Well we didn’t see a lot of of that coming, with most of the women’s like top four or five in many people’s predictions not finishing or finishing far back (Hall, Sisson, Huddle, Hasay). However, Tiliamuk and Kipyego were up there in the top six or eight predictions, so their rise to the podium were less surprising consider the favorites had an off day, or were not able to withstand the relentless hills and wind last weekend. Now Molly Seidel WAS a huge surprise. Very talented (with a bunch of NCAA titles) but oft injured and has had some other issues with an eating disorder and fallout from that. Plus it was her first marathon, after qualifying with stellar 1:10 half bare a month ahead of the Trials. I didn’t have her in a top 10 list and figured 12th to 15th in a 2:32 on that course would have been a very good debut. So kudos to the women!
As for the men, likewise three of the top four of most our favorites did not make the team, although Leonard Korir was an agonizingly close fourth. When Rupp returned to form with 1:01 half marathon last month, which was presumed to be a training effort, he was back on as a podium favorite. The only thing surprising there was how easily he did it, or made it look–I’m sure it wasn’t easy. The downfall of Ward (26th) and Fauble (12th) were a surprise. Looks like they (Ward in particular) just had off days. Fauble’s 2:12 was close to what we’d expect on that course last Saturday, it’s just that all those 2:10s and 2:11s ahead of him were not expected from most of those athletes. Abdi got the men’s surprise of the day, at 43 years old. I saw his name mentioned a couple times but not frequently, but like many others thought Lagat would be the masters breakout runner. I did have Jake Riley in the mix of one who could make it, based on his 2:10 performance at Chicago last fall, and knowing that he was on the upswing.
That was a great event weekend, and one we’ll be talking about for years.
rrunnin234 