The McKirdy Micro Marathon on October 14 was designed to help fast runners get faster.The course was set up in Rockland Lake State Park, 30 miles northwest of New York City, and 148 entrants ran nine times around a flat 2.94-mile loop. Results from the 2023 McKirdy Micro MarathonThe aim for most was to get a qualifying time for the Olympic Marathon Trials, on February 3, 2024, in Orlando, Florida. For men, that meant running 2:18 or faster. For women, that meant breaking 2:37.
Among the notables running sub-2:18 were Ben Blankenship, a 2016 Olympic finalist in the 1500 meters, and Martin Hehir, a doctor who has a personal best of 2:08:59. Blankenship wrote on Instagram after the race that he became the fourth American to ever run sub-3:35 in the 1500 meters and sub-2:20 in the marathon. On the women’s side, Calli Thackery of Great Britain won in 2:22:17, tying her for second-fastest British marathoner ever.