Which trials qualifier came the furthest to make the Trials?

Look into Tom Slattery - ran 2:19:11 in his debut at CIM, came back at Houston and got under only a few weeks later.

Not exactly what you're looking for but still a great story.

Hey wejo,

I ran 15:54 for high school xc and 9:43 for 2mi.

Went to Ohio State in 2011 and ran one year while dealing with injuries. Ran 26:02 8k XC sophomore XC season, then cut after that when a new coach came in. I ran 32:12 for a 10k road race (to try and keep my roster spot) and was told I was not being kept on the roster for lack of performance.

Started doing some 5k road races the next year then ran my first half in 2014 in 69:07. First marathon in the fall of 2015 in 2:31:58.

A few more halves over the next two years ranging from 67:30 to 68:40, then ran second marathon in 2:18:19.

Made a thread asking for advice leading up to CIM 2017 where I ran my qualifier here on LRC and got some good feedback and discussion!

https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=8431153

Sometimes I wish I got to have the collegiate running experience but I'm grateful to have jumped to the longer distances sooner now.

Such great personal stories from the Hoka Team!

Raj is a great guy. Look at his juco times. It wasn’t until his junior year after transferring to St Mary’s where things really started coming together.

There’s plenty of cynicism and trash talking on the boards but these stories are truly....wait for it...

DREAMS BECOMING REALITY!!!

I think it's quite interesting and cool that two of the people who came a long way to make the Olympic Trials through hard work are both Indian-American. Specifically both are Punjabi descent. Both seem to identify quite a bit with that too.

I probably haven't quite come the furthest, but absolutely none of my prior PRs would even remotely indicate that I would be capable of running a sub 2:19 marathon:

High School: 16:36 5K PR // 10:04 3200 PR

College [D3]: 15:01 5K PR // 31:39 10K PR // 25:26 XC 8K PR

1/2 Marathon PR [before making the 2020 Trials]: 1:11:14

Marathon Debut: 2:18:55

Furthermore, throw in the facts that:

1. I was not coached by anyone post-collegiately before my marathon debut

2. I did not stretch, lift, or do a single track workout in the calendar year before hitting OTQ

3. I was drinking 40-50 beers/drinks a week in the months before my marathon debut

4. I generally only ran about 80mpw in my marathon training buildup before before OTQ

All things considered, I would say I am by far one of the least likely people in the 2020 Trials field.

No offense meant. Just sayin'.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=furthest+or+farthest

When I read the title I assumed it was about who had the longest distance to travel to Atlanta...

Tyler Underwood. End thread.

A few additions to your article about Swaranjit:

1) His club coach was Dr. Armando Siqueiros (Mando, not Mondo). Jordan Hasay's HS coach.

2) The club team has had a few sub 14:30 guys on the roster and have won Club Nationals a few times(?)

3) The "running house" mentioned in the article is Dr. Siqueiros providing affordable housing to aspiring runners trying to make their dreams a reality.

Connor Reck - 800m specialist to Trials qualifier in a year.

Debut solo for the last 22miles in the wind at Philly, 3rd place in 2:19 ish

Houston got out hard breaking his 5k and 10k PRs en route and dropped a 63!

Savannah Berry's improvement from 3:14:14 to 2:44:12 in less than a year is impressive. she had bronchitis when she ran the OTQ:

https://stazzasstable.com/news/gotcha-savannah-nails-olympic-trials-qualifier/

Recent RPI graduate Sean O'Connor:

High school PR's

1600: 4:43

3200:10:46

College PR's: Ended up running 8:21 for 3k, 14:31 for 5k, and 30:32 for 10k. He never made track nationals until outdoors in 2019. Was never an All American. He popped off a 63:45 at Houston to qualify.

Desert Trash wrote:

I probably haven't quite come the furthest, but absolutely none of my prior PRs would even remotely indicate that I would be capable of running a sub 2:19 marathon:

High School: 16:36 5K PR // 10:04 3200 PR

College [D3]: 15:01 5K PR // 31:39 10K PR // 25:26 XC 8K PR

1/2 Marathon PR [before making the 2020 Trials]: 1:11:14

Marathon Debut: 2:18:55

Furthermore, throw in the facts that:

1. I was not coached by anyone post-collegiately before my marathon debut

2. I did not stretch, lift, or do a single track workout in the calendar year before hitting OTQ

3. I was drinking 40-50 beers/drinks a week in the months before my marathon debut

4. I generally only ran about 80mpw in my marathon training buildup before before OTQ

All things considered, I would say I am by far one of the least likely people in the 2020 Trials field.

Desert Trash, if this is legit you've got my vote.

Your training and background is a lot like mine. Similar times from high school and with the shorter stuff and I also never stretch, lift, or do track workouts. But I've only run 2:28 using this method-which actually felt impressive considering my training habits. Perhaps my beer intake is too low? But seriously, what indicators made you think you were capable of a sub-2:19 debut?

2Qs for you:

Did you use cheater shoes to qualify?

Have you cut down on your beer consumption?

pierre_paris_206 wrote:

2Qs for you:

Did you use cheater shoes to qualify?

Have you cut down on your beer consumption?

It seems like a no to the vaporfly question.

This is 100% legit. My proudest post-collegiate running accomplishment before hitting OTQ was successfully completing the bicentennial [100 beers and 100 miles in a week].

There was basically no indicator at all, I was just as surprised as anyone else. The only sign that I might have been able to run fast was that I was able to bang out very fast 20+ mile long runs with three other guys who had hit 2020 OTQ + an essentially retired Nick Arciniaga in SL, UT.

pierre_paris_206 wrote:

2Qs for you:

Did you use cheater shoes to qualify?

Have you cut down on your beer consumption?

Nope. I used the Mizuno Wave Universe 5.

And yes, I now only drink about 15-20 beers/drinks a week.

Thanks, LR, for making the upcoming Olympic Trials feel like a fundraising Color Run.

I suppose I should throw my hat in the ring on this one.

HS PRs:

800 - 2:08

1600 - 4:51

3200 - 10:25

5k XC - 16:29 (probably a short course)

College PRs:

800 - 2:03

1500 - 4:09

Mile - 4:28

3000 - 8:48

5000 - 15:08

3000SC - 9:29

8k XC - 26:04

I never made a state meet in either track or XC in high school and was never the top runner on my team. I walked onto my college team and was fortunate enough to see some improvement. After college, I just kept running because I loved it. I ran my first marathon at age 28 and ran 2:28:38. I then spent a couple years running crappy races in the 2:30s. At age 32 I finally PR'ed in the marathon by running 2:22:44. A year later I ran 2:20:28 and started to entertain the idea of hitting an OTQ for 2016. Unfortunately, I suffered a bad stress fracture that took me out for a few months. I came back from that and ran 2:21:14 at age 34 but obviously didn't get the qualifier for the 2016 Trials. I took a year off from marathons and tried to decide if I wanted to take one final shot at a qualifer. I decided to throw everything at Berlin 2017 and ended up running 2:18:54 on the day before my 36th birthday to get my OTQ.

Now I'm 38 and have a 1 year old daughter. I actually just ran a half marathon PR in the fall, and this training cycle has gone really well, so I am excited to race in Atlanta. I don't know if I've "come the farthest" of anyone at the Trials, but I definitely don't think anyone had me pegged as a potential Trials qualifier when I graduated from high school 20 years ago.