Tiernan to Debut at Chicago Marathon

Since his arrival on the international stage, the question has lingered. His talent and temperament have made it inevitable; how fast could he run a marathon? At 28-years-old and one month after his wedding, Patrick Tiernan is ready to find out in Chicago this Sunday. 

The two-time Olympian and former 10,000m national record holder has built an impressive resume on the track and now shifts his attention to the road ahead, confident in identifying the marathon as his most likely avenue to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

“For this Olympic cycle, if it is the event that I want to do in Paris then I need to get it down a couple of years out. We will see how this one goes and make a decision to see which event I target, but in an ideal world this is the event that I do there,” Tiernan said. 

“It’s been a long time coming honestly. There are a lot of people who have wanted me to do it for a while, but it has just been a matter of me not feeling mentally ready to tackle it.”

Before Paris comes a stop in Budapest for the 2023 World Athletics Championships, with Tiernan acutely aware of the 2:09:40 qualifying standard as he takes to the streets of Chicago this weekend – a date locked into his calendar by coaches Alistair and Amy Cragg after a 1:00:55 performance over 21.1km in January.

“The World Championship standard is something that I would love to get. If I could get into that sub 2:10 range, it would be a great day for me and I would be happy. We have a plan in place for right around the 2:10 mark through 18 or 20 miles, maybe a bit quicker,” Tiernan said.

Welcoming the Australian to his new endeavour is a world-class field featuring seven sub 2:05 men and a total of 21 men who have shattered the 2:10 barrier, but the reserved Tiernan remains focussed on earning his stripes in the event before talking times.  

“You have to respect Deeks’ [De Castella] record [2:07:51]. On the world stage it doesn’t look too intimidating, but it took him a while to do it and would be naïve to target this early – there is no other event where anyone would do that,” Tiernan said.

Lining up alongside teammate John Dressel (USA), Tiernan has found a home in his new PUMA Elite training group based in North Carolina, thriving under the marathon-oriented program headed by Alistair and Amy Cragg.

“Everything has been about finding that line to ride throughout the marathon, staying in there and not going over it. I have had to be a lot more patient with the training and trying to rely on the fitness you gain from high mileage and longer sessions,” Tiernan said.

“We have had a few sessions around 30km at goal race pace and I got to the end of it obviously feeling spent, but still having a little bit in the legs – which is what I hear the event is preparing for me.”

It’s a modest assessment of brutal workouts which included the likes of 3x10km, 30km progressive efforts and long runs over 42km – all of which leave Tiernan confident ahead of his debut.

“From what I have heard, the marathon is a bit of a leap of faith in terms of the training. You can do everything right and hope that everything has fallen into place, which is exactly how I will race it on Sunday,” Tiernan said.

The Chicago Marathon carries added weight after Tiernan’s 2022 World Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games bids were derailed by a calf injury in March, with the 28-year-old deprived of a green and gold tracksuit for the first time since 2015 (barring pandemic years).

“It was definitely tough. Especially not being able to represent Australia in Eugene, a place that I had called home for two years – that was a hard pill to swallow,” Tiernan said.

Having won the 2016 NCAA Cross Country title and finished 13^th at the 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Kenya, Tiernan is determined to throw his hat into the ring on home soil post-Chicago for the 2023 World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Bathurst.

“I would love to open my season with that trial in January and with everything going well, pull on the Australian kit again in February. It is something that is on my radar and has been on my radar for three years,” Tiernan said.

The Chicago Marathon will be live streamed via FloTrack on Sunday October 8 from 11pm.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 8/10/2022