Today on Episode 140 of TheFinalSprint.com Running Podcast, I had an opportunity to chat with Brian Sell, the third place finisher in the US Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon who, along with Ryan Hall and Dathan Ritzenhein, will represent Team USA at the Olympic Marathon in Beijing.
Brian talks about the adjustments he has had to make after turning 30-yrs old in April, future plans for his running career - including what he hopes will be continued success in the marathon, why that is his ideal distance, the importance of not dwelling on his qualifying performance at the Trials, and how the conditions in Beijing ‐ especially the heat and humidity ‐ are going to affect his training and racing.
Download the podcast to hear Brian discuss these topics, as well as, competing on Saturday for his third title and trying to gauge the progress of his Olympic preparations at the USA 25k Championships, his teammates at the Hanson-Brooks Distance Project, his hobbies, advice for young runners and much more!
TO DOWNLOAD: Right click here and select “Save As”
Host: Jimmie Markham | Guest: Brian Sell
Producers: Greg Cherniet, Adam Jacobs
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 19.5 MB | Length: 00:28:25
Episode Sponsored By: U.S. Army Special Forces
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Tyson Gay To Face Usain Bolt In May
Now that Usain Bolt is the owner of the 2nd fastest 100m time in history, he is set to race world champion Tyson Gay. They will compete on May 21st at the Reebok Grand Prix. Now if the organizers could only get Asafa Powell…
More: IAAF
Athens Bronze-Medalist To Miss Beijing Marathon
Brazilian marathoner Vanderlei de Lima will not defend his Olympic Marathon Bronze medal from Athens in Beijing. Because of injuries, the 38-year-old will not be able to run in Prague this weekend in a last-ditch effort to get a top-3 qualifying time for Team Brazil.
More: guardian.co.uk, UK
Michigan Journalist Lists Favorites for US 25K Championships
Howie Beardsley of the Grand Rapids Press lists the favorites for the 31st edition of the Fifth Third River Bank Run, which also serves as the USA Track & Field 25K championships. Among the favorites are Brian Sell and Peter Gilmore. Katherine Koski wears the #1 bib for the women.
More: The Grand Rapids Press
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Deena Kastor could see a sizeable payday at tomorrow’s Gate River Run in Jacksonville, Fla., which serves as the U.S. 15-K championships for both men and women.
Already the U.S. record holder for 15-K (47:15), Kastor will be looking for her sixth title in Jacksonville, worth $12,000. However, she may pick up an additional $5000 should she finish ahead of the first man (the elite women are given a five minute headstart). That seems likely given that the men’s field is not as strong as in previous years.
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101-Year-Old Set To Become World’s Oldest Marathoner
Buster Martin is set to become the world’s oldest marathoner next month when he toes the line for the Flora London Marathon at age 101. He is also a singer in a rock band.
Read more at: [ABC News]
US 15K Championships Set For Saturday
Deena Kastor tries for a 6th win Saturday at the Gate River Run in Jacksonville, FL. Katie McGregor, whom Kastor calls a “fierce competitor,” is expected to challenge her for the title. Brian Sell and Abdi Abdirahman are the favorites in the men’s race.
Read more at: [Florida Times-Union]
Event-By-Event Preview of World Indoor Championships
European Athletics, Europe’s counterpart to the USATF, has published an event-by-event preview of the IAAF World Indoor Championships which will be held in Valencia, Spain this weekend. Three women’s competitions are expected to be highlights of the meet, including Maria Mutola’s 800m (yes, the race belongs to her until she retires), the 1500m in which Maryam Yusuf Jamal will be challenged by Yulia Fomenko, and of course the high jump in which outdoor world champion Blanka Vlašić is the favorite.
Read more at: [European-Athletics]
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The marathon promises to be one of the most exciting events in the track and field world this coming year. From marquee matchups to record attempts, the Olympic Games to another Marathon Major Contest, 2008 should be another fantastic year for this historic distance. In the following paragraphs I will outline the cast of characters who will seek to etch their names in the history books in 2008. I will also offer one journalist’s thoughts on what could happen in the big races. It has been said that marathons are tremendously difficult to forecast, but rest assured that this former mediocre DIII runner has all the answers.
The first major (at least in the financial sense) marathon of 2008 was the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon, held this past Sunday. The big news from this race was the world record attempt by Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie. Fresh off his 2:04:26 world record in Berlin this past fall, “The Emperor” struck back with a 2:04:52, the second fastest time ever. Gebrselassie’s only fault was a blistering first half that left him a bit overextended and unable to hang on for the record. His time did serve notice, in case anyone wasn’t already convinced, that Geb will be a force to be reckoned with in this Olympic year as long as he can overcome the interaction of Beijing pollution and his severe allergies.
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All the chatter about the resurgence of American distance running came to fruition in powerful fashion Saturday, with Ryan Hall leading Dathan Ritzenhein and Brian Sell onto the 2008 Olympic Team. Competing at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men’s Marathon in Central Park, Hall tamed what had been thought of as a slow and very difficult course, breaking the Olympic Trials record with his winning time of 2:09:02. Ritzenhein was second in a personal-best time of 2:11:06, with Sell third in 2:11:40.
A 25-year-old Californian, Hall has been looked to as a future star since he was a national cross country champion in high school, and in 2007 he broke the American record in the half-marathon (59:43) and posted the fastest American debut marathon in history in placing eighth at the Flora London Marathon (2:08:24).
But Hall on Saturday served notice to the world that he is not just a star of American distance running, he has the capacity to be a major player on the global scene. After leisurely opening miles in which the main pack came through 2 miles in 11:00, the pack finally caught up with earlier leader Michael Wardian at 7 miles, after a 5:19 mile split. From that point on, however, the hammer was down, and Hall made it look frighteningly easy.
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The U.S. Olympic Trials Men’s Marathon has begun! The weather at race time:
46°F
Cloudy
Wind: NE at 12 mph
Humidity: 61%
Event Coverage Sponsored By:
Camelbak - the originator and leader in hands-free hydration.To learn more Camelbak Elixir, their effective, easy-to-use and portable electrolyte beverage, as well as Camelbak’s running specific hydration systems, please visit www.camelbak.com.
Through persistence, a strong work ethic, and the ability to learn from a mistake, Brian Sell has made himself an elite marathoner and a top contender for a berth on the team that will represent the USA at the Beijing Olympics.
Sell qualified for the Trials with a sparkling 2:10:47 at the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon last October. A consistently strong competitor, he ran a 2:10:55 six months earlier at the Boston Marathon. Only four Americans (Khalid Khannouchi, Ryan Hall, Abdi Abdirahman, and Meb Keflezighi) have run faster qualifying times than Sell as of June 2007.
The Trials course in Central Park is one Sell has traveled before. But that won’t make the task any less formidable.
To read the rest of this elite athlete profile by the Cecil Harris and via the New York Road Runners, please click here.
For more details, background and interviews:
Several thousand votes from TheFinalSprint.com readers from been tallied-up and the results are in!
Ryan Hall, Meb Keflezighi, and Abdi Abirahman have been selected by TFS readers as most likely to qualify for the Beijing-bound U.S. Olympic Team!
Full TFS Prediction Survey Results:
Ryan Hall - 38%
Meb Keflezighi - 19%
Abdi Abdirahman - 15%
Khalid Khannouchi - 6%
Brian Sell - 6%
Alan Culpepper - 5%
Someone Else- 4%
Dathan Ritzenhein - 3%
Dan Browne - 2%
Peter Gilmore - 2%
America’s top men’s distance runners lead a declared field of 128 in Saturday’s 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men’s Marathon. Perhaps the most anticipated Olympic Trials ever contested over the marathon distance, the race will be held Saturday morning in New York’s Central Park.
Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi, 2004 Olympic Trials champion Alan Culpepper, American half-marathon record holder Ryan Hall, two-time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman and 2004 Olympians Dan Browne and Dathan Ritzenhein are among those in a race to see who will become the first athletes named to the 2008 U.S. Olympic track and field team. 128 athletes of 134 entries have declared their intent to compete. Although declarations officially closed Monday afternoon, entrants who have yet to declare may do so by petition on Thursday, November 1, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Meb Keflezighi: The headliner of the Olympic Trials following his silver medal-winning performance at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Keflezighi has a marathon personal best time of 2:09:53, run at the 2004 ING New York City Marathon. Other top marathon placings for the Mammoth Lakes, Calif., resident include a third-place finish at New York in 2005 and also at the 2006 Boston Marathon.
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From time to time TFS will try and highlight other stories that you might find of interest:
Out of Lance’s Slipstream, a Trainer Reinvents Himself — NY Times
10 training rules for running/walking a marathon — Gary Moller Online
Sell still chasing Olympic dream — Washington Post
Quick, Do You Know Your B.M.I.? – NY Times
El Guerrouj to support […]
Both the men’s and women’s races at toady’s LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon came down to the very last mile.
Running in the cold weather that has become characteristic of the Chicago Marathon, Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya and Ethiopia’s Berhane Adere came away as the male and female champions.
Cheruiyot, the 2006 Boston marathon winner, just […]
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