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Oct-25-2007
Field Of 134 Set For U.S. Men's Olympic Marathon Trials
by Bob Ramsak
(c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
A field of 134 runners, the largest since 1984, is set for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men's Marathon, to be contested on Saturday, November 3 in New York City, USA Track and Field, and the New York Road Runners Club announced.
Heading the field is 2004 Olympic bronze medallist Meb Keflezighi, who'll be joined by four runners who'll bring sub-2:09 personal bests to the loop course in New York's Central Park: U.S. record holder Khalid Khannouchi, Mbarak Hussein, Abdi Abdirahman and Ryan Hall. Hall, 25, whose 2:08:24 performance in London in April came in his debut over the distance, lowered the North American record in the half marathon to 59:43 in January, the first American to dip under one hour over the distance. The field also includes defending trials champion Alan Culpepper. In all, a dozen in the field have bettered the Olympic Games 'A' standard of 2:15.
The race will start in front of Rockefeller Center on 50th Street near Fifth Avenue, with St. Patrick's Cathedral as the backdrop. Athletes will run past numerous New York City landmarks, including Radio City Music Hall, Times Square, and Carnegie Hall, and will enter Central Park at Seventh Avenue. From there, runners will begin the course's criterium loops: one four-mile circuit followed by four identical five-mile circuits, before finishing on the park's west side at Tavern on the Green.
$250,000 in prize money, with $60,000 going to the champion, will be on offer. Included in the prize funds provided by the New York Road Runners, the event's organizers, will be an additional $20,000 training stipend, payable post-Beijing, for each of the three athletes who compete in the Olympic Games.
National broadcast coverage and live web streaming will bring race action to marathon fans for the first time since 1996. The start will be shown live nationally on NBC's "Today Show" beginning at 7:35 am, and the race will be streamed in its entirety via the Web at www.NBCSports.com. A 30-minute highlight show will be broadcast nationally on NBC on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. EST.
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