Andrews eclipses Norman’s 1980 global standard by covering 125 laps in 2:46:06.8, just off overall 31.1-mile record of 2:43:38 set by Magawana 30 years ago

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Even after the most impressive 50-kilometer performance ever recorded on a track, which included securing a qualifying mark to compete in the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, Tyler Andrews was left wanting more Friday.

After all, he is an elite endurance athlete.

Andrews, 27, ran a world all-time best for 125 laps on the track at the HOKA ONE ONE Santa Barbara Elite 50K in California, clocking 2 hours, 46 minutes, 6.8 seconds at Santa Barbara City College’s La Playa Stadium.

INTERVIEW

His performance eclipsed the 1980 global track standard for 31.1 miles of 2:48:06 produced by Great Britain’s Jeff Norman and fell just short of the overall 50K world record of 2:43:38 established in a road race in 1988 by South Africa’s Thompson Magawana.

“We’re not done. We’ll come back for it, for sure,” said Andrews, who remained under overall world-record pace through 35K with a split of 1:54:19.9.

“The 2:43:38 was definitely the ‘A-plus’ standard that we were going after. There’s a reason that record is 30 years old now and that’s because it’s really hard. It’s really hard to run 50K at that pace.

“People talk about how anybody who can run a decent marathon can do that, but it’s hard. It’s harder than it looks. Go out and try it if you think it’s so easy. That (additional) 8K makes a big difference.”

Chris Frias and Rajpaul Pannu were instrumental in Andrews remaining under the historic pace of both Magawana and Josh Cox – who set the American overall 50K record 2:43:45 during a 2011 road race in Arizona – through 35K. The U.S. 50K track record of 2:52:47.5 set by Barney Klecker had stood since 1981.

Pannu led through the 20-mile mark at 1:45:06, which is a record eligible split en route, but eventually stopped competing shortly before the timer reached 2 hours, leaving the final 15K to Andrews and the clock.

“Having Rajpaul there with me all the way up through almost 35K, I think we were still under overall world record pace at 35K. Once he dropped out, 35K in a marathon is where it starts to get really hard, and at that point, it was like, ‘I’ve 15K to go by myself,’” said Andrews, who attended Concord Academy (Mass.) and Tufts University.

“At that point, the sun is coming up, it’s getting hot and it’s just so hard. I was talking with my coach (Jon Waldron) yesterday and he said, ‘You can do this. You can run this pace and you can set this record, but everything has to go right.’ That’s kind of how it went. I knew I could do this, I knew I could set this record, but everything does have to go perfectly.”

Andrews, who captured a silver medal in 2:56:04 at the 2016 International Association of Ultrarunners 50K World Championships in Doha, Qatar, knew the demands that faced him during the final 50-plus minutes without Pannu on the track.

“Running for time is always the hardest thing to do. You can run against another person, but you’re always running against the conditions and you’re always running against yourself and you’re just trying to make the best of the day. You’ve just got to get the most out of yourself,” Andrews said. “I have to have an ‘A-plus’ day. I think I had an ‘A’ day, I just didn’t have an ‘A-plus’ day. I was two-and-a-half minutes off the record and it’s just hard. You’re out there grinding by yourself and that’s what you train for, those are the moments that you train for, and you’re taking it one second at a time, one lap at a time, but it’s just a long race.

“I knew by 40K-42K that the 2:43 mark was probably not in the cards today because I’m just not having that ‘A-plus-plus’ day that I’m going to get this, but it is what it is. It’s not like I’m just going to give up and jog it in. I still wanted to run as hard as I could, try to run as fast as I could and I feel really proud of what I did out there. I had a great race.”

Andrews came through 26.2 miles in 2:18:42.8, just off his marathon best 2:15:52, to earn a berth to compete at the Marathon Trials in two years at a site to be determined. The four cities to submit bids to USATF for the event are Atlanta, Ga., Chattanooga, Tenn., Orlando, Fla., and Austin, Texas.

As a tuneup for Friday’s record pursuit, Andrews triumphed March 10 at the Rock ‘N’ Roll D.C. Marathon in 2:20:45.

Andrews’ 25- and 30-mile splits Friday of 2:12:05.2 and 2:40:12.6 en route are also record eligible, with USATF official Bill Handley on site to verify all marks.

“This event has been in the works for over a year now and it’s just amazing to see it all come together,” Andrews said. “To have my family here, to have all of HOKA here supporting me, all the elite athletes, all the staff, it was just an amazing experience. I really couldn’t have asked for a better experience and a better setup here in Santa Barbara.”