FAST FACTS U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men's Marathon

Houston, TX, Saturday, January 14, 2012

By: Ryan Lamppa, Running USA wire

Downtown 8 mile loop course - 3 laps with 2.2 mile loop before main course

Weather: sunny, clear
Temperature: 39F (start); 54F (finish)
Wind: WSW 9-12 mph

Qualifiers = 158
Declared = 113
Starters = 111
Finishers = 85

Prize purse = $250,000, which includes $20,000 bonus per runner for Olympic Marathon participation, with $50,000 for the Olympic Trials champion



Half-Marathon split = 1:03:25 (Hall, Abdirahman, Ritzenhein, Keflezighi and Trafeh)

First time four men under 2:10 at the Olympic Marathon Trials

This race produced the #2-5 and #9 all-time Olympic Trials performances:

2:09:02 1 Ryan Hall (2008)
2:09:08 1 Meb Keflezighi (2012)
2:09:30 2 Ryan Hall (2012)
2:09:47 3 Abdi Abidrahman (2012)
2:09:55 4 Dathan Ritzenhein (2012)
2:10:19 1 Tony Sandoval (1980)
2:10:41 2 Benji Durden (1980)
2:10:55 3 Kyle Heffner (1980)
2:11:06 5 Brett Gotcher (2012)
2:11:07 2 Dathan Ritzenhein (2008)

The deepest men's Trials ever with best times for place (#2-15):

Best Time for Place at U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials
1st 2:09:02 Ryan Hall (2008)
2nd 2:09:30 Ryan Hall (2012)
3rd 2:09:47 Abdi Abidrahman (2012)
4th 2:09:55 Dathan Ritzenhein (2012)
5th 2:11:06 Brett Gotcher (2012)
6th 2:11:24 Andrew Carlson (2012)
7th 2:11:53 Fernando Cabada (2012)
8th 2:11:56 Nick Arciniaga (2012)
9th 2:12:23 James Carney (2012)
10th 2:12:29 Jimmy Grabow (2012)
11th 2:12:43 Ryan Vail (2012)
12th 2:13:41 Ricky Flynn (2012)
13th 2:13:42 Patrick Rizzo (2012)
14th 2:13:50 Josh Cox (2012)
15th 2:14:04 Ian Burrell (2012)

At age 36, Meb Keflezighi is the oldest U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials men's champion (previous oldest, Rod DeHaven, 33, in 2000).

Keflezighi's time - 2:09:08 - was a personal record by 5 seconds.

This is the oldest U.S. men's Olympic Marathon team with an average age of just under 33-years-old.

Abdi Abdirahman earned his fourth U.S. Olympic team berth; Keflezighi his third and Hall his second.

The second most sub-2:20 performances (50) at the Trials (record 56 in 1980)

19 personal records set by:
Meb Keflezighi, 2:09:08
Dathan Ritzenhein, 2:09:55
Fernando Cabada, 2:11:53
James Carney, 2:12:23
Josh Cox, 2:13:50
Mike Morgan, 2:14:22
Max King, 2:14:36
Michael Reneau, 2:14:37
Drew Polley, 2:14:58
Daniel Tapia, 2:15:28
Craig Leon, 2:15:42
Keith Bechtol, 2:16:02
Zachary Hine, 2:16:40
Allen Wagner, 2:17:16
Adam MacDowell, 2:17:27
Donovan Fellow, 2:17:30
Chris Erichsen, 2:17:52
Jeff Jonaitis, 2:17:56
Josh Eberly, 2:18:35


 this article Courtesy of Running USA wire