Men’s Marathon Project Preview: With a Fast Course & Perfect Conditions, Sunday Could Be a Historic Day for US Marathoning
December 17, 2020
In the annals of US distance running, a total of 21 men have broken 2:10 in the marathon, doing so a combined 56 times.
There are only six races in history in which more than one American has broken 2:10. The list:
Article continues below player
Race
2012 Olympic Trials
Meb Keflezighi (2:09:08), Ryan Hall (2:09:30), Abdi Abdirahman (2:09:47), Dathan Ritzenhein (2:09:55)
1983 Boston
1982 Boston
2002 Chicago
2010 Boston
2019 Boston
Scott Fauble (2:09:09), Jared Ward (2:09:25)
That list could be due for a major revision on Sunday. While the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a wrench into the traditional marathon schedule the three US-based World Marathon Majors (Boston, Chicago, New York) were all cancelled it has also created opportunities that would not otherwise have existed. Like the Marathon Project.
The Marathon Project Gives Elite Athletes A Lifeline During The Pandemic Dec 17, 2020 David Monti
(c) 2020 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
(16-Dec) Against the backdrop of a global pandemic which is generating over 200,000 new COVID-19 cases every day in the United States alone, 54 men and 44 women will mask-up and travel carefully to Chandler, Ariz., to compete this Sunday at The Marathon Project, a one-off elite-only marathon which will be held on the Gila River Indian Reservation. Run on a flat, 6.86-kilometer course, the race offers a lifeline to North America s elite marathoners who have seen nearly every important marathon in the world this year shut down after mid-March.
RRW: The Marathon Project Gives Elite Athletes A Lifeline During The Pandemic
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2020 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
(16-Dec) Against the backdrop of a global pandemic which is generating over 200,000 new COVID-19 cases every day in the United States alone, 54 men and 44 women will mask-up and travel carefully to Chandler, Ariz., to compete this Sunday at The Marathon Project, a one-off elite-only marathon which will be held on the Gila River Indian Reservation. Run on a flat, 6.86-kilometer course, the race offers a lifeline to North America’s elite marathoners who have seen nearly every important marathon in the world this year shut down after mid-March.
Richard HeathcoteGetty Images
When COVID-19 postponed or canceled all of the year’s major marathons in the U.S., two running industry insiders Ben Rosario, the coach of NAZ Elite in Flagstaff, and Josh Cox, an agent to many marathoners, including several on the NAZ team brainstormed a way for some of the country’s fastest athletes to race.
The result is The Marathon Project, an elite-only 26.2 that takes place at 10 a.m. ET on Sunday, December 20, on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Chandler, Arizona.
Want the latest pro running news?
The course is on a flat, two-mile stretch of road with roundabouts at each end. Runners go up one side of the road and back down the other for a 4.2-mile loop that they’ll do parts of six times. The course is built for fast times, not for variety.
RRW: World Athletics Gave Member Federations Flexibility On New Shoe Rules
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2020 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
(11-Dec) On July 28 World Athletics announced amended regulations governing competition shoes. The much-anticipated rule change was “designed to give certainty to athletes preparing for the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and to preserve the integrity of elite competition,” the world governing body for athletics said in a statement. The rules, which were to take place immediately, limited the stack height (essentially the thickness of a shoe’s sole and midsole) to 25mm for track events of 800m and above (and cross country), and 40mm for road events.