After notching an Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying time at the Jacksonville Half Marathon, Chris Derrick maintains that he is keeping his options open when it comes to running the Trials. 

“We are seeing how the training goes and making a decision based on whether we think I have a decent chance of making the team,” Derrick told FloTrack on Monday. 

The Bowerman Track Club athlete finished third in his half marathon debut with a time of 1:03:41 Sunday in Jacksonville. Derrick has won three straight USATF Cross Country titles and competed on Team USA at the World Cross Country Championships last March. 

Derrick aggravated an old injury a week prior to the World Cross Country Championships last year and was forced to sit out of competition until the Portland Track Festival in June where he competed in the 5K. He went on to run the 10K at the USATF Outdoor Championships where he finished seventh overall in 28:31. 

Both Derrick and Galen Rupp are question marks heading into the Olympic Marathon Trials. The Olympic silver medalist Rupp ran 61:20 at a local Portland half marathon in December, and maintained that he is “keeping his options open” in regards to running the Trials. FloTrackÂ’s Lincoln Shryack explored the options in a column following Rupp's race. 

If Derrick and Rupp run the Trials, it would be both athletesÂ’ first attempt at the 26.2 distance.