There was a shootout in Houston, Texas yesterday and after the smoke cleared, only six remained. Say hello to your 2012 USA Olympic Marathon Team: Meb Keflezighi, Ryan Hall, Abdi Abdirahman, Shalane Flanagan, Desiree Davila and Kara Goucher.

American distance running has come a long way in the “second running boom” and that was evident in the streets of Houston. In two of the fastest races in USA Olympic Marathon Trials history (four men under 2:10 and five women under 2:30), these six set the pace for what could be a very promising summer in London.

From the outset, it was pretty obvious that two of the three slots for both the men and women would be filled by the favorites, barring some unforeseen incident (Meb and Ryan; Shalane and Desiree). The only question left was who would get the coveted third slot on London. While the American running scene is not nearly as deep as say the Kenyan or Ethiopian teams, there was a strong contingent of runners that really had a good shot at it.

I wasn’t totally sold on Abdi Abdirahman halfway thru the race. I’ve watched him in big races before start strong but finish off the pace (I will give him this though, Abdi does have a badass nickname: the Black Cactus). Was Dathan Ritzenhein going to come back after falling back of the lead pack? Would another young runner throw his hat into the ring and barge onto the American marathon scene? All of these seemed moot after Dathan fell way back but did make it interesting at the end coming up just 8 seconds short of catching Abdi.

The women’s field was more stout halfway thru the race with a dozen women leading the way. While Shalane and Desiree did most of the work, we had some interesting names in the lead pack. Kara Goucher, Amy Hastings and Deena Kastor were still in the hunt for the third spot. Deena fell back towards the end (finishing in sixth) while Kara held on and Amy had to settle for disappointing fourth place.

Overall, I think USA Track and Field should be fairly optimistic about the marathon team they’re sending across the Atlantic. While I don’t think the men will be able to knock off Geoffrey Mutai and Emmanuel Mutai of Kenya or Tsegaye Kebede or Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia, I do think they will at least give the USA a fighting chance at a couple of top tens and maybe…just maybe sneak onto the medal stand. The women are a totally different story altogether. I could absolutely see Shalane, Desiree and Kara competing for the top spot. You’re looking at three young runners with a ton of potential. Especially in Shalane’s case. She’s only run in two competitive marathons and the future is looking very, very bright.

Congratulations Team USA!!! We can’t wait to see you shine.

RMFR

I grew up in Fargo, North Dakota (yes, you can now mark that one off your list) and I have tons of great memories of that place. Looking back, I’ve come to realize I have more than typical childhood memories of that time but ones that relate back to running – even though I loathed it at the time. Other than my dad being a runner (before running was cool – read more), running really wasn’t on my mind. Where am I going with this? I’m getting there…

Driving around town, there was this woman. Not just any woman, this one was special. We named her “The Crazy Walker.” I mean you would see this woman EVERYWHERE!!! Fargo’s not as small as you’d think. It’s really spread out. In the morning you would see this woman on the south side of town and then later in the day she’d be all the way on the north side. Just the distance she walked would be enough to tag her “crazy” but there was more. She had the strangest gait you’ve ever seen. If memory serves me right it included frenzied arms, a full body tilt and head that wobbled like a bobble head.

I haven’t thought about her in decades until I was watching the ING New York City Marathon. After they announced Abdi Abdirahman at the starting line and mentioned his nickname, The Black Cactus. I love that nickname!!! That got me thinking about running nicknames and I decided I want one!!! Now I’m sure the cars I pass on the same route at the same time have developed nicknames for me and I’d be honored to carry the crazy name into the next generation. LONG RUN CRAZY BEARDED RUNNING GUY!!!

RMFR

I’m halfway thru the ING NYC Marathon (I recorded it) and wanted to share my notes. What a GREAT day for U.S. distance running!!! These notes are in chronological order so some of it may seem out of place since the race was run nearly 12 hours ago.

• 42,000 runners? Waves of runners starting an hour after the initial gun? In the words of my fellow Norwegians…UFFDA!!!
• Abdi Abdirahman has the coolest nickname (The Black Cactus).
• Meb Keflezighi in the U.S.A. singlet…very cool.
• Looking at Paula Radcliffe run by fast food joints was the ultimate paradox.
• The coolest running scene has to be the mass of running humanity crossing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
• I love the fact their were no pace setters. That’s one thing that drove me nuts about the Chicago Marathon. Another thing is that New York separated the women elite from the rest of the pack. I hated the fact that the women in Chicago were running with other runners.
• Kudos to Universal Sports. Without them, running wouldn’t get nearly the coverage it now gets.
• The fluorescent yellow and black that some of the elites were wearing really stood out. Remind me to never to wear fluorescent yellow and black.
• Anybody else wish Kara Goucher was in the race?
• I’m amazed at how efficiently the elites run. Ryan Hall looks like he isn’t even trying.
• Is orange the new black?
• Thought it was funny when the announcers said the women’s time of 1:14:04 at the halfway point was pedestrian. Yeah right!!!
• The fall that Yuri Kano took at the beginning was brutal. Talk about wrong time wrong place.
• Was anybody else trying to will Magdalena Lewy Boulet back into the lead pack when she fell behind?
• The 59th Street bridge looks like a beast.
• How cool was it to see 5 Americans in the 13 runner lead pack at the beginning? Sign of times to come?
• Maybe it was because of the fall but Salina Kosgei runs like she’s falling forward.
• I need to run New York just to experience 1st Avenue in Manhattan. It sounds awesome.
• The slower pace in the middle of the race made for great finishes for the women and men.
• When the pace picked up, the U.S. men (except for Meb) got squashed.
• Central Park looks like a great setting for running. Great backdrop for television.
• What was Ludmila Petrova looking for in the drink cups with a couple miles to go? She grabbed two cups, looked inside them and thru them away. The third one she finally drank from.
• Derartu Tulu ran a great race. She never stuck out the whole race but was always in the pack. You could tell at the end she was going to turn it on and win.
• I haven’t seen the interviews yet but what happened to Paula? She fell off the pace hard.
• Meb had me at full attention at the end when he finally put the move on Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot.
• I get really nervous for the runners with all the motorcycles and media towards the end of races. I just waiting for one of them to clip a runner.
• Meb Keflezighi crosses the finish line in 2:09:15. It’s a GREAT day for U.S. distance running. Now that 1982 has been buried, let’s see if we can roll this into a winning streak.
• Ryan Hall was strong to the end finishing in 4th. Like a lot of people, I was looking for him to break out today. He’ll have his day…no doubt.
• My last note is to Nike. I WANT A U.S.A. SINGLET!!!