The U.S. began the first stages of putting together the Olympic squad for London today with the running of the Marathon Trials. If the results in Houston are any indication of the overall team we’ll be sending to London, then we’re going to be loaded by the end of June, because the marathoner’s came through in awesome fashion!
The goal at the Trials is to make the team, but the men and women in the lead packs in both races were clearly out to win and run fast – and that bodes well for their ability to compete in London.
In the men’s race Ryan Hall lead for most of the race running at a 2:07 pace – unheard of in an American only race! Yet he was never alone as Meb Keflezighi, Abdi Abdirahman, and Dathan Ritzenhein went toe to toe as a group through 19 miles – and even then it was only Ritzenhein that fell off the pace. Things slowed a bit after the 20 mile mark as they headed home in the final 10K, but all four finished well enough that we had FOUR men finish in 2:09 – again unheard of in an American only race. Abdirahman labored a bit over the final 10K leaving Hall and Keflelzighi to duke it out, and though Hall came in the favorite, Meb’s experience won out in this one as he took the win in 2:09:08 with Hall (2:09:30) and Abdi (2:09:47) in tow. Ritzenhein finished well and looked like he might potentially make a run at the final spot over the final couple of miles. But losing contact just ahead of the final 10K cost him as he couldn’t close that gap on Abdi, in spite of scoring a PR 2:09.55.
The women’s race was run somewhat the reverse of the men, as the women took their time getting up to speed. Like the men, however, by around 15/16 miles they had a solid group of four fighting it out for the three spots to London – Desiree Davila, Shalane Flanagan, Kara Goucher, and Amy Hastings – and as with the men, the medals were decided when Hastings began to lose contact around that 16 mile mark. Hastings, however, would actually regain position and take the lead by the 20 mile mark, but clearly her yo-yoing during the race – falling back, coming back up and falling back – took its toll as she would finally lose contact for good with some 3 – 4 miles remaining. With the team decided the question of the order of finish was decided with about 3 miles to go as Flanagan would ease ahead of Davila and never look back crossing the line in a Trials record 2:25:38 ahead of Davila (2:25:55) and Goucher (2:26:06) with Hastings finishing a strong 2:27:17.
Those are the numbers, and the full results can be found here for men and women. The question now is: what kind of team will this be in London? For my money it’s the best team we’ve ever sent to the Games in the marathon! Not just because the times were excellent, but because we’re clearly sending a group of runners that are ready to compete!
First let me say that Ritzenhein and Hastings were good enough to win any other Trials race ever held. I hope both stay ready, because it’s a long road to London and stuff happens. Not that I want anything to happen to anyone on the team ahead of them, but if something does happen, I have the ultimate confidence that either runner could step in in London and get it done! Best set of 4th placers we’ve ever had in the marathon – and as good as any we’ve had in any Olympic event.
Next let me say that Flanagan is a STUD – period! I’ve been a fan for a while; my only question heading into this race was whether or not the vets would burn her out, given that this was only her second marathon. She answered that question emphatically as she NEVER lost contact – and frankly SHE looked like the seasoned veteran as she measured out the competition and took control when SHE was ready. I’ve seen a lot of runners over the years – Mary Decker (Slaney), Suzy Favor (Hamilton), and Regina Jacobs come to mind. Today Flanagan became #1 American female distance runner ever for me. Her transition from running the 10,000 on the track to the marathon has been seamless, and frankly I’m now confused as to which event is her best! I think she could win this thing in London. That said, Davila and Goucher are nearly as solid, and form a trio that I’m actually looking forward to watching in London.
On the men’s side of things, I have to be honest and say that I’m a bit apprehensive, because Olympic and World Championships marathons tend to be won in the 2:06/2:07 range – so 2:09 is good, but still a bit off. But this trio showed with the 2:07 pace – that was held for over ¾ of the race – that they have the heart to go with the leaders and give it a go. You can’t ask for more than that. Hall has run faster than 2:06, and should be ready to go as fast again. Meb is just a winner – he’ll run with whatever pace it takes to be in the hunt. And Abdi is a veteran – this is his fourth team – and will go as long as his body allows. I think this is as good a team as we could hope to send to London.
Finally, let me give a shout out to all the tweeters out there. There was NO live coverage of this event – streaming or television – but the army of tweeters kept us all informed. For two and a half hours I followed the Twitter feed at FloTrack and while I had no visual felt totally connected to the race. When I finally got to see the taped delay on NBC it was just confirmation of what I had been “told” earlier this morning. So thank you to all the tweeters out there who kept us all up to date during the race!
So today was a good day. We’re sending a solid team to London – a team that actually has podium potential on it. It was a good way to start building our Olympic team. Now it’s time to turn attention to the indoor season.
