BREAKING: 2020 US Marathon Trials Course Revealed

So you would punish runners who do slower courses like NYC? I'm sure there would be no controversies over who the best three at any point are...

Frank Shorter here wrote:

Never understood the excitement for the US Olympic trails. Which other countries do it this way?

On the men's side it's 2:19 or 17 minutes over the WR

For the women it's 2:45 or 29 minutes over the WR.

Seems kind of soft for the women.

But if people get excited about it, that's fine with me.

I think they just should pick the 3 best, 9 month before the Olympics so they can prepare well.

You are precisely missing the point for why we have the trials this way. Look at Ethiopia's selections for the last few Olympics. They've tried to pick the 3 best from a variety of races. They don't know how to compare them between races, so they've defaulted to basically picking the fastest times from the year. They could try to adjust for courses and conditions, but then things become subjective. So they just went with the fastest times and ignored all subjectivity despite the different courses. How does it make sense to base it on time when people aren't even running in the same races? And you saw where once in a while one of their athletes would pop another big win for a medal, but in general they had many duds while leaving their preeminent athletes at home.

So USA has decided to make all conditions even, because it's fair, even if it's only one day. On that day you can't dispute who was the better runner. It has its limitations depending on circumstances outside the race, but at least you can't fault the fairness of the race that day.

In 2012 Tsegaye Kebede did not make the Ethiopian Olympic team despite two podium appearances in the last year at the World Marathon Majors. They picked guys who ran faster races elsewhere -- their "3 best" as you might say. Kebede was notorious for running even races with the packs and always placing well, but the Ethiopian committee decided to ignore his results within races and instead pick the 3 fastest runners on any courses that year. Do you know what happened? Please, go look up the 2012 London Marathon men's results.

Kebede ran Chicago that fall instead and set a 2:04 PR to win the race. He then started 2013 by running London and winning that race.

I'd rather just watch my country's best race each other in the same race than leave it to a committee or best times. It becomes frustratingly subjective.

First Loop:

https://sites.google.com/site/training2begreat/us-olympic-marathon-trials-course/2-2020.png?attredirects=0

Middle Loops:

https://sites.google.com/site/training2begreat/us-olympic-marathon-trials-course/2-2020%20middle%20loops.png?attredirects=0

Final Loop:

https://sites.google.com/site/training2begreat/us-olympic-marathon-trials-course/2-2020%20final%20loop.png?attredirects=0

This is not a Rupp-certified course. Given his surgery, and the fact he will continue wearing 4% shoes, we're going to see The Return of the Fade.

Too bad our next-best US mens marathoner is slower than the women's WR.

rmillar1987 wrote:

So you would punish runners who do slower courses like NYC? I'm sure there would be no controversies over who the best three at any point are...

If decision day was RIGHT NOW, who are the top 3 to run at Tokyo?

FFF wrote:

rmillar1987 wrote:

So you would punish runners who do slower courses like NYC? I'm sure there would be no controversies over who the best three at any point are...

If decision day was RIGHT NOW, who are the top 3 to run at Tokyo?

Rupp

Leonard Korir

Who is jarod word?

We've got an article with an unofficial elevation chart

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2019/01/what-you-need-to-know-on-the-2020-us-olympic-marathon-trials-course-with-elevation-charts/

dont complain people wrote:

Expect Tokyo to be hot as hell with plenty of 180 turns.

Tokyo will be hot as hell, but there are only two 180' turns on its course., One is a few miles out from the finish.

survey says wrote:

dont complain people wrote:

Expect Tokyo to be hot as hell with plenty of 180 turns.

Tokyo will be hot as hell, but there are only two 180' turns on its course., One is a few miles out from the finish.

Is the Tokyo course flat or hilly?

Excellent idea here wrote:

Frank Shorter here wrote:

I think they just should pick the 3 best, 9 month before the Olympics so they can prepare well.

That's a good idea, than it would push Americans to do faster courses. And than we would have more men going 2:06-2:09 range.

Like Parker Stinson?

Thanks for the explanation. That makes a lot of sense.

coulda shoulda woulda wrote:

survey says wrote:

[quote]dont complain people wrote:

Expect Tokyo to be hot as hell with plenty of 180 turns.

Tokyo will be hot as hell, but there are only two 180' turns on its course., One is a few miles out from the finish.

Is the Tokyo course flat or hilly?[/quote

Tokyo is has a brief uphill leaving the stadium, then is downhill until about 6k. After that, it is almost pancake flat until 37k when it retraces the first portion back uphill and down into the stadium.

i don’t think the designers of this Atlanta course could reasonably claim that it simulates the Olympic course.

Having lived in Atlanta, this is about as flat as they could have made the course (without it being a bunch of 2 mile loops). The regular Atlanta marathon and Peachtree are WAY hillier than this.

If Rupp is smart he'll race it wearing the Pegasus. Needs to save his legs for Tokyo.

Walmsley would be a legit darkhorse with his ascending/descending skills on this grinder of a course.

Rupp

Korir

Ritchie

Walmsley

The biggest hill is only a 2.9% grade for 1km, not really a killer there guys.

Has that ever been a goal of a Trials course? I don't recall ever hearing that but haven't followed closely.

Quincyschmidt wrote:

i don’t think the designers of this Atlanta course could reasonably claim that it simulates the Olympic course.

That main 6 mile loop is one of my daily circuits...of all the potential options the marathon course designers had here in Atlanta, I don't understand this course they came up with. Though just a hobby jogger, I am not impressed with hairpin turns and those short loops around the block at the north end of the course. They really stretched to try and stick with relatively flat (for Atlanta) asphalt.

Shoot, the Olympic Marathon course from '96 would have been better than this. But it would have shut down miles and miles of two major roads through downtown, midtown, and Buckhead, and this contains the impact of the event to a relatively small area downtown. It's definitely spectator friendly, and Atlanta Track Club's push to brand Atlanta #RunningCityUSA has bordered on the ridiculous over the last year. The ATC's hosting a race on 3/2/19 on the larger 8.2 mile loop. Y'all come down and see it for yourselves.

Screwball Jackson wrote:

Seriously mate? wrote:

It's because the standards for Women are a joke. Not being sexist, it's a fact.

These women aint running fast - they are slow pokes allowed to gain entry for political correctness. Women - get off your lazy duff and run faster!

they should use a descending order list for the entries. Top 200 men and women by time on certifies courses can run, as well as anyone who finished in the top 25 at the US marathon or half marathon championships.