Americans in New York City Marathon Taking Alternative Approach to 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon

By Adam Kopet

The elite fields for the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon, scheduled for Nov. 3, have been announced and several prominent Americans will take part, including Jared Ward and Des Linden.

The New York City Marathon is 118 days before the U.S. Olympic Trials marathon, scheduled for Feb. 29 in Atlanta. Using past history, many top Americans would skip a fall marathon, saving their efforts for the winter trials.

However, that approach is not for everyone, especially as there had been confusion over the qualifying process, given the IAAF's recent stiffening of the Olympic standards. Many American athletes were finding themselves agreeing to fall marathons to chase the Olympic standard.

That is no longer needed with the U.S. Olympic Trials marathon having been granted Gold Label status by the IAAF, as was previously reported. The top-five athletes across the line in Atlanta will automatically have the Olympic standard and be eligible for the Olympic team.

In addition to Ward and Linden, Americans scheduled to race in New York City include Kiya Dandena, Tyler McCandless, Roberta Groner, Sara Hall, Allie Kieffer, Diane Nukuri and Kellyn Taylor.

Ward has had success in New York City before, having finished sixth in 2018 as the top-American in the race. He also finished sixth at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

In a blog post for Saucony, Ward wrote about several reasons he decided to race the New York City Marathon this year. Among them, the hilly New York City Marathon course will provide good hill race experience for the hilly U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon course in Atlanta.

Also, as a professional runner, Ward earns about half of his income from the marathons he runs. With a family of five, missing out an a marathon appearance could make life difficult.

Linden, on the other hand, is taking her career one race at a time, according to Nick Zaccardi of NBC Olympics. The 2018 Boston Marathon champion has yet to commit to running the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon next year. She is running each marathon as if it may be her last, a strategy Shalane Flanagan has used in recent years.

Linden is already a two-time Olympian. She dropped out of the 2012 Olympic marathon with a stress fracture. In 2016, she finished seventh, behind two women who have since been suspended for doping.

Most interesting of the Americans scheduled to race in New York City is Hall. If all goes to plan, she will race three marathons in the span of less than six months. Hall is planning to race two fall marathons, first the Berlin Marathon on Sept. 29 and then the New York City Marathon 36 days later.

Chris Chavez reports for Sports Illustrated that Hall regularly runs marathon distances in her training build-up for marathons. She has run 2:31 in trainers as part of her training for a past marathon.

Hall has a history of recovering quickly following marathons. She went from finishing 15th at the year's Boston Marathon to finishing second at the USATF Half Marathon Championships three weeks later. Six days after that, she finished second at the USATF 25 km Championships.

Previous to this year, Hall won the 2017 USATF Marathon Championships 35 days after finishing fifth at the 2017 Frankfurt Marathon.

With Berlin being flat and fast, this will give Hall the opportunity to race a fast marathon that should, in theory, be easier to recover from, before she tackles the hillier New York City Marathon course. Both races will give Hall the chance to practice her race execution, something she has previously struggled with and something that is hard to replicate in training.