The marathon trials are being held in Houston, Texas on Saturday, January 14. The course is set up in loops for easier spectating. Currently there is no live official coverage on television or streaming online. NBC is having a highlights program from 3-5pm eastern time.
Female athletes could qualify by meeting a time standard in a 10k (sub 33:00), 13.1mile (1:15) or full marathon (2:46 B standard, 2:39 A standard). Only the A standard runners completing a certified marathon course received funding to attend the trials.
Male athletes qualified with a 28:30 10k (track only), 1:05 half-marathon, or sub 2:19 full marathon. Only men with a sub 2:19 marathon received funding to attend.
Three "local" athletes of note are competing; Jen Rhines from Liverpool High School near Syracuse has a 2:29 marathon pr, Melissa White, SUNY Geneseo grad and longtime member of the Brooks-Hanson project, with a 2:33 pr will also be running. On the men's side, Jeff Eggleston from Greece, NY with a 2:13pr is racing and definitely in contention (he won last year's Pittsburgh Marathon).
Other athletes worth watching include; Ryan Hall (2:04pr), Meb Keflezighi (2:09), Jason Lemkuhle (2:13), and Dathan Ritzenhein (2:10marathon, 27:22 10k, 1 hour flat 13.1m). The women's competition should also be tough with Desiree Davila (2:22pr), Shalane Flanagan (2:28), Kara Goucher (2:24), Tera Moody (2:30) and Deena Kastor (2:19pr, but hasn't been under 2:30 since 2009).
It's always difficult to know who is peaking at the right time, is willing just to take the race out and punish the other runners with a strong pace, or who might be nursing an injury or illness. Many times races that reward the top three come down to strategy and finishing time becomes less of an issue. Just because a runner has a better personal record doesn't mean someone can't be stronger and run more intelligently during the trials.
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