Mebrahtom Keflezighi en route to his silver medal performance in the 2004 Olympic Marathon (© Getty Images)
Although 133 men, all having bettered 2 hours 22 minutes or run a fast 10,000 metres, are entered in the U.S. Men’s Marathon Trials on Saturday (3), fewer than a dozen or so have a realistic chance of finishing in the top three and thus earning a trip to Beijing next summer.
The course is not the regular NYC run through the streets of all five New York boroughs rather five loops around Central Park. It’s a course of rolling hills, none really steep but constantly changing, and perhaps more of a physical challenge than might appear at first.
The outlook is for a relatively slow winning time, with a group of leaders hanging together and watching each other for more than half the race before they start surging and testing each other. Finishing in the top three is all that counts.
2004 Olympic silver medallist Mebratom Keflezighi summed it up pretty well when he said, referring to the field’s credentials, “Out of seven or eight, or maybe nine guys, only three will go.”
The main contenders:
Keflezighi is one of six entrants who in at some time in their lives have run the 26.2-mile (42.195 km) race in less than 2:10; and all of them have done so in the last four years, so you can figure each one of them as a genuine contender. With PBs, they are:
Khalid Khannouchi, age 35, 2:05:38. That PB was a world best when Khannouchi ran it in 2002, and he has had foot problems recently. But he says everything is O.K. now, and he ran 2:07:04 last year. He has been streaky in major marathons, winning big in some, losing big in others, but reports, “I’ve done a couple of fast workouts recently, and I’m ready for Saturday.”
Mbarak Hussein, age 42, 2:08:10. Yes, he’s old, and his 2:08:10 was run early in 2004, but he’s a smart, canny, experienced racer, and he was good enough to make the U.S. marathon team for Osaka earlier this year. And since the pace on Saturday is not likely to be very fast, he’s likely to still be in the mix at 35 km. And after that, anything can happen.
Ryan Hall, age 25, 2:08:24. Hall surprised a lot of people last January when he won the U.S. Half Marathon Championship in a national record 59:43, and surprised a lot more in April when he debuted at the full marathon distance in London and finished eighth in that 2:08:24. He ran that race with the self-control of a veteran, and he is probably the favourite here.
Abdi Abdirahman, age 30, 2:08:56. Has been steadily improving, from a 17th-place debut in 2:17:09 in 2004, to a fifth-place 2:11:24 in 2005, to a 2:08:56 in Chicago last year. This year, he placed 7th in the World Championships 10,000 in Osaka, and three weeks ago won the U.S. 10 Mile Championship. A patient, economically efficient runner, he comes into this race with a lot of psychological momentum.
Alan Culpepper, age 35, 2:09:41. Culpepper won the U.S Marathon Trials in 2004, and went on to finish 12th in Athens. This spring he showed he could still win important races when he finished first in the U.S. Cross Country Championships over 12 km. His chances of making his third U.S. Olympic team will depend on how well he can cover the last 5000 metres.
Mebratom Keflezighi, 32, 2:09:56. Second in the 2004 Trials, Keflezighi has the slowest PB of the six. But he also has the aura of that Olympic silver medal, with all the self-control and racing smarts that implies. When he is in shape, he is always in contention. And he seems to be in shape, with a good 27:41.26 10,000m at the Van Damme Memorial in Brussels in September.
Two others who appear to have a chance of breaking into this fast company are Brian Sell and Dathan Ritzenhein.
Sell, 29, with a PB of 2:10:47 set in Chicago a year ago, is known as a consistent racer and a strong finisher, the kind of runner who might pass two or three people in the final two kilometres of a marathon. He should be with the lead group at 30 km, and if he’s still there at 40 km, he’ll have a shot.
Ritzenhein, 24, was a high school star (under 9 minutes for Two Miles at age16) and has been brought along carefully since then. He ran his first marathon here last year, finishing eleventh in 2:14:01 (still his PB), and in August finished ninth in the World Championships 10,000m. Last May, he won a 10km road race over much of the same ground he’ll cover in Saturday’s marathon. A mutual friend tells me that “Ritz” is “very confident” coming into the Trials.
Says Keflezhigi, summing up, “It’s going to be a lot more difficult than 2004, because the field is much stronger. That’s what we dreamed of – that U.S. distance running would be strong and competitive – and now it’s here.”
James Dunaway for the IAAF
