Seven months after shattering the course record at the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run, Jim Walmsley showed impressive versatility at the 2019 Houston Half Marathon.

Heading into Sunday’s race, the ultrarunner’s goal was to hit the qualifying standard to compete at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, and he did just that when he finished 27th overall in 1:04:00–the exact time needed to achieve the “B” standard.

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“For me, it shows that I still have a little bit of leg speed,” Walmsley, 29, told Runner’s World.

Qualifying for the Trials gives him the hope he can work towards some exciting new achievement, maybe in the marathon, he said.

“I have some plans up my sleeve to give myself a chance to do something exciting there–really push the envelope for myself and make things exciting for people to watch and cheer for, kind of root for that ultra guy,” he said. “Just something different. It’s coming at it from a different angle, from big mileage, maybe more of a blue-collar mentality.”

In June 2018, the ultrarunner made history and found redemption at Western States when he ran a course-record of 14 hours, 30 minutes, equating to a 8:42-mile pace. The performance followed a DNF in 2017 when the heat became too much to bear, and a disappointing debut in 2016 when a wrong turn resulted in a 20th-place finish.

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Walmsley came to ultra running with a strong background in track at the Air Force Academy, a career that included a 12th-place finish in the steeplechase at the 2012 NCAA championships and personal bests of 13:52 in the 5K and 29:08 in the 10K.

Walmsley, who lives and trains in Flagstaff, Arizona, confirmed his plan to run the Olympic Trials standard last fall. The announcement followed a breakthrough year for the long distance runner, who nearly hit 5,000 miles on Strava in 2018 and was even named one of Sports Illustrated’s Fittest 50 athletes earlier this month.

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“I’ll be trying to get the OTQ at the Houston Half Marathon (Jan 20th) with a run under 64 minutes. Need a few more weeks with workouts to get that 4:52 min/mile (3:01min/km) legs moving again. Fun change and good challenge for an ultrarunner!” Walmsley wrote in the comments of his December 3 run on Strava .

On Sunday, Walmsley showed that leg speed when he split 15:16 for the first 5K, 30:20 for 10K, 45:31 for 15K, and 1:00:44 for 20K, all averaging between 4:51 and 4:55-mile pace. From 20K, he dropped down to 4:48 pace and sprinted to the finish, where the clock read exactly 1:04:00.



According to race organizers, Walmsley was one of 47 athletes to reach the standard in Houston.

For Walmsley, reaching the standard means more than just earning a spot on a list. The process of training for this race and finally accomplishing this goal was a trial itself.

“From where I was two months ago, this has been a huge process,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of self-doubts. I think that would probably be the biggest ethos of what has been hardest to overcome....doing the workouts, and when a workout doesn’t go good, having that confidence that it’s the overall process that’s going to prove to come through.”

With his mission accomplished in the half marathon, Walmsley is setting his sights back to ultrarunning, specifically the Fast 100 Ultra in Hong Kong, where he will race 2014 Western States winner Rob Krar on February 16.

“It’s nice to get this under my belt because now I can flip the page and focus on what I do best right now, and that’s ultra trail running,” he said.

He’ll be back in that big mileage comfort zone by this week.

“I already have plans to get back in the Grand Canyon for a 20 or 30-mile run, maybe like Thursday or Friday,” he said.

