McKirdy Trained

Coaches that are dedicated to Olympians and new runners alike. All are welcome with us.

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

In 2021 we started our High Performance Team with athletes from around the world. Different backgrounds, different ages and abilities.

The mission is focused on development and representing each other to the best of our ability.

To compete on a global stage.

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

@lauerschu @cleans_letsrun There’s a whole list of regulations you can look up and what is required. But generally, it’s pre-competition testing and post competition testing. As well as a certain number of minimum labeled athletes who have required testing themselves, too.

It’s incredibly comprehensive.

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

@slowencorbett02 It was an unofficial arrangement they all had together, but now they made it official.

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

@Predamame Underrated tweet.

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

@ChrisChavez @CitiusMag Now we know why…

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

@kirwanbrady @tiyouri @aiu_athletics For Sydney.. she won’t be paid. Anything. Appearance fees…bonus… prize money… anything.

They’ll withhold all female prize money and funds until the official announcement of suspension.

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

I reiterate my statement from last week…

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

Another few announcements from the AIU

Athletes who finish 4-11th will OFTEN have a chance to be moved up in position. Just a matter of time in many cases.

It’s happened to our athletes multiple times. We often have the conversation of never giving up BECAUSE we don’t know who will get a positive or removed with ABP.

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

Peres...

You cheated Juia out of a silver medal at the World Championships too.

Only a matter of time before THAT is official.

Can't escape your biological passport!!

[Athletics Integrity Unit @aiu_athletics]

The AIU has provisionally suspended reigning World and former Olympic champion, Peres Jepchirchir, after an out-of-competition sample, collected in Kenya prior to her recent Sydney Marathon victory, returned an adverse analytical finding for EPO. 1/2

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

@aiu_athletics 🤣🤣

Well, I called that one...🤣

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

Designated demotes auto time….

Auto time demotes ranking…

It’s not top 55 (70) by ranking… it’s top 55 of THAT listing:

Designated races.
Auto time.
THEN rankings.

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

Designated Competition first.
Auto time second.
Ranking third.

That’s the unlocking process for each nation. The designated races take priority over the auto time.

This is a race selection chess match for the smaller countries.

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

@Fisseha_Tegegn Or... more likely... she started using long ago and was finally caught...

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

@aiu_athletics Buh...bye...

wish this was a retroactive ban too.

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

Did we all just collectively forget that Conner Mantz is racing NYC?

Kid is coming back to NYC as top American and sub 2:06 in NYC.

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

@slowencorbett02 Olympic Village athlete support allocation. All of the other events have a finite field (sorta)... the marathon is easiest to pick on.

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

@ayyyymish We don't know if universality will be available for the marathon yet. I'm sure that will be announced when the FULL standards are announced.

Currently, for the 2027 World Championshipsthey do NOT affect the quota. But we shall see if universality is even eligible for 2028.

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

Looks like it's going to be a field of 70 for LA 2028...

Folks are going to need to get a heck of a lot faster!

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

The Olympic Window hasn't yet been announced BUT it'll be Nov 1, 2026 to early May 2028... that's what makes the most sense for the marathon... So let's dive into what we think COULD be the standard and where USA sits in the mix.

In 2024, World Athletics allowed for reallocation for any athlete who ran under 2:11:30 and 2:29:30... Anyone inside of those times were eligible for as many spots that were unlocked by the nation - maximum 3.

How did you unlock spots? You ran top 5 at Platinum OR earned the Auto time on an eligible course.

Or...

At the end of the rankings window... your nation had someone in the top 80...

We ran into trouble for the men because we only had two spots unlocked... until Lenny earned his spot. USATF were able to send 3 men... all was right in the world... but then the WORLD got faster... and so did we!

Fast forward to the present day...

The 2027 World Championship standards are set for a field of 100 athletes. WA has also stated their aim is a 40% auto/60% ranking and they've determined that it equates to 2:06:00/2:23:20.

We have all the qualifiers and rankings needed for a full team for the World Championship in 2027.

But in a field of 80 for the 2028 Olympics, the athletes have no choice but to be faster. I'd estimate that a range of 2:05:00 - 2:05:30 for the men and 2:22:00 - 2:22:30 for the women makes the most sense for a field size of 80. That'll keep the rankings near 60% based on recent history.

Here's where things sorta get tricky...

Will there be the "unlocking of spots" for the Olympic Games in the marathon, and if so, what is the time... Is it even needed?

Say we only have a few women and men with the new standard or placement... and we need to move to the rankings... what happens then?

You see, you don't need to be 80th... you need to be AHEAD of 80th (max 3 per country) by the end of the ranking window. It's a sliding scale but if the window were this moment... we'd have 19 men ahead of 80th and 28 women ahead of 80th.

We are going to be totally fine. We just had the fastest 18 months in the history of marathoning and we have so many that are elligible and inside of the rankings for top 80 than we've ever had before.

It's incredibly reasonsable to assume we can continue this trend of performance. The talent is beaming!

But what if WA changes the field size to 70? If the window was today then we are down to 11 men and the women still have 23.

Why this is important...We are making assumptions based on past cycles (especially with reallocation and unlocking spots) but that doesn't mean things will stay the same for 2028.

The window is about to open and the absolute BEST way to earn your rankings is to run FAST.

Time first THEN bonus points from top level races.

If WA goes with raw time/ranking... if they opt to NOT have an unlocking process... then you must run SIGNIFICANTLY faster to be in the rankings window to be eligible. If they drop the field size to 70... even more so.

And here's where things could get even more tricky... We might not find out the standard until the spring of 2027. For WC 2027 we didnt find out the standards until 6 months into a window that was already open. That COULD happen again.

If you believe you have what it takes to run fast... choose fast races. That's your best bet.

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

@runsohfast It’s not record eligible BUT the requirement isn’t about records:

Elevation loss ✅
World Athletics Calendar ✅
In the window ✅

Auto time won’t count but reallocation time WILL.

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

Races in the USA that are AUTO time / Designated Event eligible:

Houston 2027/2028

Boston (top 5 only) 2027/2028

Chicago 2027

NYC 2026/2027

Honolulu 2026/2027 (not happening here... too hard.

USATF Olympic Trials 2028

Twin Cities 2027 - if label events or higher are deemed the minimum standard for auto time.

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

USA based courses that are TIME eligible for time reallocation for LA 2028 Olympic Marathon. (Assuming they are all on the WA Calendar during the window)

Houston
MicrOTQ (our race)
Eugene
Pittsburgh
Grandma’s
Twin Cities
Chicago
Marine Corps
Columbus
NYC
Indy
Möbius
Philadelphia
Marathon Project
Honolulu
USATF Olympic Trials (2028)

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

@hansonsrun It’s not record eligible BUT the requirement isn’t about records:

Elevation loss ✅
World Athletics Calendar ✅
In the window ✅

Auto time won’t count but reallocation time WILL

[McKirdy Trained @McKirdyTrained]

@tckahler A friend of ours is setting it up! Happy to see more of it out there! Just hope it gets off the ground.