Spencer's Olympic trials: Details + splits

Spencer’s pre-race gameplan was to stay in control in the first half of the race, going through the half-marathon split in around 1:09, and then aim to run the second half stronger and faster. He felt he was in PR shape and that’s always the goal, but he was cognizant that weather conditions probably wouldn’t be favorable for a personal-best time for most if not all the competitors. As a result, his secondary goal was sub-2:20, a threshold he only cracked once – at his trials qualifying marathon (CIM) back in 2022.
 
His early race pace was fast! He looked good and felt good, and the weather conditions were still favorable enough for this fast pace. It was sunny (duh, Florida) but not that warm yet – mid-60s, still not favorable for a marathon but not terrible either, with a relatively low dewpoint in the mid-40s. Spencer got to the half marathon in 1:08:11, and we who were tracking him on our phones immediately noticed his pace slowing (5:23 split in mile 13 was an “oh dang” moment).
 
But Spencer knew what he was doing out there. He told us after the race that he deliberately backed off, knowing it would get warmer (gosh, it did, as temperatures went in the lower 70s … again, standard issue Orlando weather in February) and knowing he wanted to attack the later miles. And attack he did!
 
Spencer had a really good stretch of fast running from miles 16-19, with a sizzling 5:04 in mile 17 – his fastest mile of the race! By that point, the majority of the field was fading in the heat – in some cases, from our vantage point, staggeringly so. While Spencer had a predictable slowdown over the final 10km, he reported that he was passing runners in droves and that gave him confidence. He even had a strong finishing kick!
 
In case you haven’t figured it out by now? Overall, this was a great race for Spencer. He’s probably in the best shape of his life and he’s looking to cash in these chips with some fast outdoor track racing during the spring season in California, before returning to the marathon in the fall, where he plans to run in the NYC Marathon (that will be neat!).
 
Spencer had had a fantastic post-collegiate running career. At age 28, we believe he has many more fast miles remaining in him, and we are excited to see what more he can accomplish. For now, we can all celebrate a fantastic Olympic Trials marathon experience. Neat.

United States Olympic Trials Marathon
Saturday, February 3, 2024
Orlando, Florida
42-Spencer Johnson 2:18:15
 
Spencer’s splits
Mile 1: 5:10
Mile 2: 5:18
Mile 3: 5:12
Mile 4: 5:18
Mile 5: 5:14
Mike 6: 5:11
Mile 7: 5:13
Mile 8: 5:18
Mile 9: 5:06
Mile 10: 5:15
Mile 11: 5:16
Mile 12: 5:18
Mile 13: 5:23
Half split: 1:08:11
Mile 14: 5:19
Mile 15: 5:16
Mile 16: 5:14
Mile 17: 5:04
Mile 18: 5:16
Mile 19: 5:14
Mile 20: 5:23
Mile 21: 5:27
Mile 22: 5:35
Mile 23: 5:31
Mile 24: 5:37
Mile 25: 5:17
Mile 26: 5:23
Final: 2:18:15
Second 13.1: 1:10:04