Profile on Tyler McCandless: Mizuno Race Team

by Bob "Wish" Wischnia on April 13, 2011

Tyler McCandless is one of the new breed of exciting, young American distance runners who are just emerging as a force on the roads. Without the academic and competitive restraints of college, McCandless, just a year removed from Penn State, is devoting all his energies into road running, mainly the marathon.

 “I’ve always thought that eventually the marathon was going to be my best event,” says the 24-year-old who now lives in Boulder, Colorado. “I feel I have what it takes to be a successful marathoner. Right now, I’m trying to get a feel for the distance and what I need to do to become good at it.”

 McCandless is still definitely in the learning stages. He made his marathon debut last December (2010) in the California International Marathon in Sacramento where he finished sixth in 2:17:22. Although that time qualified him for the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials, McCandless wasn’t thrilled with his time as he missed water and his gels at a couple of key aid stations and slipped from a 2:15 pace to his 2:17 in the final few miles.

 In June, McCandless hopes to significantly improve his PR at the Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth. Toward that end, he’s been logging consistent 100-mile weeks in Boulder.

 His first post-collegiate year has gone quite well and McCandless has showed a glimpse of his road-running promise with half-marathon victories in San Francisco (1:05:02, his PR) and Denver (a non-competitive 1:12) as well as a good showing at the Boston Half Marathon (1:06:06) and USA Half Marathon Championships in Houston in January where he ran 1:05:38.

 At Penn State, McCandless earned All American honors in cross-country and track (PRs of 29:15/14:15) while in a five-year degree program at Penn State in meteorology (the study of weather). From Penn State, McCandless received a masters and bachelors as well as an NCAA post-grad scholarship which he has deferred.

 “I was never overly successful in college,” says McCandless who is from Northampton in northeastern Pennsylvania. “I did OK at Penn State, but I always felt the distances were too short for me. I  wanted to run the roads as soon as I was done with school. To be honest, I got a lot of my inspiration to commit to the roads from Antonio Vega.”

 McCandless and Vega, a former University of Minnesota runner and the USATF road runner of the year for 2010, had similar collegiate careers. Both Big 10 runners showed a lot of promise, but not a lot of hardware to show for it.

 “I absolutely want to follow in Antonio’s career path and make a lot of progress on the roads in the next year, just like he did,” says McCandless. “That’s why I’m really excited about the marathon.”

 Although McCandless hasn’t set specific time goals for his second major attempt at the marathon at Grandma’s, clearly a time in the 2:13 range is part of his agenda.

 “If I can run 2:13, I’ll probably be among the top 10 guys in the country,” says McCandless. “ I can see myself getting to that 2:13 level in the next year. When I ran 1:05:02 {at San Franciso}, it was very easy from an aerobic standpoint. My legs got tired, but I just need to have that background of longer runs and higher mileage—which will come—to train my body to burn fat more efficiently. Eventually before the Olympic Trials, I’ll be doing 30-mile runs. That’s what guys in the ‘70s did when the depth in US distance running was phenomenal.”

 That depth—or lack of it—will be on display at the US Olympic Marathon Trials on January 14^th in Houston. To pull off a shocker and elevate himself into the elite of US marathoners, McCandless believes he knows exactly what to do.

 “I want to race 25 times between now and the Olympic Trials in January,” says McCandless. “For me, racing a lot will be the key. The Trials aren’t all that far off, but I’m confident of my ability. I’ve already run against most of the top guys and know that if I get my training and racing program together and stay healthy, I can become one of the top guys.”

 Time will tell.