Yeah, if everyone thought like you did, we would jog 26 miles and then sprint the last .2. Who's going to lead these things? Everyone was talking about how gutsy it was for Sell to take it like that, but then the same people are bashing Teddy for leading the beginning of the race.
Look at his splits, it's not like he was running 4:45's right out of the blocks, Culpepper wound up AVERAGING faster miles than he did in the first 5. For someone that was expecting to place in the top 6, that's not the stupidest strategy. Maybe he should have tucked in, but maybe he was more concerned with running a fast time, and he didn't think that the pack was going to hit the "A" standard. Who knows.
Bottom line, he doesn't have to answer to anybody. He earned his spot on the line and he went for it. Live and learn.