ATLANTA – Stanford runners have a history in the Olympic marathon.
In 1976, Don Kardong '71 closed within steps of Belgium's Karel Lismont before finishing just short of a bronze medal in Montreal. Though, in retrospect, indications of doping from East German winner Waldemar Cierpinski suggest that Kardong indeed deserved a medal.
In 2008, Ryan Hall '05 placed 10th on the streets of Beijing, finishing second among Americans. However, his attempt to better that place in London in 2012 ended midway through the race with a hamstring injury.
On Saturday, eight Stanford alums – four men and four women -- will attempt to add to the school's Olympic marathon legacy, as they compete for top-three finishes and passage to Tokyo for the 2020 Summer Games.
Don Kardong.
* * *
Race information:
City: Atlanta, Ga.
Date: Saturday
Distance: 26.2 miles
Race times: Men, 9:08 a.m. PT; Women, 9:20 a.m. PT
Course: Begins and ends at Centennial Olympic Park.
Olympic qualification: Top three finishers.
TV: NBC
* * *
Stanford runners:
Men
Chris Derrick '12
Brendan Gregg '11
Kevin Havel '12
Jacob Riley '11
Women
Madeline Duhon '11
Sara Bei Hall '05
Megan Lacy '16
Teresa McWalters '07
* * *
Stanford profiles:
Men
Chris Derrick '12: The greatest male runner in Stanford history, Chris Derrick was a 14-time All-American and placed among the top 10 at the NCAA cross country championships all four years. Derrick was a three-time Pac-10/12 track champion, twice at 5,000 meters and once at 10,000. Derrick placed among the top 5 in NCAA championship races 12 times, with three runner-up finishes. He still holds Stanford records in the outdoor 10,000 (27:31.38) and indoor 5,000 (13:19.58). As a pro, Derrick won three U.S. cross country championships and placed 10th at the 2013 World Cross Country Championships. He made the U.S. team for track's World Championships in the 10,000 in 2013 and has Olympic trials finishes of fourth and fifth in that event. He also won the U.S. Half-Marathon title in 2018. Derrick made his marathon debut at the 2017 Chicago Marathon, placing ninth overall and second among Americans, running 2:12.50, and was 10th at the New York City Marathon in 2018.
Best time: 2:12.50 (2017).
Brendan Gregg '11: A three-time All-American at Stanford, Gregg is flourishing with the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, setting a personal record at the Chicago Marathon last year. Gregg's 2:11.38 placed him seventh among Americans in the race. He ranks No. 13 in the Olympic trials field in personal-best times. Gregg had a best NCAA finish of 13th in the 2012 NCAA outdoor 5,000 and ran on Stanford's third-place cross-country team in 2008. The Davis, California, native majored in human biology at Stanford. In 2014, he was seventh in the U.S. Championships in the 10,000. This is his second Olympic trials marathon.
Best time: 2:11:38 (2019).
Kevin Havel '12: This is the third Olympic trials marathon for Kevin Havel, who had a breakthrough performance at the 2019 Chicago Marathon, running a personal best by five minutes while placing 30th overall. A native of Arlington Heights, Illinois, Havel represents the Second City Track Club. A management science and engineering major, Havel competed in three years of track at Stanford and was a two-time conference All-Academic selection. His best conference finishes were a pair of ninth places in the 10,000, in the Pac-10 and Pac-12 meets in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Havel has persevered to reach an elite level.
Best time: 2:15:37 (2019).
Jacob Riley '12: An eight-time All-American at Stanford, Jacob Riley was the top American at the 2019 Chicago Marathon, running a personal best 2:10.36 to finish 10th overall. Because of Achilles tendon issues, It was his first marathon since the 2016 Olympic trials, in which he placed 15th. Riley won the 2012 U.S. Club Cross Country Championships. He captured sixth at the 2010 NCAA Cross Country Championships and teamed with Chris Derrick and Elliott Heath for a 1-2-3 Pac-10 finish and team title the same season. He also finished third and fifth in the NCAA 10,000 in 2010 and 2011, respectively. The Bellingham, Washington, is a graduate student at University of Colorado.
Best time: 2:10:36 (2019).
Women
Madeline Duhon. Photo by Don Feria/StanfordPhoto.com.
Madeline Duhon '11: A 1,500 specialist at Stanford, Duhon qualified for the trials by running 2:35.28 at the 2017 California International Marathon in Sacramento, placing eighth. Duhon is a native of Houston who spent her high school years in the Netherlands before coming to Stanford and majoring in public policy. She won numerous scholar-athlete honors and now lives in Berkeley, where she is working toward a Ph.D. in economics at Cal. Duhon was a four-time Pac-10 1,500 finalist with a high finish of fifth in 2011.
Best time: 2:35.28.
Sara Hall '05: The former Sara Bei, 36, continues to excel. She became the sixth-fastest female marathoner in U.S. history when she ran 2:22.16 to place fifth at the Berlin Marathon and was first among Americans. The time was a personal best by four minutes. She's been a miler, a national champion in cross country and came closest to making the Olympics as a steeplechaser, placing eighth as the 2012 Olympic trials. She didn't attempt her first marathon until March 2016. Last year, she won national titles on the road at 10K, 10 Miles and 20K. She has won national titles in her career at distances from the mile to the marathon. Hall, a six-time All-American, was a four-time NCAA track runner-up. She was a two-time Pac-10 cross country champ, Stanford's No. 1 runner on the 2003 NCAA champion cross country team. She is coached by her husband, two-time Olympic marathoner Ryan Hall.
Best time: 2:22.16.
Megan Lacy '16: A great success story, Megan Lacy had suffered through a succession of injuries and thought her running career was over, but gave it another shot and earned an Olympic trials qualifying time in her marathon debut, placing 12th at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. A co-founder of her own startup in Boise, Idaho, Lacy set huge personal bests in the 10K and half marathon on the way to placing ninth at the 2019 USATF 25K Championships.
Best time: 2:39.12.
Teresa McWalters '07: The five-time All-American grew up in San Francisco where she was home-schooled through high school. McWalters said that being adopted at birth gave her an intrinsic awareness that life is a gift. Her early training came with the Impala Racing Team for women and she continues to run with the same club. This is her fourth Olympic trials – running the 5,000 at the 2008 trials, and in three marathon trials after that, placing 38th in 2016. At Stanford, McWalters earned three top-5 NCAA individual finishes, with a best of third in the 2005 NCAA outdoor 5,000. She was the 2007 Pac-10 champ in the 10,000.
Best time: 2:36.30.
Main photo: Jacob Riley (left) and Chris Derrick. Photo by Kirby Lee/Image of Sport.