Group of 41 runs U.S. Olympic Trials standard at Jacksonville Half-Marathon
A group of 41 U.S. runners eclipsed the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials standard at the Jacksonville Half-Marathon in Florida on Sunday morning.
Roars at finish line for qualifying runners. pic.twitter.com/LMef7avrki
— Clayton Freeman (@CFreemanJAX) January 3, 2016
A large contingent of American Olympic hopefuls travelled to Jacksonville, Fla. for a last-minute half-marathon attempt to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, the prerequisite to the Rio 2016 Games. Jacksonville proved kind.
A group of 27 men, and 14 women, at the Jacksonville Half-Marathon eclipsed the necessary mark earning a ticket to the Feb. 13 Trials in Los Angeles.
The men’s standard is 1:05:00 and the women’s 1:15:00, with half-marathon performances eligible for marathon qualifying purposes.
Men's Jax Bank results pic.twitter.com/Mawhn5ZjaB
— Pat Price (@WritingAboutRun) January 3, 2016
RELATED: Canadian Sasha Gollish runs huge PB, hits world half standard in Texas.
The men’s race was won by Jonathan Grey (1:02:47) of Boulder, Colo., and the women’s race was won by Stephanie Dinius of Brookline, Mass. in 1:13:41.
Women's Jax Bank results via @RCFannin pic.twitter.com/0PIlW8f9oh
— Pat Price (@WritingAboutRun) January 3, 2016
Interestingly, Chris Derrick, the training partner of Canadian Mohammed Ahmed with the Bowerman Track Club out of Portland, Ore., finished third on Sunday morning in 1:03:41.
RELATED: Six Canadians announced for as part of a stacked field at Houston Marathon.
Ahmed is expected to make his half-marathon debut in Houston leading some to speculate whether the Canadian half-marathon record (1:01:28, Jeff Schiebler) will be broken.
Conditions were rainy and cool in Jacksonville for the half-marathon on the first Sunday of 2016.
Cover photo: Clayton Freeman via Twitter.
H/t: Pat Price via Twitter.
Check out the latest buyer's guide:
