By Dave Prokop

In a recent interview, elite marathoner Tyler McCandless (pictured above), winner of the Kuai Marathon the last two years and definitely one of the runners to watch in the Pleasanton Double Road Race™ on Dec. 23, was asked what he thinks are the keys to doing well in the Double.

The Ph.D. candidate in meteorology replied, “Mental toughness, racing instinct, physical fitness and an intelligent game plan. I think if you have all four of those, you’re all set to accomplish your reasonable goal in the Double.”

Helping participants develop an intelligent game plan has been the underlying purpose of this tactical analysis of the Double. In Part Four we’ll look at another 10 possible strategies you can use in the competition.

Next week in Part Five, the concluding section of this series, we’ll finish by looking at a final 10 strategies, which will bring the total discussed in this series to an even 50!

The very fact that there are 50 strategies or more you can use in the Double illustrates how varied, subtle and complex this competition is or can be tactically.

30. THE ALWAYS-GO-FOR-THE-GUTSY-MOVE STRATEGY -- This is the other side of the coin to the example given above. If you can imagine yourself being the runner who was victimized by the athlete who suddenly jumped the field and got a big lead when you weren't paying attention, you also can imagine yourself as that other person who had the initiative and guts to make that move. In a tactically oriented competition like the Double, willing to make the gutsy move can pay big dividends, as in the example cited above.

31. THE APPLIED MATH STRATEGY -- Base your pacing in the Double on your PR's in the 5 and 10K. If your PR's, for example, are 33:30 (10K) and 16:00 (5K), you may think of running 33:45 for the opening 10K leg, followed by a 16:20 for the concluding 5K leg (or whatever you can do in the 5K). See how that feels.

32. THE BLOOD AND GUTS STRATEGY -- Your approach to the Double is very simple and blunt: You're going to hammer a hard 10K, recover as best as you can, then hammer a hard 5K. If it hurts, if it's hard, so what? You're a distance runner, aren't you?

Photo: Tyler Mccandless and Bob Anderson met at this year's Kauai Half and full marathon.  Both are running the Double... What strategy are they going to use?

33. THE POKER BLUFF STRATEGY -- Go out very hard in the 10K, perhaps at what feels like a suicidal pace. Then slow down based on what your main competitors are doing, how you're feeling, etc. This could be called the Poker Bluff Strategy: You go out very hard, knowing full well you don't plan to keep that pace up, for the sake of establishing a good position, getting away from your main competitors,  demoralizing them, getting a nice time advantage over them right from the beginning, etc. But make sure you cut back the pace soon enough so you don't dig yourself under or blow up, thus ruining your chances of doing well in either leg. Remember, the very fast opening was a bluff.

34. THE POKER BLUFF AND GO STRATEGY -- Same strategy with an important difference: You initiate the bluff opening, but if it works to drop the field, you keep going almost as if it wasn't a bluff, maintaining a relatively fast pace as long as you can to pad your lead as much as reasonably possible. Then you purposely start easing up in the latter stages of the 10K, knowing that after the rest break you'll still have the 5K to run -- and the hounds will be after you and the yellow jersey.

Photo: Jose Pina and Jose Jr (age 15) are both running the Double.  They have not decided on how they are going to run it but are wanting to break 48 minutes.  The current world record is 49:15.  11-year-old Omar is going to run the Christmas 5k in Pleasanton.  Training run with Bob Anderson.

35. THE CLOSING-THE-DEAL STRATEGY -- Given the aforementioned scenario (your bluff worked, you got the lead, you saved something for the 5K), the question now is: What strategy will you use in the 5K? How will you close the deal, so to speak? Go out hard again in another poker bluff start? Just hang with the leaders -- the fact that everyone in the 5K starts out together, rather than going out in a staggered start based on the times in the 10K, would seemingly work to your advantage: Runners trying to make up time on you will have to get away from you, whereas all you have to do is hang on to them.

Do you ignore what the others are doing in the 5K and just concentrate on running an even pace? That's the best way to run your fastest time over a given distance, but if you adopt that strategy, don't you sacrifice the benefit of having the other runners pull you along to a faster time than you might otherwise run. If you're still tired and haven't been able to recover sufficiently from the 10K, will you start slowly in the 5K and hopefully build up to a faster pace as the 5K proceeds and you get your legs back under you? Decisions, decisions, decisions -- welcome to the runner's chess match that is the Double. And among the the endless strategy variations possible in the Double, it's important to remember that the strategy you use in the 10K may definitely not be the strategy you use in the 5K, depending on how you feel, how the competition is unfolding, etc. The reality, too, is that the runner who wins the 10K may have gained a time advantage, but as you can see from the aforementioned strategy considerations, his or her problems may just be starting.

36. THE LAZY MAN'S STRATEGY -- A classic example would be (and you can dream up many others): You're a great runner and you know it, you've paid your dues in training, so in the Double you're only going to do the minimum necessary to win the competition. You'll run no faster than you need to, you'll work no harder than you have to -- winning is all that matters.  

37. THE EITHER/OR STRATEGY -- Do you aim for the fastest aggregate time? In other words, do you concentrate on running your race, according to your plan, at a strong, steady pace which will supposedly produce the fastest aggregate time? Or do you use smarts, gamesmanship, strategy and tactics to outfox the competition and give you the best chance of winning. In the Double, as in any distance event, running your fastest time is not necessarily the best way to win. The best way to win is to use the tactics which will enable you to win whatever the time. But is winning or finishing in the highest possible position as important to you as recording your fastest aggregate time? Would you rather finish seventh with an aggregate time of 66:40, or record an aggregate time of 59:30 and only finish 10th?  It's your decision.

38. THE SIT-AND-WAIT STRATEGY -- If you're a quality runner and feel you're the best in the field,  you may take the approach in the Double that you're going to stay with the pacesetters, run the 10K at a good or even not-so-good pace for you (and your ability), then run as hard as you need to in the 5K to win the competition.

39. THE PUTTING-YOUR-CHIPS-ON-THE-10K STRATEGY  -- It may be argued that in a competition like the Double, while you have to save something for the 5K, there are a number of compelling reasons to really work the 10K. Not necessarily go crazy, mind you, but run the 10K hard, rather than coasting the 10K, using it as a kind of warmup, so you can really burn the 5K. Among those reasons: a) The 10K constitutes two-thirds of the distance. If you take it easy in the 10K, you lose a lot of valuable time you simply cannot make up in the shorter 5K leg; b) You do have a rest break between the 10 and 5K, so if you're really fit (and this may be the key!) you should be able to recover sufficiently to run a decent 5K, which after all is only half the distance of the 10K leg you ran earlier, even if you did run the 10K hard or even all out; c) Running the 10K hard, recording an impressive  time or establishing a great position may give you an important psychological boost in the faster but much shorter 5k leg.

d) Under certain circumstances, running the 10K hard may set you up so well as far as position is concerned you may not even have to work very hard in the 5K, e.g., if a runner were to win the 10K by a minute or more, he could afford to take it relatively easy in the 5K because it would be unlikely anybody could make up a minute on him over the shorter distance; e) You're better off, because of the rest break, the aggregate time aspect of the Double and the fact that the concluding leg is only half as long as the opening leg, to err on the side of going too hard in the 10K and having to hang on as best you can in the 5K, rather than running the 10K well within yourself and having  to run like crazy in the 5K to make up the lost time over a distance that's so short; and f) Running the 10K hard leaves more of your options open than if you just stride through it as a prelude to the 5K.

40. THE BECAUSE-IT'S-THERE STRATEGY -  Famed British mountaineer George Mallory, who would later die on Mt. Everest, is famous among other things for an answer he gave when asked why he wanted to climb Everest. "Because it's there," he said. Many competitors in the Double will be in the event for a similar reason -- because it's there. Distance runners have never before had anything quite like this to train for or participate in. The newness of the event will initially be part of its appeal, and just experiencing the experience will be the biggest reward. And what strategy do you use when you're participating in a competition you're unfamiliar with and probably have no idea how to train for? You feel your way through it; you're doing it ... because it's there! And unlike poor Mallory, you don't have to die to do it.