edited by Dave Prokop,  Best Road Races Editor

A native of  Northampton, Penn., Tyler McCandless, 26-year-old graduate of Penn State University, now lives in Boulder. Colo., where he’s working towards a Ph.D. in meteorology by doing research at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). A very dedicated person, by his own admission, he’s also one of the best distance runners in the country. Winner of the Kauai Marathon the last two years, he finished third overall in the Pleasanton Double Road Race™, behind Fernando Cabada and Daniel Tapia, with an aggregate time of 47:13 – and as you’ll learn as you read on: He did it the hard way; he earned it!  At our invitation, Tyler, who is 5’9”, 140 pounds, and has personal bests of 14:21 for the 5K (track), 29:15 for the 10K (also on the track), 45:17 for the 15K, 1:04:59 for the half-marathon, and 2:17:09 for the marathon, submitted the following recap of his experience and race in the Pleasanton Double.  (Photo above - Tyler following the pack at the start of the 5k leg)

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After the 2012 Kauai Marathon last year, I had the pleasure of meeting Bob Anderson, founder of Runner’s World magazine, who was in the midst of completing his yearlong 50-Race Challenge, running 50 races in 52 weeks to celebrate his 50 years as a runner, with a sub-7:00 minute per mile average pace goal.  Quite a feat for a man in his mid-60s, particularly since he opted for challenging races like the Kauai Half-Marathon, with its heat and humidity!  And after I won the Kauai Marathon, I was honored to be interviewed by Bob and his crew for A Long Run, a movie they were filming about his 50-Race Challenge. (Photo - Tyler and Bob in Kauai)

Shortly after returning home to Boulder, I received an e-mail from Bob inviting me to a new race he had created and would be staging in Pleasanton, Calif., called the Double Road Race™.  This would be the first time the race would be held in America, and as he explained it, I could see it would present a whole new challenge. Because the Double consisted of running a 10k starting at 7:45 AM followed by a 5k starting at 9:30 AM.  The race consisted of doing both legs, not just doing one!  The cumulative time would be used to determine the winner and team champions.  Being the competitor I am, I jumped at this opportunity and bought the plane ticket to fly to Pleasanton, Calif., for the December 23rd race.

(Editor’s Note: Tyler McCandless was the first elite athlete to officially enter the Pleasanton Double. He also figures in several other firsts related to the Double Road Race™:  He (and Matt Duffy) were the first to engage in the kind of strategic and competitive dogfight, in their battle for third place at the Pleasanton Double, that the Double can provide. Tyler became the first person to sign on as a Double Road Race™ Director with the Double Road Race Federation after Pleasanton – he will direct a Double Road Race in Denver on July 21. And, of course, his recap of the Pleasanton Double becomes the first article in this series we’ll be publishing under the title, “Stories From The Double.”)

In the weeks leading up to the Pleasanton Double, I did several interviews with David Prokop, editor of the official Website of the race, discussing everything from my bio to race strategies and race logistics, like warm-up and cool-down.  A student of running, I thoroughly enjoy talking running and racing with David, and these conversations further fueled my fire for the competition. I couldn’t wait to run the race!

Upon landing in the pouring rain in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 21, I took a shuttle to the Pleasanton  Four Point Shearaton, the official hotel of the race, and later that evening I enjoyed meeting David, Bill Rodgers, several elite runners, and having longer conversations with Bob Anderson and his fantastic crew. 

The day before the race, Fernando Cabada and I joined up with 20 or so other runners at the running shoe store, Fleet Feet Pleasanton, for a fun run, and then he and I jogged  back to the hotel – he also lives in Boulder and we’re friends.  After a midday interview for the film, A Long Run, I joined in for a second fun run, this one starting and finishing at Christine Kennedy’s running shoe store, Peak Performance, in Los Gatos, Calif., then thoroughly enjoyed the conversation about running afterwards on the drive back to Pleasanton with Bob Anderson and Bill Rodgers, who’s an idol of mine.  That second fun run in Los Gatos was short and it was really nice to meet such a positive group of runners, as well as my teammates for the Double Road Race™!  The two other people on my three-person team at Pleasanton would be the father-son pair, Jose Pina Sr., who’s 42, and Jose Jr., who’s 15. Both are talented runners who have each run about 15:30 for the 5k! 

After a nice dinner and celebration with other athletes and race organizers back at the Pleasanton Four Point Sheraton, I tucked away to get some sleep for the night.  My plan for the race the next day was to use my racing instincts to run an appropriate effort in the 10k so I’d save enough for the 5k.

The morning of the race dawned gray and overcast, with rain in the forecast. I caught a ride to the start-finish line at Hart Middle School. After eating a couple of PowerBars, doing a 20-minute warm-up run, drills and strides, I was ready to start the Double Road Race.  The big moment had finally arrived!

The lead runners went out fairly hard at the start. The rain and wind that would become a problem later on still hadn’t started.  There was a definite pick-up in pace the second mile of the race, but I ran controlled, falling back into about seventh place. By the third mile, as we were nearing the end of the first lap of the two-lap course of the 10K, Fernando Cabada had clearly opened a lead, with Danny Tapia trying to chase him down.  I gradually picked up one runner after another and ended up moving into third place by Mile five.

Good story Tyler...always enjoy reading the inside scoop!
Bob Anderson 2/7/13 5:16 pm

Tyler, great story, very informative details--we will try to get you some better weather conditions in Overland Park.
Bruce Gilbert 2/9/13 9:14 am

Great read Tyler, thanks for sharing your thoughts...
Eldon Regua 2/10/13 7:05 pm

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Photo - Tyler finishing the 5k leg of the Double

I purposely did not hammer from Mile 5 to the finish because I felt I needed to save something for the 5K. Besides, Danny Tapia in second place had clearly gapped me so  achieving second was impossible.  After crossing the finish line I turned around to see two guys (Cheyne Inman and Matt Duffy) sprinting to the finish 8-9 seconds behind me.  I knew immediately I had made a mistake ... I should have finished faster and created a larger time gap.

(Editor’s Note: A Word to the Wise -- No matter how you feel or what your strategy is, muster a sprint at the end of both the 10K and the 5K legs in the Double. Because sure as those are your soles hitting the pavement, some runner(s) behind you will be sprinting at the finish and closing the gap you worked so hard to establish during the body of the race. In the Double, time counts! Don’t give away even a second of a lead you built during the 10K by not finishing with some sort of acceleration or final push approaching the finish line. Period! The effort of sprinting over the last 100-200 yards won’t take that much more out of you, and the seconds you save by so doing could come in very handy in the concluding 5K.)

After seeing, with apprehension, what had happened behind me, I then turned and kept jogging, running four laps around the track at Hart Middle School. Then I headed into the gym to change out of the wet clothes, do some leg drills and lightly stretch. 

In the recovery period, I had a banana, another PowerBar , and two bottles of water.  I sat down for a couple minutes and put some music on my iPhone, only to realize it was a mistake to sit down.  My calves immediately started getting tight, so I got up and headed over to the “Recovery Zone” to foam roll, then ride slowly on an exercise bike for about 15 to 20 minutes.  After this I was feeling better, and I jogged for 10 minutes to warm up for the 5K.

Lining up at the starting line the last five minutes before the 5K was brutal, because the weather had turned nasty! The wind was strong and blowing the pelting rain against our already chilled arms and legs. Then, thankfully, the starting horn sounded. 

When we surged forward off the starting line, my fears were immediately realized as the two guys I had 8-9 seconds on went out very hard.  I went through the mile (according to my watch) in 4:38 and was only in about 12th place!  By Mile Two, I had moved up from 12th to about sixth place, but was far behind one of the two guys (Matt Duffy).   I checked my watch when he went around a turn and then checked my watch again when I went around that same turn to find out I was … 20 seconds behind!  He now was in third place on cumulative time! That meant I needed to make up more than 12 seconds to recapture third place.

Photo - Tyler finishing the 10k leg of the Double

At that point I had nothing to lose and third place to gain, so I gave it everything I had as we headed towards the finish line. We were now running squarely into the wind. Not that any runner prefers that, but endurance and power are my forte as a runner.  I felt strong and was seemingly eating up the pavement as I closed the gap between us.  With a quarter-mile to go, I knew I had a chance!  I hammered in to finish only seven seconds behind him and reclaim third place … by two seconds!

After taking several weeks off following the Pleasanton Double and now slowly building my mileage back up for the past few weeks, I feel really happy and proud to have finished third in Pleasanton behind two of the toughest and currently best-performing runners in the country (Fernando and Daniel both recently won highly competitive marathons in Costa Rica and Sacramento, Calif., the California International Marathon, respectively.)

The Double Road Race™ lived up to its pre-race hype.  It’s truly a fun athletic competition that’s different than anything else.  There’s more strategy.  The time duration from start to end of competition in the Double is longer than anything else but a marathon.  It’s not only a test of physical fitness, but a test of courage.  Unless you sandbagged the 10K and didn’t run hard at all, starting the 5K feels awful.  You do have about an hour to recover in between, but it’s tough to get the body ready to sprint off the starting line of the 5K.  The Ujena Fit Club, the crew from A Long Run, and the entire staff at the Double Road Race™ are some of the nicest, most positive people you can have for a race!  It was an honor and a privilege to share the streets of Pleasanton with all the competitors and the incredible team putting together such a fun event!  A big thank you to the race and all the staff for having me at the event!  I hope to compete there again in 2013!