Abdi or Hall

Hall because of his London debut.

running 59:43 and winning by three minutes is more impressive to me than runnin 60:28 and getting beat by over a minute... but that is just me.

I agree that Hall's run at Houston was more impressive than Abdi's run today. However, I think that Abdi's 2:08:50 on a VERY wind day in Chicago was better than Hall's 2:08:20 in London. I also think that Hall deserves some bonus points for it being his debut. However, I think that Abdi has learned how to win more than Hall, based on experience.

spoilersrme wrote:

running 59:43 and winning by three minutes is more impressive to me than runnin 60:28 and getting beat by over a minute... but that is just me.

Only getting beaten by Geb by over a minute and beating Fasil Bizuneh by three minutes are about the same in my book. Running the second fastest American half ever and on a more difficult course, is also impressive.

I'll still give the nod to Hall; a 2:08:20 debut is unbelievable and I'm excited to see what he can do with one behind him.

remember the goal is top 3, where they place be it 1,2 or 3 is irrelevant, from 4th place on for either of them would be disappointing.

Abdi will set an american record in the 10k over the next year and he will finish 6th in the Olympic Games in the 10k. He will then win the Chicago marathon in 2:06:55. He will not make the team for the marathon.

Hall will be struggling over the next year trying to recreate the magic.

Ritz will not run the trials.

Khalid will never FINISH another marathon. He will be rumored to be running in every mahor marathon over the next 2 years.

1. Sell-they will let him go and he won't come back.

2. Culpepper-will out run Meb over the last mile.

3. Meb

what planet are you from?

startling news wrote:

Abdi will set an american record in the 10k over the next year and he will finish 6th in the Olympic Games in the 10k. He will then win the Chicago marathon in 2:06:55. He will not make the team for the marathon.

Hall will be struggling over the next year trying to recreate the magic.

Ritz will not run the trials.

Khalid will never FINISH another marathon. He will be rumored to be running in every mahor marathon over the next 2 years.

1. Sell-they will let him go and he won't come back.

2. Culpepper-will out run Meb over the last mile.

3. Meb

Some ballsy predictions. I can respect that. However, I will disagree on the AR 10k, and definitely disagree on the 6th at the Games. He will not run close to 2:06... possibly a 2:08 in his future. No doubt Abdi has put up more consistent very good performances this year than Hall, but the 59 and 2:08 debut (in hot weather) are tough to argue with. Assuming everyone is healthy, right now I'd probably go:

1. Abdi (too much experience)

2. Hall

3. Sell or Meb

This will become the most compelling discussion over the next couple months. I must say that for some reason, I've never given Abdi the respect that he certainly deserves. I think it is too easy to jump on the Ritz or Hall train. I'd say a marathon team of Abdi, Hall, and Sell is highly likely. Culpepper? Don't count him out, as he shows up when it counts.

Here's a very likely scenario:

Sell sets a hard pace right from the gun, but unlike 2004, doesn't fade in the last half. Hall and Abdi both realize this around 20 miles and reel him in. Hall pulls away, and Abdi is about to do the same when he notices out of the corner of his eye a pimped-out Hummer passing by the north end of the park. He runs off the course and onto the street to find out where the guy got his chrome wheels and air shocks. He gets back on course, but by that time Meb and Culpepper have gone by him, and he realizes he can be no better than fourth, and so decides to put all his eggs in the 10K basket. He again pulls off the course on the east side of the park and runs over to Fam's apartment (Fam has already dropped out and run home after 1.5 laps) and the two listen to trance music the rest of the afternoon to forget their disappointment.

you guys do remember that meb was the silver medalist right? I'll go:

1. Abdi

2. Meb

3. Hall or Sell.

post of the day.

Everyone that puts Ryan on the team, hurts his chances. Ryan Hall only runs well when there is very limited amount of pressure and expectations. No one picked him to win Houston and he ran out of his head. His marathon debut was of interest, but he had the debut excuse all set if he failed. He is the favorite in the trials and that role never suits him well.

It is not just you.Running solo with no race pace setters and running the distance the first time in 59:45 is actually a lot more impressive. If Haile is not pushed today, he might not even break an hour.

spoilersrme wrote:

running 59:43 and winning by three minutes is more impressive to me than runnin 60:28 and getting beat by over a minute... but that is just me.

Here is a discussion I've been longing for. At age 40 the Webb mile thing doesn't excite me too much. I can't wait for the trials to get closer.

I know that they don't run races on paper but Sell has run waaaaay more mileage than anyone in the field. I got to respect the hardest worker. Over 7,000 miles a year for the last 4 years is a lot of miles.

If Brian Sell wins the trials it would mean more for distance running than anyone else. He didn't go to a major college. He never broke 10 minutes in high school. It gives every high school kid a chance to believe that they could be next.

Lets hope its Hall, although Abdi probably has a better shot.

I'm expecting Abdi and Meb pretty much for sure. I think it's unclear how consistent Hall can be. Third spot could be Hall, Culpepper, or Sell. There won't be any Khannouchi.