Two runners with local ties qualified Sunday for the United States trials for the 2020 Olympic Games.
Racing in the same pack, as it turned out, they qualified 21 seconds apart at the California International Marathon in Sacramento.
The standard to beat was 2 hours, 19 minutes, and Fleet Feet store manager and 2017 Chattanooga Marathon winner Christian Thompson finished in 2:17:59. Ooltewah High School graduate Tyler Underwood of Chula Vista, Calif. – near San Diego – was six spots behind him in 35th place, in 2:18:20.
“That was my goal,” Thompson said. “The last couple years haven’t been great running wise, but I knew the 2:19 was the best case. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it until about 26 miles in. I had two minutes to run two-tenths of a mile, and I knew I could do that.”
Thompson, 29, also finished 29th in this year’s Boston Marathon in 2:23.51.