:

Well they are difficult to overcome until they are not. Mr. Kempainen in 1992 came into the Olympic Marathon Trials with exactly one marathon under his belt. Yes one is more than zero, but training and talent matter a lot more than experience.

I agree entirely. Of course he should try. Not to sound like I'm beating a dead horse, however, in a technical course (lots and lots of turns, and five laps, I believe), in a trials race, not being experienced in going through a rough patch, not having experience with the proper race hydration and nutrition, etc.--it's very hard.

Sesamoiditis wrote:

His statement to letsrun was pretty weak. He never even says he's racing the trials. All he says is that he is training for the race and if some key workouts go well he might race. Basically meaningless. We still don't know if he will be on the starting line.

Hell by your logic, we don't even know if there will be a Trials. Could be a nuclear Holocaust by then.

Or we could all be dead thanks to global warming. Only 21 days until we are toast according to Al Gore:

Precious Roy wrote:

He would get a nice check for his marathon debut after going to Rio.

Some more great logic. Debut now means 'third' marathon.

JustDontGetIt wrote:

Could someone please explain this quote to me? Only 10 of 13 total? Only 3 have NOT.

LetsRun.com wrote:

Only 10 men in US history with a faster 10,000 PB than Derrick's 27:31.38 have raced a marathon. At the end of the day, the Marathon Trials could include 9 top 15 Americans in US history at 10,000.

Derrick is #14 in US history at 10,000, but Rupp, Solinsky and Estrada haven't run a marathon. Chelanga who ran 27:08 for Kenya also hasn't.

So at the start line, 9 of the 15 fastest men in US 10,000 history will be racing (well 8 if you don't count Chelanga since his time was run for Kenya but he's not American).

Montesquieu wrote:

I don't disagree. It can be done, I suppose. In the case of Kempainen, he didn't break 2:12 until his fourth marathon, and his great race at Boston was in his fifth marathon. Talent and training matter more, but experience in a marathon, one which serves as the trials for the Olympics no less, matters greatly, also.

kdeomvoe wrote:

Well they are difficult to overcome until they are not. Mr. Kempainen in 1992 came into the Olympic Marathon Trials with exactly one marathon under his belt. Yes one is more than zero, but training and talent matter a lot more than experience.

Well I guess we have no real disagreement here, but I would add that Kempainen ran 2:12:54 at Columbus in the 1992 Trials in his second marathon, and it was a warm day. Only 54 percent of the field finished, which is much less than typical, notwithstanding that there may only be a 70-75 percent finishing rate at a typical Trials Marathon.

'just for kicks and giggles.'

What a stupid expresssion

Doclove wrote:

'just for kicks and giggles.'

What a stupid expresssion

Thanks for your input

Props to him for maximizing his Olympic chances but he must be doubting his ability to make the 10k team. Lack of finishing speed and few if any wins against top level American competition on the track support this view.

The marathon, more than any other race, benefits from racing experience. If you haven't run one then you don't understand the unique kind of pain that comes from being beat up, dehydrated, and glycogen depleted post mile 20. This is something that is very difficult to simulate in training and wholly different from a 10k or even cross country.

It's also a different type of training that benefits from a longer adaptation period to train the different systems and dial in fueling. He'll be 4-5 months off 5k training. Don't know if that's enough time.

From a monetary and development standpoint you'd think he'd be better waiting to debut at a major marathon. Chicago has struggled to attract top American talent in the last few years and might pay up for a hometown guy of his caliber. If he runs a sub par trials then his marathon marketability declines.

Wish him the best but it's hard for me to believe he beats some more experienced guys (at the marathon) with similar or better 10k PRs.

When has Chris ever raced sub-par? He is one of the most consistent runners on the circuit.

As has already been said, if he doesn't grab a spot then he still has the 10k.

Ritz-meb-derrick would be my team if I could choose or bet on it.

I know Ritz has been hurt but he's always hurt. I know meb is old but he's always an underdog. And I think Chris can put in a 210 effort and beat out the other 210 types if he dOesn't massively screw up.

Eggleston, Estrada, puskedra, etc. Are very fast of course. Chris is a smart racer and just as fast at short distances. His college xc career is also a good omen for the marathon IMO.

I agree with what you stated, but what about Kibet and Chelanga? They too will be in the mix.

Coffee and Gatorade wrote:

Props to him for maximizing his Olympic chances but he must be doubting his ability to make the 10k team. Lack of finishing speed and few if any wins against top level American competition on the track support this view.

The marathon, more than any other race, benefits from racing experience. If you haven't run one then you don't understand the unique kind of pain that comes from being beat up, dehydrated, and glycogen depleted post mile 20. This is something that is very difficult to simulate in training and wholly different from a 10k or even cross country.

It's also a different type of training that benefits from a longer adaptation period to train the different systems and dial in fueling. He'll be 4-5 months off 5k training. Don't know if that's enough time.

1.) Lack of finishing speed, relative to whom? He got 3rd at 2013 U.S. Nationals in the 10,000, 2nd at 2014 U.S. Nationals. That doesn't happen unless you have finishing speed, especially since those were both slow races. He may not have world-class finishing speed, but we're talking about making the U.S. team, and he definitely has the finishing speed for that.

2.) I'm not really sure why fueling gets brought up so much in the marathon. Isn't the whole idea to train your body to burn more fat, of which it has plenty, so that you have some glycogen left? Kenenisa doesn't fuel, if I'm not mistaken. Do any of the 'big boys' fuel?

Coffee and Gatorade wrote:

From a monetary and development standpoint you'd think he'd be better waiting to debut at a major marathon.

Why??

dfasdfadsfadsf wrote:

slam wrote:

Why???? I just don't get this move. He is only what, 24? 25?

He has huge potential on the track and could very well make the team at 5,000m or 10,000m. He has years to make the team in the marathon, why not concentrate on the track events right now? I don't understand these people who jump straight to the marathon.

Chris Derrick is at least 30sec away from winning a medal in the 10k and does not have even close to the speed to medal in the 5k. Even Galen Rupp knows he can't medal at 5000m.

Derrick's 10k PR means that, with proper training, he should be able to run 2:08 for the marathon eventually. Of course, this means he must train like a Kenyan marathoner, not an American one.

rupp just got 3rd at the worlds after a hellish 10k in heat. think again.

Because be gets guaranteed money in the form of an appearance fee from the race. He won't get that at the trials. His value to a US race director is high at present as the reigning US cross champ. If he goes and runs a sub par trials (debut marathons can be a crapshoot) then his value declines.

Lzlosiwnandbs wrote:

Because be gets guaranteed money in the form of an appearance fee from the race. He won't get that at the trials. His value to a US race director is high at present as the reigning US cross champ. If he goes and runs a sub par trials (debut marathons can be a crapshoot) then his value declines.

Maybe, just maybe, he thinks he might, you know, RUN WELL. Then his "value" would go up. Everyone keeps talking about Derrick and Rupp missing out on the big debut payday because they are considering the OT marathon instead of Boston/NY/Chicago. Really not sure why everyone seems to be ignoring the upside. If they run well, they will be very nicely compen$ated.

Chris Derrick kills it at xc. He's talented. He'll definitely run sub 2:13, whether he finishes in the top 3 is something we can only wait and see.

Lzlosiwnandbs wrote:

Because be gets guaranteed money in the form of an appearance fee from the race. He won't get that at the trials. His value to a US race director is high at present as the reigning US cross champ. If he goes and runs a sub par trials (debut marathons can be a crapshoot) then his value declines.

Rubbish.

His value would increase due to having run one already.

rojo wrote:

So at the start line, 9 of the 15 fastest men in US 10,000 history will be racing (well 8 if you don't count Chelanga since his time was run for Kenya but he's not American).

Chelanga is American