It takes less than 11 days to: Conduct a space mission to the ISS, hike the Inca Trail to Machu Piccu, climb Mount Kilimanjaro (travel days not included), complete the germination process of certain seeds under ideal conditions such as radish, lettuce, and spinach.
The point of that otherwise pointless list is to say you better get moving because the 2024 US Olympic Marathon Trials are 10 days away and if you wait any longer you'll miss race day. Us? Our stoke levels are so high we'll just stay put in the office until Rossi tells us it's time to board that flight to Orlando. In the meantime, we should all get familiar with the local super hero's that are flying the Bandit banner at the most important domestic marathon of the year. We're already so proud, and cant wait to see them live out the dream in real time.
Holly Clarke
- Age: 32
- City: San Francisco, CA
- Occupation: Graduate Student in Organizational Development // Coach
- Marathon PR: 2:34:49
- Favorite Race Course: CIM
- Physical % vs. Mental %: 50 / 50 always
- Fun fact: I am the first American in my family lineage – Mom and dad are both Canadians (born & bred)
- What you’re most looking forward to about the trials: The 2024 Marathon Trials is the most competitive race I’ll ever be in, so I’m stoked to be among the fastest female marathoners in the U.S. and get to race against some of the world’s greatest! I’m also excited for the free massages :)
- Theme song: Gimme gimme gimme – ABBA
- Advice to athlete’s out there training for the next OTQ: PRs and achieving goals come when you’re loving the process. Find the joy in it! Also… give yourself down-time to rest and recover mentally and physically.
- Are you ready? Hell fkn YES!
- Favorite non-running activity: Skiing!! Already got my Tahoe / Whistler trips booked for Feb & March.
Erin Gregoire
- Name: Erin Gregoire
- Age: 26 (except 27 on the 28th sad)
- City: NYC baby
- Occupation: Sustainability/ESG consultant
- Marathon PR: 2:36
- Favorite Race Course: TBH I have blacked out during every marathon so who knows!
- Physical % vs. Mental %: 30% physical, 20% mental, 50% not being dumb in the first half of the race
- Fun fact: I didn’t qualify in 2020 even though I ran under the standard because of the gun vs. chip time. Thank god they changed the rule otherwise I technically wouldn’t have qualified for 2024.
- Pre-Race Routine: One really good cry. Lol jk but sometimes.
- Racing shoes: The fast ones
- Advice to athlete’s out there training for the next OTQ: Don’t get too excited and overdo it!! I feel like there’s so much hype around the trials (rightfully so) and people get very excited. Important to remember it’s just another race. The reward for qualifying for the trials is you get to run another marathon lol.
- Are you ready? Is it possible to ever be ready for a marathon???? No. but i am excited
- Favorite non-running activity: “Hanging out with my lovely boyfriend Tim” - Tim.
Duriel Hardy
- Age: 35
- City: Austin, TX
- Occupation: Pediatric Neurologist and Neuroimmunologist
- Marathon PR: 2:17.58
- Favorite Race Course: CIM
- Physical % vs. Mental %: 60% physical, 40% mental
- Fun fact: I have a beautiful 13 month old daughter
- What you’re most looking forward to about the trials: Being able to compete amongst the fastest marathoners in the country!
- Favorite workout: Progression long run
- Racing shoes: Vaporfly 3s (probably)
- Advice to athlete’s out there training for the next OTQ: Believe in yourself and don’t take “no” for answer
- Favorite non-running activity: Going to brunch with my wife and daughter
Zach Herriott
- Age: 30
- City: Washington, DC
- Occupation: Senior Delivery Manager at Yext, Inc
- Marathon PR: 2:15:42
- Favorite Race Course: NYC Marathon
- Physical % vs. Mental %: 10% physical, 90% mental. Everyone on the start line trains a lot, but how you handle the moments when it’s easy to start feeling bad for yourself is where you can separate yourself
- Fun fact: I train with Georgetown Running Club in Washington, DC. We have 8 runners (7 men, 1 woman) qualified for the Olympic Trials, which is the most of any running club in the country. Having a huge group all pushing for Orlando helped us elevate each other a ton over the last year.
- What you’re most looking forward to about the trials: I have 30ish of my friends and family coming to support me down in Orlando! I’ve been training as hard as I can for about 2 years now, and it means a lot to me that I’ll get to experience this with them. It takes a village and I have the best one behind me.
- Favorite mental trick on the course: I try to think of an upbeat song when I start going through a rough patch or get a cramp to try and distract myself. Dua Lipa works really well for this.
- Are you ready? I’m ready to shotgun a Twisted Tea at the finish line if that’s what you’re asking?
Lily Anderson
- Age: 26
- City: Brooklyn
- Occupation: Office Manager at Martin Physical Therapy
- Marathon PR: 2:36:23
- Favorite Race Course: Berlin
- Physical % vs. Mental %: 40% physical 60% mental
- Fun fact: I ran the slowest leg out of 24 women on my college team’s 4 x 200 in a postseason relay in which we carried a watermelon as the baton
- What you’re most looking forward to about the trials: Seeing my sister cheering!
- Title of your pre-race playlist: 26 point WHOOP
- Favorite workout: 2 x 5 miles
- Pre-race meal: Blueberry Eggos
- Are you ready? IT Band: Yes. Fitness: No. Excitement: Yes.
- Favorite non-running activity: Playing Zelda
Habtamu Cheney
- Age: 24
- City: Provo, UT
- Occupation: Marketing Associate
- Marathon PR: 2:16:12
- Physical % vs. Mental %: 30% physical / 70 % mental
- Fun fact: I am adopted from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
- Most embarrassing race moment: Throwing up during a 10k race. I didn’t want to stop and throw up, so I threw up while running 4:40 mile pace. I felt so much better after throwing up that I closed my last mile in 4:26.
- Dream training partner dead or alive (assume they can run): I am training with my dream training partners. I train with Conner Mantz, Clayton Young, Jared Ward and Sam Chalenga.
- Advice to athlete’s out there training for the next OTQ: Plan out how you plan to achieve that goal. Since the next Olympics in 2028. Make short term goals that will help you achieve your long term goals.
- Favorite non-running activity: I am undefeated in cornhole.
Johnny Hogue
- Age: 28
- City: Los Angeles
- Occupation: Account Executive
- Marathon PR: 2:17:40
- Favorite Race Course: CIM
- Physical % vs. Mental %: 20% physical, 80% mental
- Fun fact: I played in a cornhole league in Brooklyn. Nickname Johnny Bags
- What you’re most looking forward to about the trials: Being surrounded by top talent and racing a marathon
- Title of your pre-race playlist: The best Voice auditions
- Favorite workout: Mile repeats
- Theme song: Middle Child J Cole
- Pre-Race Routine: Listen to reruns of the Voice and American Idol
- Racing shoes: Vaporfly
- Advice to athlete’s out there training for the next OTQ: Nothing sexy, just consistency
- Are you ready? No other choice, let’s get after it
Jackson Neff
- Age: 31
- City: Boulder, CO
- Occupation: Product Manager
- Marathon PR: 2:15:26
- Favorite Race Course: Chicago
- Physical % vs. Mental %: First 20 miles = Mental. Last 6.2 = physical
- Fun fact: My wife is my coach!
- What you’re most looking forward to about the trials: Celebrating with family and friends
- Theme song: Levels - Avicii
- Most embarrassing race moment: Falling in steeplechase.. Not on a barrier
- Favorite non-running activity: Golf
- Are you ready? 🤑
Brendan Martin
- Age: 34
- City: Brooklyn, NY
- Occupation: Physical Therapist
- Marathon PR: 2:15:30
- Brendan declined to comment for this interview. Talk about "dialed." (Not actually... we'll update this later.)
