Large Fields Lead to Changes in U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon Course

By Adam Kopet

The Atlanta Track Club and USATF announced changes Thursday to the course that will be used for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials marathon.

An historic number of competitors has led event organizers to alter the originally planned course to accommodate the larger than anticipated fields. To do that, the originally planned six-mile loop that athletes would have traversed four times will be replaced with an eight-mile loop that will be run three times.

The course change will eliminate a narrow portion of the original course that saw several tight turns inside a short distance. The added distance will come with a one-mile extension up Peachtree Street and back again.

In addition to making the course able to handle the larger than anticipated field sizes, the changes will reduce the elevation gain across the whole course, as the hilliest section of the course will be run three times instead of four times.

The decision to make these changes were not made in a vacuum. The Atlanta Track Club hosted a test event earlier this year, called the Road to Gold. Race organizers also consulted with multiple qualified athletes, looking to make improvements in the course.

Thus far, 341 women and 181 men have qualified for the race, 522 athletes in total. In comparison, 457 athletes qualified for the 2016 Olympic Trials marathon in Los Angeles and 387 athletes qualified in 2012 for the race in Houston. The qualifying window is open until Jan. 19, 2020, making it likely the numbers for next year's race will grown.

The Feb. 29 race will feature hydration stations every two miles with personal drink stations every four miles. At this time, it is unclear how organizers will make the logistics of that work.