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CJ Albertson Cherishes Return to Competition at The Marathon Project After Several Unique Record-Setting Performances During Pandemic

Published by
DyeStat.com   Dec 17th 2020, 1:36am
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Clovis Community College cross country coach and world-record holder in indoor marathon, treadmill marathon and 50,000-meter track race looks forward to atmosphere of big event for first time since Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

If Sunday’s race at The Marathon Project in Chandler, Ariz., were organized as a virtual event or in the format of a time trial, it would be hard not to consider CJ Albertson as the favorite, based on his ability to excel in isolated or intimate race settings in recent years.

Fortunately for the Brooks professional athlete and head cross country at Clovis Community College in California, his pursuit of a new marathon personal best beginning at 10 a.m. EST Sunday won’t be like his treadmill effort a few weeks ago, or his 50,000-meter world record performance in early November, or even his indoor marathon world record in April 2019.

“The goal Sunday is just to have fun and to get to be able to race again and to actually see people and run with people,” said Albertson, who will be competing in his first outdoor marathon since a seventh-place finish Feb. 29 in 2:11:49 at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Atlanta.

“It’s just going to be a big, fun long run, and hopefully it won’t take over 2 hours and 10 minutes.”

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Albertson has not only excelled during the Coronavirus pandemic, but thrived by setting and achieving goals that most elite athletes wouldn’t even attempt to accomplish during a normal year of training and racing.

A former Academic All-American and Pac-12 Student-Athlete of the Year at Arizona State, Albertson recently ran 2:09:58 at his home Nov. 22 in Fresno to achieve the fastest treadmill marathon time in history, smashing the previously documented all-time world best of 2:17:56.

That came after Albertson’s incredible performance Nov. 8 at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis, where the Buchanan High graduate returned to his alma mater to set the world record in the 50,000-meter run by clocking 2:42:30.28 to eclipse the 1988 standard of 2:43:38 established by South African Thompson Magawana during the Two Oceans Marathon.

Although he appreciated the pacing of former indoor marathon world record holder Malcolm Richards, along with brother-in-law Seth Totten to help him achieve the all-time 50,000-meter mark, Albertson is looking forward to the competition and camaraderie he has missed since February.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun, especially for me whenever I get to run with people in pack, it just feels totally different,” Albertson said. “Everyone here knows when you’re running and grinding by yourself, it doesn’t always feel great. I mean, you try to make it feel as good as you can. When you’re running in a pack, I’ve never been at altitude, but I imagine if you’re training at altitude and you’re coming down to sea level, it kind of feels like that. (Shaving off) 10 seconds a mile feels a lot easier just because I am surrounded by a bunch of people.”

And there will be plenty of company in the lead group, which is scheduled to be paced for 2:09:00, with Mason Ferlic and Roots Running Project athlete Frank Lara looking to bring the pack through at 64:30.

Albertson will be joined by fellow Americans Scott Fauble, Jared Ward, Martin Hehir, Colin Bennie, Jonas Hampton, Matt McDonald and Shadrack Biwott, along with Canada’s Cam Levins, Eritrea’s Amanuel Mesel Tikue and Daniel Mesfun, in addition to Mexico’s Jose Antonio Uribe Marino.

Half of the athletes who placed in the top 10 at the Olympic Marathon Trials are scheduled to race, along with 12th-place finisher Fauble, who boasts a 2:09:09 personal best, which ranks No. 11 in U.S. history. Only Tikue (2:08:17) and Marino (2:08:55) have achieved sub-2:09 performances in their careers.

“The Olympic Trials was my last race and that was just such an incredible experience and it just was so fun, like exhilarating fun the whole time,” Albertson said. “Obviously things will be a little bit different at this race and not as much socialization, but still just that running aspect for two hours, it’s just going to be pure fun and I’m excited for it.”

Albertson’s treadmill performance would rank second only to the winning effort of 2:09:20 achieved in Atlanta by Galen Rupp among all American marathon times, in any circumstance or setting, this year.

“You can’t take much (in terms of comparison), but my average heart rate was about 166 (beats per minute) in that, and my average heart rate was 166 running 4:57 pace the other day on the roads, so I know I can hold that heart rate for two hours and 15 minutes or whatever,” said Albertson, who set the indoor world marathon record last year by running 2:17:59.4 at The Armory in New York.

“I don’t know, it doesn’t really mean much, but you can take the heart rate and do whatever you want with that.”

Among all the numbers being discussed Wednesday among a panel of athletes assembled during The Marathon Project virtual press conference, including predictions about the amount of individuals who will eclipse the 2:10:00 barrier Sunday, Albertson’s heart rate figure definitely wasn’t lost on his fellow competitors.

“CJ that’s fantastic,” Ward said. “I’ll hit 166 at 5:40 pace.”

Although Albertson doesn’t have a professional coach or isn’t part of a training group like many of his elite peers in Sunday’s race, he continues to gain wisdom and insight from several sources, including legendary Italian mentor Renato Canova, as well as many contemporary coaches.

“I like to think of everybody as my coach. You have the Internet, it’s not always good, but sometimes it is if you know how to use it,” Albertson said. “Most of the guys running, I kind of know what they’re doing, not all of them, but a handful of them, so I know what they’re doing and I get insight on their training from other coaches throughout history, and then I kind of take all that information and mold it into what I think is going to work for me.

“For me, it’s kind of fun that way, and I get the best of everybody’s world and kind of throw it into my world and see what happens. I’ve read pretty much everybody, and then I like to throw in my own flair.”

Albertson has consistently demonstrated a flair for the dramatic, running a 30.4-second final 200-meter lap at The Armory to punctuate the indoor marathon world record, and then closing the final 400 of the 50,000-meter all-time best in 66.49. His marathon split — or 42,195 meters — en route to the world record was 2:18:23, and he covered the final 10,000 meters in 32:02.11, his fastest section of the race overall.

“I see ultra guys running 50-mile and 100-mile races, and they’re not genetically better than me, so I can run long, and it’s not going to kill me,” Albertson said. “I just kind of add everything in there and do whatever seems fun at the time.”

Although he wasn’t in contention to catch the trio of Abdi Abdirahman, Jake Riley and Rupp in Atlanta, if Albertson can remain in contact with the leaders entering the final stretch, he knows there will be an opportunity to not only run a personal best, but also contend for the win.

“Hopefully there will be some good duking it out over the last couple of miles,” Albertson said. “I’m definitely excited about it.”



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