It’s time for the Olympic Trials! The race will be held on Saturday, February 13, 2016 in Los Angeles, CA. The races will be broadcasted Live on NBC beginning at 1:00 pm Eastern. You can also watch online at www.nbcsports.com/live-extra. The top 3 men and women will advance to the ultimate of ultimates, the sultan of swat, the king of crash, the colossus of clout, the great bambino – the 2016 Olympic Marathon in Rio de Janeiro, with the women’s race run on August 14, and the men’s on August 21. The trials course will consist of one 2.2 mile loop followed by four 6 mile loops, primarily on Figueroa St., starting and finishing near the LA Convention Center. As of the final day to qualify (January 18, 2016), the USATF compiled a list of 244 women and 211 men who’ve earned their spot. Of the women, 41 have qualified as “A” (2:37 or faster), and have had their way payed for, which leaves 155 as “B” qualifiers (2:37:01-2:45) and 48 qualifying through the 1/2 marathon. Of the men, 27 have qualified as “A” (2:15 or faster), 59 are “B” (2:15:01-2:19) and a large amount – 125 men – have qualified via the 1/2 marathon standard. Of these stats, less than the total will toe the line due to injury, sickness, or other goals outside of the marathon distance (i.e. Molly Huddle, Sarah Crouch, Ryan Hall, Aaron Braun, Chris Derrick, Neely Spence-Gracey, Lauren Kleppin, Marci Gage, etc.).
The defending champs from Houston 2012 are Shalane Flanagan and Meb Keflezighi; their accompanying top qualifiers who seeded spots in the 2012 Olympic Marathon were Desi Linden, Kara Goucher, Ryan Hall and Abdi Abdirahman. All top three previous women standouts are back again, in contrast to the lone Meb, who wants to make the team this year so that his children, who’ve grown older, can witness with even more clarity, just what their father does. This go-around there seems to be some locked bets, with most putting all their eggs into the baskets of Flanagan and Dathan Ritzenhein. With BDP’s representation of Bellingham, we’re passionate about local standouts, Kristen Schafer, who is coming off CIM and currently lives in Bellingham, Bennett Grimes who graduated from WWU, and Jake Riley, who grew up in Bellingham, attending Sehome High School and current member of the Hansons-Brooks team. Others of interest include Galen Rupp, who will debut at the trials, and the two Ethiopian-born women who have just received US citizenship, Misiker Demissie (2:25 marathon best), and Belainesh Gebre (2:26 marathon best), who could shake things up.
“Let me tell you something kid; Everybody gets once chance to do something great. Most people never take the chance, either because they’re too scared, or they don’t recognize it when it spits on their shoes.” The Sandlot, 1993
