Trial Time

It was a little dreary along the lakefront path Sunday morning as I did a little 4 mile shake-out run.  Our extended fall weather is finally gone, and winter is upon us.  That means paying close attention to the ground to try to avoid patches of ice.  And wearing thick layers of running clothes to try to keep from freezing out there.  Ok, maybe it's not that bad.  I do actually enjoy winter running.  But it was a stark contrast to what we watched the day before in Houston!

My running friends usually get together every Saturday morning to run.  On tap last Saturday was a 16 miler in Barrinton.  But that was just the appetizer for the day.  Saturday afternoon was the highlight.  I don't normally see these guys all that often in regular clothes.  But Saturday was a special occasion that called for us to get together, have a few snacks and beverages, and sit in front of the TV.  No, not the NFL playoffs that much of the rest of the world was probably watching, but the U.S. Olympic marathon trials.

I actually had a last-minute invitation to attend the trials in person, but the airfare was a bit out of my price range, so I went with the next best option.  And it was a great way to see the whole race.  We gathered in the basement of my friend Tom's home for a couple reasons.  First, we were pretty sure the trials would not be on at any of the bars or restaurants in our neighborhoods.  Not with the 49ers and Saints playing at the same time.  Second, Tom has 3 month old twins at home, and we wanted to start getting them thinking about running early.  Ok, maybe it was actually so we could help feed them.  They are adorable, and they did seem to take a little extra interest in what was going on in front of them on the television!

And what they watched were impressive performances by some really great American runners who will make up our 2012 Olympic marathon team in London.  The men's and women's races were similar.  Both were fast, and dominated by the favorites from the early stages in what looked like ideal weather conditions in Texas.

 

I should mention off the bat, that the race was Saturday morning and we did our best to ignore reports of the results of the races all day until we watched the NBC broadcast on Saturday afternoon.  That meant staying off the computer and leaving the tv on some other channel than ESPN.

But once the we started to watch the race, it seemed to go like many would have predicted anyway.  On the men's side, Ryan Hall led an early torrid pace that took all but the serious contenders out of contention.  He seemed to recover well from his race in Chicago in October.  The big surprise, however, was how well 37 year Meb Keflezighi recovered from his P.R. effort in New York in November.  He won the race with a 2:09, with Hall just behind running easily.  Dathan Ritzenheim, the amazing 10,000m runner was closing fast on Abdi Abdirahman for the final spot, but he ran out of room, and Abdi held on. It was a fun race to watch.

The women's race was equally fun, with Shalane Flanagan and Desiree Davila leading a pack of about 8 women throught the early stages.  The two favorites were in good company, with the likes of Olympic veterans Deena Kastor and Kara Goucher in the group as well.  Unfortunately, the pride of St. Charles, Tera Moody, was not in the group.  She had to withdraw during the week because of a lingering hamstring injury.    

But Davila and Flanagan cruised to a pretty easy 1-2 finish with Goucher holding on for the final spot.  The NBC announcers proclaimed the men's and women's groups as one of the strongest US marathon teams in history.  Frank Shorter and Joan Benoit Samuelson, the honorary starters for the races, might take issue with those characterizations, but it's true that the teams both have strong runners.  On the men's side, there is a lot of experience, and talent.  On the women's side there is a lot of talent, speed and youth. 

London should be fun for the Americans this summer.  Running is all about participation, and enjoying the effort you put into it.  But was fun to watch some of the best in our sport take the spotlight for a little while on a Saturday afternoon.

See you on the roads........

 

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Comments

[Pete B]

The trials were fun to watch. I also avoided the news until I watched the replay. It was fun to see a gutsy runner like Dathan give it his all (and then some) at the end of the race.