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2016 U.S. Olympic Team Marathon Trials

Nick Arciniaga: 2:11 or 2:18?

Nick Arciniaga: 2:11 or 2:18?

Leading up to the February 13th U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, FloTrack will highlight the storylines of the contenders on both the men's and women's side. N

Feb 8, 2016 by Lincoln Shryack
Nick Arciniaga: 2:11 or 2:18?
Leading up to the February 13th U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, FloTrack will highlight the storylines of the contenders on both the men's and women's side.

Nick Arciniaga: 2:11 or 2:18?


Name: Nick Arciniaga

Age: 32

Hometown: Flagstaff, AZ

Marathon PR: 2:11:30 (Houston 2011)

Best Trials Qualifier: 2:11:47 (Boston 2014)

Previous Trials Results: 8th, 2:11:56 (2012); 17th, 2:17:08 (2008)

Our Take: After back-to-back marathons of 2:18:02 (Boston 2015) and 2:22:07 (New York 2015), 26.2 veteran Nick Arciniaga would appear to be trending in the wrong direction at the wrong time with the Trials coming this Saturday. An injury accounts for his dreadful time four months ago in Central Park, but the fastest of his last four marathons is only 2:14:31, and he’ll need to be much better this weekend to find himself in contention for a top-3 finish. 

While that recent history seems lacking, Arciniaga does bring a wealth of experience into what will be his third appearance at the Trials. His four career 2:11 performances — his last being a 2:11:47 7th place finish at Boston 2014 — suggest he is capable of being in it when the real racing begins, especially when you consider no American male broke 2:10 in 2015. 

So what incarnation of Arciniaga will we see on Saturday? Reality would seem to dictate that it will need to be one better than he has been before when you consider he is vying with even more-experienced guys in Meb and Dathan, as well as the immense potential of 10K American record holder Galen Rupp. But, as all marathoners can attest, anything can happen over 26 miles. 

In what will be his 18th career marathon, few know that better than Arciniaga.

Below, Arciniaga answered three questions leading up to the big race.

Give us the details of your best workout

My best workout to date was my Tempo Run during the Star Wars Disney Half Marathon, where I ran 1:05:49 solo.


What do you need to do on race day to make the team?

I need to run my best race, both strategically and time-wise.

What’s been your biggest obstacle to overcome in your Trials prep?

Over the holidays in December I strained my quad, which inhibited my training for about 2 weeks when I had originally intended on running my highest volume of mileage and a few key workouts..

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