The Trials Standard

July 12, 2011 - Issue 6

In This Issue
Planning Update from USA Track & Field
Athlete Spotlight: Shalane Sets Standard
Trials Flashback
Fun Facts
Top 12 Men's and Women's Qualifying Times


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COUNTDOWN
2012 U.S. Olympic
Trials Marathon
January 14, 2012
185 Days

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2012 U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifiers

129 Men
166 Women


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In the News



Augusta Free Press

UVa. nurse qualifies for Olympic trials in marathon



The Coloradoan

Marathon runner eyes U.S. Olympic Trials



Competitor.com

Former Romanian Marathoner Eyeing U.S. Olympic Trials



KTVO

Dana Kelly Qualifies For U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials



Seattle Pacific University

Catching Up With Ruth Perkins



Click here to read more 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Marathon news.


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Quick Links

TeamUSA.org
Houston2012.com
USATF.org
2012 Trials Qualifier List


::
Hello from Houston!


Planning Update from USA Track & Field


We're just six months out from the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Marathon in Houston!

As top American marathon athletes are pushing themselves to train harder than ever before during these summer months, the organizers for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon are pushing themselves to set the stage for the best U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon ever!


We can expect to see some great races in Houston on Saturday, January 14, 2012 as 129 men and 166 women are currently qualified to compete. Of those 295 athletes, 65 men have run under the marathon "A" standard of 2:19; and 40 women have run under their "A" standard of 2:39, showing a vast improvement of our marathoners since 2008 when only 48 men and 19 women had achieved performances of this level.

In the coming weeks and months, we'll debut our U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon website and announce plans for media coverage, fan and spectator zones, and much more - giving fans and media an unprecedented view as Team USA takes the first steps on the Road to London!



Jim Estes
Associate Director of Marketing & LDR Programs
USATRACK&FIELD


Athlete Spotlight: Shalane Sets Standard

At the USA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon on June 23, two-time Olympian Shalane Flanagan won the 10,000 meters in 30:59.97, a national championship record. The 2008 Olympic bronze medalist ran unchallenged to her second USA 10,000m crown and qualified for the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea later this summer. A record five U.S. women in the same race - Flanagan, Kara Goucher, Jen Rhines, Desiree Davila and Magdalena Lewy Boulet - ran sub-32 minutes for 10,000 meters in Track Town USA.



Flanagan, 30, will be one of the favorites for the upcoming 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in Houston. Her third run for the U.S. Olympic team on January 14 will be only her second marathon. The North Carolina graduate debuted at the 2010 ING New York City Marathon in 2:28:40 and ran a smart, in-contention race, to finish runner-up (and national champion) against a world class field.



The Portland, Oregon resident has had good racing success in Houston when in January 2010 she won the USA Half-Marathon title in 1:09:41 in her debut for the distance and the 2011 World Cross Country Championships bronze medalist also set a Texas state record.



Her parents - Cheryl Treworgy (nee Bridges) and Steve Flanagan - were top runners in their day. In 1971, Bridges set a world record in the marathon (2:49:40), while her father was a national class 10,000 meter and cross country runner so Shalane inherited a good set of genes for running as her top times, U.S. records (3) and Olympic and World Championship medals (2) indicate.


Trials Flashback


Lightning Strikes Again

2000 Columbia, SC



Chris Clark, from Anchorage, Alaska, joined past "surprise" U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon winners Jenny Spangler (1996) and Mark Conover (1988) with her upset victory on a tough course under sunny skies and warm temperatures. The 22nd-fastest Trials qualifier took control of race at the 20-mile mark and went unchallenged to the tape in 2:33:31, more than a 7-minute personal record.



"My expectations were top 20, and a great day would be top 10. Winning I never thought about. I stayed focused on what I needed to do. I never thought I'd run this fast. The crowd was unbelievable the whole way. I'm in shock," said the pathologist and mother of two who trained on a treadmill in her house for the Trials. At 37 years old, Clark became the oldest U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon champion.



Despite the 70 degree temperatures at Columbia on February 26, sixteen (16) women set PRs including Clark. In addition, four women - Julie Peterson, Bev Docherty, Jane Welzel and Janice Ettle - became five-time U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon finishers.



Clark was the only U.S. woman to qualify for the 2000 Olympics because she did not have an Olympic "A" standard (sub-2:33) and the Trials champion was guaranteed a spot on Team USA. In Sydney, Australia, Clark finished 19th in 2:31:35, another PR.

Fun Facts


Columbia, South Carolina was the first city to host the U.S. Women's Olympic Trials Marathon more than once - 1996 and 2000. In 2012, Houston will be the second city to host twice (also 1992).




At the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in Columbia (women) and Pittsburgh (men), for the first time, the U.S. qualified only one athlete per gender for the Olympic Marathon because each Trials champion had the Olympic "B" qualifying standard (only one "B" standard qualifier per gender allowed in the Olympics) and the Trials champions were guaranteed spots on Team USA.




Top 12 Men's and Women's Qualifying Times*



*As of July 12, 2011



MEN



No.
Time
Name
Event

1
2:04:58
Ryan Hall (CA) Big Bear HS, Big Bear City, CA 2001; Stanford 2005
2011 Boston Marathon
2 2:09:15
Meb Keflezighi (CA) San Diego HS, CA 1994; UCLA 1998
2009 New York City Marathon
3
2:10:00
Dathan Ritzenhein (OR)
2009 London Marathon
4
2:10:36
Brett Gotcher (AZ) Aptos HS 2002; Stanford 2007
2010 Houston Marathon
5
2:11:06
Jason Hartmann (OR)
2010 Chicago Marathon
6
2:11:30
Nick Arciniaga (AZ)Fountain Valley HS 2001; Cal State Fullerton 2005
2011 Houston Marathon
7
2:12:34
Jason Lehmkuhle (MN)
2010 Boston Marathon
8
2:13:00
Jorge Torres (CO)
2009 New York City Marathon
9
2:13:12
Jeffery Eggleston (AZ)
2011 Grandmas

Marathon

10
2:13:28
Matthew Gabrielson (MN)
2011 Grandmas Marathon
11
2:13:47
Antonio Vega (MN)
2010 Boston Marathon
12
2:13:51
Josh Cox (CA)
2009 California International Marathon

WOMEN






No.
Time
Name
Event
1
2:22:38
Desiree Davila (MI)Hilltop HS, Chula Vista 2001
2011 Boston Marathon

2
2:24:52
Kara Goucher (OR)
2011 Boston Marathon

3
2:26:22
Magdalena Lewy Boulet (CA) Lakewood HS, CA 1993; California 1997
2010 Fortis Marathon Rotterdam

4
2:27:03
Amy Hastings (CA)
2011 LA Marathon
5
2:28:40
Shalane Flanagan (OR)
2010 New York Marathon

6
2:29:35
Stephanie Rothstein (AZ)
2011 Houston Marathon

7
2:29:54
Clara Grandt (WV)
2011 Boston Marathon
8
2:30:51
Colleen De Reuck (CO)
2010 Copenhagen Marathon
9
2:30:53
Tera Moody (CO)
2010 Chicago Marathon
10
2:31:01
Katie McGregor (MN)
2010 New York Marathon

11
2:31:48
Dot McMahan (MI)
2011 Grandmas Marathon
12
2:31:49
Ilsa Paulson (NY)
2009 Twin Cities

Marathon