Thanks Ben, for reminding us all of the power of the negative split!

Name

Ben Hawn

Sex:

Male

Age (at the time of first BQ):

42

Height:

6’6″

Weight (at the time of first BQ):

180

At which marathon did you get your first BQ?

New Orleans

Tell us a little about the race.

Perfect weather (low 40’s). Felt great for the whole race.

How long had you been running when you ran your first BQ?

4 years

Did you run in college or high school?

No

What was your approximate lifetime mileage at the time of your first BQ?

7,000

How many miles did you run in the year before your first BQ?

1,800

Approximately how many races did you run in that year?

6

Did you follow a canned program? If so, which one? If not, can you give us an idea of what your training philosophy was?

No, ran 40-50 a week. Some doubles.

Did you run with a running club or utilize a coach?

No

Did cross training play a role in your training? If so, how?

At the time I did not cross train, though I do now.

Did speed work play a role or specific workouts play a role in your training? If so, how?

Not really. Nothing structured. Did some 5 and 6 mile runs pretty hard with my friends, like 7:00 pace or a hair below.

Any other thoughts you would like to share with those of working towards a BQ?

Well, just this one, which should be obvious, but apparently isn’t. Running a target time is tough enough, but to do it with positive splits is near-impossible and not fun at all. So if your target is say, 3:40, you can’t be thinking in terms of 1:45/1:55 or even 1:48/1:52. The goal is to be ever so slightly negative, perhaps 1:51/1:49. You need to feel pretty decent at the halfway mark.