I am as much not a fan of Ritz trying to be a marathoner as all of you, but the guy has had some solid performances. 8th or 9th or whatever at the Olympics is not so bad (beating Hall). NY was not a bad performance. He beat several guys with MUCH faster PRs.
Also, although I'm not sure how his training has been going, as for the calendar, London is the perfect time to run a marathon. He will likely run London, come back for the 10k on the track, run the WC 10k and then start prep for the Trials in Jan. Its basically duplicating his 2009 only rather then run the 1/2 in the fall, he'll run the marathon trials in Jan.
I'm not sure how the timing could get better.
My predictions:
2:07 something in London if he has been training well since December and this indoor track nonsense was really nothing.
Makes 10K WC team with Rupp and Nelson
Breaks 27:00 if there is a fast 10k late in the season this year (unlikely it will happen at WC). If not, runs 27:15-25 at WC.
Along with Meb and Hall, makes the Olympics in Jan, 2012. If he finishes 3rd at the trials or for some reason just flat out doesn't make it, he forgoes the marathon and makes the Olympic Team in the 10k with Solinsky and Rupp and finishes 5th in London. If he wins the marathon trials or finishes 2nd, he runs the marathon in London and finishes top 10 again.
As a side note, 2012 London is huge for the US. Americans go 3, 4, 6 in the 10k (Solinsky, Ritz (if he runs), Rupp), 3, 5 in the 5k (Lagat, Teg) and go 2,4 in the 1500 (Webb, Wheating).