Micro

A Race Series Designed by Runners, for Runners In 2021, the coaches of the McKirdy Trained online coaching platform created the McKirdy Micro Marathon series to give athletes an opportunity to race. The mission was to help athletes run a personal best and qualify for the Boston Marathon or beyond. At the time, the world was just coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic where opportunities to run fast times were limited and motivation to continue training was difficult with no upcoming races on the calendar. 6 races successfully took place across the US over a 2 month span, and athletes were able to use their results to register for Boston. We considered it mission accomplished. A year and a half later, however, we recognized there was still a problem that our race concept might be able to solve. As the qualifying window for the Olympic Trials was coming closer and closer to a close, many “on the cusp” athletes found they had limited options for races that are both fast and will provide the support they need to run their best. So in 2023, we took the McKirdy Micro concept and applied it at an elite level, hosting a race for athletes targeting the USATF Olympic Trials Qualifying Standard (OTQ) or beyond. Athletes from all over the world came to participate in our small, local race. When the day was done: 48 athletes ran under the 2:18:00/2:37:00 OTQ Standard More OTQs came from our race than any other race in 2023 Our race produced 2 Olympians 69% of the finishing athletes…