Races: US Men’s Olympic Marathon Trials Preview

Holy cow! There is no doubt what’s at the center of the marathon world this weekend: New York City! With both the US Men’s Marathon Olympic Trials and the ING New York City Marathon going on, there will be no lack of excitement.

Men’s US Olympic Marathon Trial
Saturday morning, November 3rd, the top American runners will compete for only three spots on the US Olympic team to represent the USA in next year’s Beijing Olympics. The field is extremely strong with at least 10 runners who could win one of the three Olympic berths. 179 individuals ran qualifying times for the event, but only 134 will compete. Even so that’s 134 men that have all run at least 2:22:00 or better (many faster than the A 2:20:00 standard) in the marathon. That’s a seriously competitive field.

The race itself will be a difficult multi-loop course that uses Central Park and parts of mid-town Manhattan. By using a looped course, the organizers have created an excellent spectator opportunity to watch the race as it passes by multiple times. The runners themselves also gain the advantage (or disadvantage) of covering the same terrain multiple times – which could be to a strategic advantage as the runners size up their competition.

Of the favorites, there are several that really stand out: Abdi Abdirahman, Meb Keflezighi, and Ryan Hall. Abdirahman ran a 2:08:56 marathon time to qualify in Chicago in 2006, but he also ran a great time (60:29) in the New York City Half Marathon over similar terrain this August. Keflezighi won the Silver Medal in the Athens Olympic Games, showing that he has the stuff to compete in the Olympics. And Ryan Hall ran the fastest debut marathon by an American at London this April (2:08:24) and became the second fastest American marathoner of all-time behind only Khalid Khannouchi.

Sound like a tough field? It is. And it is going to be an awesome head-to-head race. Don’t miss this one.

There’s much more to read about this historic race. Here are some great articles where you can bone up on all the details from the complete contenders list to perspective by other running writers:

Television Coverage Information

MarathonGuide.com complete coverage

WCSN: Tactical race expected on a difficult course

WCSN: Keflezighi ‘more motivated than ever

WCSN: Khannouchi, 35, among favorites in New York

Now for my profile the other big race: the ING New York City Marathon! Click here.

Coach Joe English, Portland Oregon USA

Running Wild is a free column from runners and triathletes from running coach Joe English. Check out our archives of training and motivation articles!

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