As the steering committee for USA LDR (Long Distance Running) I am somewhat perplexed by your selection policies and criteria, particularly for marathon, 1/2 marathon, and cross country at world championships. I will go through them individually:
1) 2009 World Championships Marathon - your selection guidelines included a race (Olympic trials) from almost 2 years before Berlin (?????). Two runners in Berlin (Dan Browne & Nate Jenkins) were selected primarily based on that race. That makes no sense to me????? Especially since you apparently didn't require a fitness test before leaving U.S. shores. A fitness test would certainly have eliminated Jenkins & Ed Torres from being "championship ready". Must you always field a team in every world championship? How about sending ONLY athletes with a reasonable expectation of finishing top 15? That is what New Zealand does....however, they are not flush with money.
2) World 1/2 Marathon champs - is generally run in mid October, however the last few years you have used the Houston race in January as your selection race. Why wouldn't you use the New Haven 20km on Labor Day as the selection race????? That would at least show recent form.
Hasn't that Houston race selection policy backfired on you in the last few years? I'm particularly thinking of that NB runner....Jason Hartman????
3) 2007 World XC Champs in Mombasa, Kenya - I believe you went 18 deep in the Boulder, CO selection race to field a mens team.....and the top 6 in Boulder wouldn't go to Mombasa. Yet you wouldn't go 7 deep in the junior girls race to field a US team.
Why didn't you use the same principle to the senior mens as you did to the junior girls?????
Again, must you field complete teams to every world championships that comes along? By fielding non-competitive teams, isn't it a slap-in-the-face to GREAT runners from the 1960's & 1970's who only had a rare opportunity to compete in major championships?
Why are you so opposed to requiring a fitness test, particularly if the selection race was months before?
Should I/we expect a response from any of you?
I would be delighted if we did get a response.
Also, where am I "out-of-line"?????
At this time I would like to give a special shout-out to Fernando Cabada for his classy & mature decision not to compete "uncompetitively" at Berlin.