by David Prokop

On a day when Olympic great Billy Mills and Runner’s World founder Bob Anderson returned to Kansas where it all began for them, two transplanted Pennsylvanians, Tyler McCandless and Molly Pritz, both now living in Boulder, Colo., shattered the world records in winning the men’s and women’s divisions in the Overland Park Double Road Race®.

Tyler McCandless, coming off an impressive 1:03:16 personal best performance he ran in the US Half-Marathon Championships the previous weekend in Duluth, Minn., burned the opening 10K leg of the Double in 30:16, establishing a 76-second lead over the second-place finisher Matt Chesang, former Kansas State University star, and more than a two-minute lead over Matt’s brother, Benson, former University of Kansas standout who’s now an assistant track and cross-country coach at that school.

In the 5K, escorted by the two Kenyans in a gracious display of support to assure Tyler would break the world record, he ran 14:58 for an aggregate time of 45:15.

The previous world record had been 45:34, set by Fernando Cabada of Boulder, Colo., who ran the 10K in 30:31 and the 5K in 15:02 in winning the men’s division at the Pleasanton Double in Pleasanton, Calif., last Dec. 23, the first Double ever run on American soil. Overland Park was only the second  Double ever held in America.

Before the 5K started, Matt Chesang had said, reflecting on Tyler’s powerhouse 10K, “I want him to get the record.” Benson, standing next to him, added, “We’ll help him get it.” They did – and he did! It was one of the most extraordinary displays of unity, support and good sportsmanship you’ll ever see in a distance race!

Photo: Tyler McCandless finished the first leg of the Overland Park Double.  His 10k leg was 30:16.  This bold move set the stage for his world record.

Tyler McCandless had finished third in the Pleasanton Double last December, running a hard and courageous last mile to regain third place on aggregate time from a hard-charging young runner named Matt Duffy. But since Pleasanton, Tyler has lost eight pounds, has been working with a new coach, former world record holder in the marathon Steve Jones, and he’s fitter than he’s ever been – as exemplified by his 1:03:16 half-marathon in Duluth. At Overland Park he knew he was very fit and he planned to use that to the fullest, but he actually went out too aggressively, running the first 5K of the 10K leg in 14:43 (“I went out way too fast, but I wanted to set the tone.”). That aggressive start had both its pros and cons – it served to break the race wide open for him, but it undoubtedly resulted in a slower overall 10K time.  It made no difference – he was fit and strong enough to better the world record anyway. And afterwards he was very appreciative for the unselfish support of the Chesang brothers in the 5K.

“They had told me before the 5K,” Tyler said later, “they were going to help me, and as we ran, they were yelling at me to stay with them. It was cool.”

Photo: Tyler McCandless, Bob Anderson and Molly Pritz at the awards ceremony.

For Molly Pritz, the Overland Park Double was truly a return to arms (or was it legs?) and a coming out party at the same time. Competing in her first race since undergoing tendon surgery in late March, she ran the opening 10K leg in 35:24, giving her a commanding lead of almost four minutes over the women’s field and a clear shot at the world record. She then ran a controlled 17:48 in the concluding 5K leg to finish with an aggregate time of 53:13.

There were so many good stories from the Double Roard Race...this is what our editor David Prokop heard. Good job David.
Bob Anderson 7/1/13 12:26 pm

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Photo: InkFitness.com won the Most Fit Team award.  They had ten runners who finished the Double. 

The previous world record has been 54:03, set by Tina Kefalas in winning the women’s division in Pleasanton. Tina, who’s from Hillsborough, Calif., but represented Greece in the women’s marathon at the London Olympics, had run the 10K in 35:55 and the 5K in 18:07 at Pleasanton.

Before the Overland Park Double, Molly had said, “”I’ll run the right pace for the fitness level I presently have. Hopefully that will be fast enough to break the record.” It was, by a considerable margin.

Her next race will be the Denver Double. With three more weeks of quality training under her belt (or should we say shoes?), she hopes to improve the women’s record even more, despite the fact Denver will be the first Double ever held at altitude.

A unique feature of the Double Road Race® is that perhaps its most significant and glamorous award, the Double Victory Cup, is presented to the competitor with the best age-graded performance. In Overland Park that trophy went to the great Masters runner Christine Kennedy – as had been the case in Pleasanton. The 5’1”, 108-lb, 58-year-old marvel from Los Gatos, Calif., who’s the only woman 58 or older to break three hours for the marathon (she ran 2:55:01 this year in Boston), ran the 10K in 40:01 and the 5K in 19:56, giving her an combined time of 59:58. That translates to a 96.83 percent score on the age-graded tables.

A significant world age-group record in Overland Park was set by Lucy Hardy (left) of Lawrence, Kan., who became the youngest person to ever complete the Double. Only eight years old, she ran the 10K in 58:52 and the 5K in 30:46 for an combined time if 1:29:39. Amazing! Then afterwards she got a chance to talk to the legend himself, Billy Mills, who’s a Native American as is Lucy.

Not to be overlooked in the amazing category was a young man named Regan Dunn from Smithville, Mo., who ran the 10K in 45:34 and the 5K in 21:46:03 for an aggregate time of 1:07:20. Regan is only nine years old!

The winners in the Bob Anderson Kids’ Cup One-Mile, which was run right after the conclusion of the Double in Overland Park, were Allison Brown, aged 10, from Blue Springs, Mo., who ran 7:11 to win the girls division, and Zachary Wilson, aged nine, from Overland Park, who ran 1:27 to win the boys division.

Photo: Start of the Bob Anderson's Kids Cup Mile.  The Double Road Race benefits youth running.

 The Overland Park Double was run in relatively cool and almost ideal weather conditions – for this time of year in Kansas! – and 452 runners, representing almost all ages, ability levels and  approaches to running, registered for the event. It was a turnout truly in keeping with the inherent nature of the Double, which is … something for everyone!

Adding to the allure and attraction of the event, of course, was the presence of special guesr Billy Mills and his wife Patricia – as well as Bob Anderson, the former publisher of Runner’s World who conceived and created the Double Road Race®.

Photo - All thumb ups for Billy Mills, Christine Kennedy and Bob Anderson at the Overland Park Double Road Race

Billy Mills, who stunned the world with his dramatic victory in the 10,000 meters at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, started his running career as a student at Haskell Indian High School in Lawrence, Kan., and then attended the University of Kansas on a track scholarship, graduating in 1962. At Overland Park, on the very day he turned 75, he greeted almost every runner at the finish of both the 10- and 5K. Later he handed out the medals at the victory presentation following the competition, and was himself presented with the Bob Anderson Lifetime Achievement Award. Billy said of the Double, “There’s no athletic competition of real significance that isn’t built on community unity and diversity – and this race has tremendous diversity!”

Bob Anderson ran the Overland Park Double on an injured right leg; nevertheless, he finished what he started, running 1:10:43 in the 10K and 47:41 in the 5K for an aggregate time of 23:02, which actually placed him second in the 65-69 age group (he turned 65 in December). Bob grew up in Overland Park, started running there at age 14 when he was attending Broadmoor Junior High, and started Runner’s World at age 17 when he was a senior at Shawnee Mission West High School in Overland Park. 

The next Double Road Race® is scheduled for Denver, Colo., on Sunday, July 21, where the race director will be … the new Double Road Race® world record holder Tyler McCandless!