Dallas Marathon tries tag-team approach
Top runners will pair off for relay as part of event
Olympic medalists Meb Keflezighi and Deena Kastor will join some of the USA’s top marathon runners in a unique two-person relay race in Dallas just nine weeks before the Olympic trials.
Ten runners who have qualified for the U.S. Olympic marathon trials will compete Dec. 13 in the Duo to Rio Relay sponsored by AT&T, which will be formally announced by race officials Tuesday. Athletes will be split into five teams, with the male running the first 13.1 miles and handing off to a female runner. Pairings will be announced Dec. 11.
Keflezighi joins Abdi Abdirahman and Desi Davila Linden as three from the 2012 Olympic marathon team who will race through the streets of Dallas.
The highly accomplished field also includes three-time Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein and 2012 Olympian Molly Huddle, who ran the 5,000 in the London Games. Other Duo to Rio Relay competitors include Annie Bersagel, Luke Puskedra, Becky Wade and Jared Ward.
Dallas Marathon President Patrick Byerly says race officials were looking for something that hadn’t been done before.
“We really wanted to showcase that it’s a fun event,” Byerly said of how the relay format came about and the ability to attract some of the top Americans so close to the Olympic trials. “No question they’re competitive and they want to win, but also we want to set up that they have a great day here and in the Olympics.”
Wade, who is the only Texan in the field, said it’s hard to predict how fast the relay teams will go out. After all, the Olympic trials Feb. 13 in Los Angeles are the race everyone is focused on. “It will probably be a variety of different approaches among the field,” Wade said. “Maybe some people who are trying to get in a solid tempo run, some people who don’t want to take it too intensely. Some who will give a half-marathon effort.”
Wade, 26, grew up in Dallas and trains in Houston, where she was a four-time All-American for Rice. She won her debut marathon in 2013, with a time of 2 hours, 30 minutes, 41 seconds in the California International Marathon.
“I think it’s genius,” she said of the relay format. “Really creative and fun. A nice variation on a very traditional event.”
More than 20,000 runners are expected for the Dallas Marathon, and the course layout allows all the participants to pass the elites on the looped course.
“We need to showcase our top American athletes,” Byerly said. “That’s another way we can grow the sport as well. The more we can do to promote them, it helps us with everything we’re trying to accomplish. … I think a lot of people will be excited to watch and see.”
Kastor and Keflezighi were ambassadors for the Dallas Marathon last year, and Byerly recalled that Kastor stood at the finish line for seven hours handing out medals.
The feedback he received from runners who got to meet Kastor and Keflezigi was overwhelming.
“They said it was the best experience that they had all weekend,” Byerly said. “We got pictures, emails, letters. We knew we were on to something.”
The Dallas Marathon is a nonprofit organization, so no prize money will be awarded to the relay winners. The elite athletes will be paid appearance fees, Byerly said. Since 1997 the marathon has donated more than $3.75 million to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.