The U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials brought significant hills, 20+ MPH winds, and many approaches to racing the marathon. The men's race saw numerous faces take fliers, while the women held together in a tight pack until the 20 mile mark. In the end, though, some surprising results see pre-race favorites of making the team Jared Ward and Des Linden not qualify.
Men's Race
Out of the gate, some surprising faces paced the way early. On the uphill first mile, Luke Puskedra took the lead. The 4th place finisher in the 2016 Trials Marathon, Puskedra had taken up real estate in the interim but felt well enough to take the lead. He was soon joined by Clayton Albertson, Dan Nestor, and the remainder of the men's pack by mile 4.
Not content to keep pace with the pack, former steeplechaser Brian Shrader decided to push the pace. Nestor joined him to form a two-man breakaway. Slowly but surely, they continued to push away from the rest of the field. At 6 miles, the lead was 15 seconds. By 8 miles, it was 40 seconds. Shrader dropped Nestor and continued to press onward. At 10 miles, it's now nearly a minute.
The pack started to get organized at this point, with Dathan Ritzenhein, Galen Rupp, Abdi Abdirahman, and Jim Walmsley coming to the front of the pack to hold Shrader's lead in the :50 range. At halfway, Shrader ran 1:04:53. The pack started to smell blood as Nestor came back to them, and took 20 seconds out of Shrader's lead. Another :20 come off in the next two miles as Rupp begins to whittle the remainder of the pack downward. One of the early casualties of this push was Jared Ward.
At mile 16, Shrader was finally caught. He fought valiantly at the off-camber turnaround on this looped course, but Rupp very quickly closed the door on him. Joining the front of the field here was Leonard Korir, Augustus Maiyo, Matt McDonald, and 43-year-old Abdirahman, who was fighting to make his fifth Olympic team. Rupp was clearly in control of the pace, with McDonald and Maiyo matching him stride-for-stride through the 17th mile.
It was soon a game of Rupp pushing, and the pack attempting to close him down. The next couple of miles featured mid-4:50 pace, which proved a bit much for Korir first, followed by Abdirahman next. At the 21st mile, it was time for Rupp to drop the hammer: a 4:52 mile sees him extend out a 16 second lead over Maiyo. McDonald faded quickly behind Abdirahman.
Over the next two miles, it was a tale of five men fighting for the last two slots on the Olympic team: Maiyo, Abdirahman, Korir, McDonald, and fast-closing Jacob Riley. McDonald was the first to drop, soon joined by Maiyo over the course of miles 23 and 24. Rupp had solidified his position at the front, continuing to pull away from the field.
The last few miles featured some of the most severe hills on course. On each uphill, Riley and Abdirahman would push the pace in an attempt to break away from Korir, who's closing speed had to be respected. Korir hung tough, though, never letting the elastic fully snap. As they soon entered the final 400 meter plunge into the finish, Riley led the race for second, followed by Abdirahman and Korir. Despite a superior track pedigree, Korir could not come around Riley and Abdirahman and finished 4th. Riley, who finished 15th in the Trials in 2016, made his first Olympic team, while Abdirahman makes his record fifth.
Men's Results (top 3 make Olympic team)
1.) Galen Rupp 2:09:20
2.) Jacob Riley 2:10:02
3.) Abdi Abdirahman 2:10:03
4.) Leonard Korir 2:10:06
5.) Augustus Maiyo 2:10:47
6.) Martin Hehir 2:11:29
7.)Clayton Albertson 2:11:49
8.) Jonas Hampton 2:12:10
9.) Colin Bennie 2:12:14
10.) Matt McDonald 2:12:19
Women's Race
The women's race started 12 minutes after the men's, and the extra time appeared to add some additional nervousness to the proceedings. There was a near false start at the beginning of the race, with 4 women breaking the line with the command of "take your mark." Once properly underway, it was a much more deliberate proceeding versus the men's race. With a field double the size of the men and an early cautious pace, most surges seemed to come just before the aid station tables in order to ensure clear access to their bottle. Des Linden, Sara Hall, and Molly Huddle all seemed to favor this tactic during the opening miles.
With just over 40 minutes and 7 miles on the legs, Emily Sisson took a turn pacing the large front pack. It was here that we started to see the first whittling of the group; soon there were 21 women left in the front group at mile 9. Emma Bates, Jordan Hasay, Linden, Hall, Huddle, Sisson were all names still included in the pack, as was first-time marathoner Molly Seidel. This pack stayed more or less together for the next few miles, finishing the first half of the marathon in 1:14:38.
The first to start pushing after the halfway mark was Laura Thweatt, soon joined by Emily Sisson, Emma Bates, and Seidel. Hasay was the first big name to be dropped out of the front group. The next few miles continued to push in the mid 5:30 per mile range, and soon the true whittling began. At mile 18, it was an elite group of 12 fighting for the three Olympic spots: Aliphine Tuliamuk, Sally Kipyego, Kellyn Taylor, Steph Bruce, Nell Rojas, Thweatt, Seidel, Linden, Sisson, Bates, Hall, and Huddle. The next mile saw the group stay more or less together.
The fireworks began at mile 20. Seidel made the first move. Taylor, Tuliamuk, Kipyego, Thweatt, and Linden were the ones to make chase, with Hall left in-between groups. Tuliamuk and Seidel, not content to leave this many contenders this late in the race, pressed onward. Kipyego was the only one to respond, with Thweatt, Taylor, and Linden soon 10 seconds behind that effort. Tuliamuk and Seidel continued to trade efforts on the front, with mile efforts ranging from 5:25 to 5:40, while everyone else was running 5:45 to 6:00 pace. On the road, Tuliamuk and Seidel opened up a :40 gap to Kipyego. Kipyego held Linden and Thweatt a steady :15 behind as they entered the final two miles of the race.
With only the final undulating section left, Tuliamuk took the lead and refused to relinquish it. Seidel, knowing her place on the team was secure, settled into second place. Linden was tenacious in her chase of a fast-fading Kipyego, running a :10 faster 26th mile. However, Linden simply ran out of real estate, as Kipyego hit the downhill run-in into the finish first and was able to bound across the line to take the final Olympic team slot.
Women's Results (top 3 make Olympic team)
1.) Aliphine Tuliamuk 2:27:23
2.) Molly Seidel 2:27:31
3.) Sally Kipyego 2:28:52
4.) Des Linden 2:29:03
5.) Laura Thweatt 2:29:08
6.) Steph Bruce 2:29:11
7.) Emma Bates 2:29:35
8.) Kellyn Taylor 2:29:55
9.) Nell Rojas 2:30:26
10.) Julia Kohnen 2:30:43
All photos: Eric Wynn, Slowtwitch Media House
