Name: Derick

Sex: Male

Age (at the time of first BQ): 29

Height (at the time of first BQ): 5’11”

Weight (at the time of first BQ): 153

At which marathon did you get your first BQ? Kiawah Island

Tell us a little about the race. Pancake flat course with half marathoners splitting off at mile 9. 50° and 100% humidity at the start approaching 60° by the finish. Just one other guy with me after the split. Ran together until he started slowing at the half. Seemed like everyone was falling apart on the 2nd half as I was passing everyone I saw. Struggled hard with quad pain last 7 miles, but managed to maintain pace for the most part.

How long had you been running when you ran your first BQ? 15 years, on and off, 5 continuous

Did you run in college or high school? Yes

What was your approximate lifetime mileage at the time of your first BQ? 13000

How many miles did you run in the year before your first BQ? 1870

Approximately how many races did you run in that year? 19

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

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

Did cross training play a role in your training? If so, how? Yes. My quads were what always failed on my late in the marathon. After a couple of PRs that spring I had a foot injury. After a few weeks off, I only ran about 25miles/week that summer and biked heavily. Didn’t start increasing mileage until September after nearly breaking the half PR I set before the injury.

Did speed work play a role in your training? If so, how? Yeah, that was one of my only runs during the summer.

Any other thoughts you would like to share with those of working towards a BQ? I had planned on running a marathon the previous December, but bailed late. Started hitting 60 mile weeks and ran 3 20 milers. Had some huge PRs in 8-15K races along the way.