Local Runner Jason Pyles to compete in USA Men's Marathon Championship

October 2nd, 2008

Huntington, WV. - Jason Pyles who is from Point Pleasant, WV and lives in Huntington will be heading  to Minneapolis, Minnesota to compete in the 2008 USA Men's Marathon Championship this weekend. Jason is a fixture in the Huntington Area racing circuit and has many race titles under his belt. He has won the Ashland SummerMotion 10K numerous times, the Marshall Alum Run, and many more. Recently, he was crowned the champion of the Crew Community Church 5K in Huntington on August 23rd with a time of 15:08. He did this while putting in 100+ mile weeks in preparation for the Marathon.

Jason has set his goals very high as he plans on running in the mid-2:20s range. "With the Marathon being so long and unpredictable, I know that goal will be very tough but I'm Sticking with it. " says Pyles. "My biggest goal is to have fun."

When Jason started training for his fall marathon, he had his eyes set on a closer marathon.

Jason States:

"After finishing Parkersburg Half Marathon I was talking to one of the guys that beat me (Josh Ordway 2:15 Marathoner) and he asked if I was running a fall marathon in which I said 'Akron Marathon'. His first response to that was "Man that course is Hilly". So I just thought things over more and thought training was going well enough that 2:25 'might' be possible on a faster course but at Akron it wasn't going to happen. So I checked into what Marathon looked to be the top one this fall and found Twin Cities and saw that they were hosting the 2008 USA Championships."

Jason isn't just going to run with the normal population of runners. He has been accepted into the elite field. This includes an elite recruiter setting up a guest family that will pick him up at the airport in Minneapolis and give him a place to stay over the weekend.

This "Elite" runner title also allows him to start with other "Elites" ahead of the thousands of other runners. This allows him to get out with the best and key off of them throughout the race.

He will be toe-to-toe on the starting line with over 20 guys that ran in the Olympic Trails in New York City last November.

When asked about his training Jason said that things have been very solid.

"It has been very solid. In the past I seem to get into solid shape quickly but then get hurt soon afterwards. So this build I took things slower and tweaked things around and trained with all my focus on the Marathon. I have done a lot of tempos at Marathon Pace instead of really getting after them and laying down a hard-fast tempo for me. It has definitely kept me for the most part healthy training this way. I'm going into the race with 26-27 weeks of training under my belt (longest I have ever been able to run). I have 6-8 long runs or long workouts that are over 20miles under my belt compared to only 1-2 before my only other marathon 2 years ago. So with the extra long runs in there and the longest streak of weeks trained in this build I was starting to feel really worn down about 2.5 weeks ago, I figured that would happen and my only hope was that a taper would bring my legs "back" and it seems to be working."

The Twin Cities Marathon will be held October 5, 2008 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twin Cities Marathon is boasting one of their largest and most competitive fields in it's 18 years of hosting the USA Men's Marathon Championships.

Past Twin Cities Marathon Champion Dan Browne (2002), along with defending USA Masters Champoins Tracy Lokken and Susan Loken, are set to return to compete for $302,000 in prize money at the 27th Annual Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon.

Olympian Dan Browne headlines a strong men’s field that will compete for the USA Men’s Marathon Championship. The field features over 20 runners that qualified for last November’s Olympic Trials Marathon, including 6 runners who finished in the top 25. In addition to Browne’s 6th place finish, that list includes Mike Morgan (12th), Fasil Bizuneh (13th), Christopher Raabe (16th), Chad Johnson (20th) and Josh Ordway (21st).