Running: U.S. Olympic Trials Preview

Monday, April 07, 2008 - 01:02 AM

The lucky three...

Sports fans, especially those in the Northeast, have fully embraced the rivalry between the cities of New York and Boston in recent years. The Yankees and the Red Sox have waged baseball Armageddon for the past decade. In football, the mighty Patriots were handed their one and only defeat of the most recent season in a most painful fashion by the New York Giants.

Even long distance running has its own rivalry, albeit on a much more understated scale than in baseball and football. While the Boston Marathon has been the landmark event in the sport for more than a century, the New York Marathon, a relative upstart at 37 years, boasts a bigger and more international field. Each race can claim to be “the” marathon to run in the U.S.

Now each can boast that it will have staged a 2008 Olympic Trials marathon race. The men’s trials were held last November in New York, and this April the women will take the stage in Boston. The men’s trials featured riveting drama, as young Ryan Hall turned in a stunning 2:09:02 to win going away, and a gusty come from behind effort by Brian Sell netted him the third and final spot on the team. Young Dathan Ritzenehein finished second to make the Olympic team as well. Sadly, the tragic death of Ryan Shay during the race overshadowed these outstanding performances.

On April 20, Boston will hope to match the drama, with everyone finishing safe and sound. So how will the race unfold? Let’s take a look at some key questions headed into the women’s trials.


1) How tough is the course?

When you think of Boston and marathon running, you think of hills, especially punishing downhills followed by deceptively tough climbs. Alas, the Olympic Trials marathon will not be run on the Hopkinton to Boston route, which features those fabled undulations. The trials race route, a five-loop configuration throughout Boston and nearby Cambridge, will be mostly flat, following many of the same roads used for the Tufts 10 Km, held each October on Columbus Day.

In fact, many of the women in the race will find the roads familiar, having run in the Tufts race, the women’s 10-km championship for the past several years. An initial 2.2-mile circuit beginning at the finish line of the Boston Marathon will visit the historic Back Bay neighborhood; then the runners will head out for four six-mile loops in Cambridge and Boston.


2) What about the weather?

As anyone who has run in the Boston Marathon knows, mid-April can mean anything in terms of climate conditions, from searing heat to a cold and raw Nor’easter, which the Boston Marathon narrowly escaped last year. The wild card could be the wind. As much of the route will parallel the Charles River, a stiff breeze is very much a possibility. That could turn the race into a tactical affair, although it should be remembered that the men’s trials in New York were also held in windy conditions, and Ryan Hall dropped the lead pack and ran alone in the wind for the final several miles at an astonishing pace, better than 4:50 per mile.

In a recent interview, race director Dave McGillivray commented, “At least with this configuration, wherever the wind’s coming from, you’re not going to have it in your face the whole time. At least it’s distributed…If you’re running on a bridge, there’s nothing blocking it…I’ve run over that bridge and on Memorial Drive over 1,000 times. 80 percent of the time, it’s the most enjoyable run I have all year. And then 10 percent of the time, it can be windy. We’ll just have to have our fingers crossed on that one.”


3) Is Deena Kastor a lock to make the team?

There is no sure thing at the Olympic Trials. Just ask Meb Keflezighi, a favorite who failed to make the men’s team last fall, and who like Kastor, won a medal at the 2004 Olympic Games. That being said, none of the men had a 12-minute margin on his nearest competitor, something Kastor is able to claim. While she has run 2:19:36, the next fastest woman in the race, Elva Dryer, clocks in at 2:31:48.

One would think then, that Kastor could employ a conservative strategy and still comfortably make the team. The goal after all, is just to make the top three, not necessarily to win. But running a different pace than you are used to can be a flawed strategy. Kastor will have to decide whether to run alone at a tempo only she is accustomed to sustaining, or with a group, believing she can call upon her superior speed when she needs to. It is difficult to envision a scenario in which a healthy and rested Kastor is beaten by three other women, although stranger things have happened.


4) Are there any dark horses?

There always are. While Kastor is the odds-on favorite, there are bound to be some surprises near the front of the pack. Two to consider, especially if it is a warm day, are Kate O’Neil and Paige Higgins. Both earned their trial qualifying times at sauna-like Chicago Marathon last fall. Thus, they would seem to be primed for much faster times in Boston and have experience if the heat is a factor. The fast-improving, 25-year-old Michelle Lilienthal brought her personal best down to 2:35 from 2:49 in a little more than a year. Turena Johnson Lane is also another name to watch. She sports a personal best of 2:34 and has international experience as a member of the U.S. team at the 2005 World Championships.


5) Can a 44-year-old make the team?

Colleen DeReuck hopes so. The 2004 Olympic Trials winner is back for another shot at the Olympic team; she has already competed in four. After having given birth to her second daughter last July, DeReuck has quickly regained the fitness she lost during her pregnancy, when she gained 38 pounds and did not run at all. “I was out of shape,” she told the Boulder Camera recently. “It was hard getting back into shape. I was huffing and puffing and my face would be all red.” In February however, she placed well in the U.S. cross country championships in San Diego. Anyone who takes DeReuck lightly in the trials then, will be making a mistake. She is a savvy veteran capable of employing the strategy that will be necessary to finish among the top three.


6) How many 50-year-olds will be running in the trials?

One, to be exact; the same number of runners who can boast an Olympic gold medal. Should they re-name this event the Joan Samuelson Olympic Trials Marathon? After all, here she is at 50, some 24 years after winning the first Olympic Trials marathon in 1984. That’s seven Olympic Trials Marathons, an astonishing run of consistent excellence.

Although she might not be a contender for the Olympic Team, you can count on her producing a solid performance and providing inspiration to the younger marathoners in the field, as well as the thousands of fans that will be lining the route in a city in which she has had so many great performances. What kind of mark has Samuelson left on marathon running in the U.S.? A quarter-century ago she ran a world record 2:22:43 in the Boston Marathon, a time only one other runner (Kastor) has been able to match since then.


7) Will Jenny Crain provide inspiration for the runners?

Without a doubt. While Jenny (who qualified for this trials race) will not be on the starting line, she is already well on the road to victory. Last August she was critically injured by an automobile while training, leaving her in a coma for nearly a month, with life-threatening injures. Since that time she has slowly progressed in a battle to regain her health. Recently it was reported she had regained some mobility, strength and ability to communicate. The four-time Olympic Trials qualifier will be in thoughts of all of the runners at the Olympic Trials.

So, although the competition will be fierce in the race on April 20, Jenny Crain would be the first to say that there are a lot more important things than making the Olympic team. Still, although the runners will not have to scale the famed hill, there is sure to be heartbreak in Boston on April 20. There will also be unbridled joy for three talented marathoners, who will have earned one of the most coveted prizes in long distance running―a place on the Olympic marathon team.


Join My Next Race.com at the 7th Annual Boston Tea Party - Team Canada Brunch to watch the 2008 Trials Marathon - www.bostonteaparty.ca