For those who may be wondering, the procedures for picking the Pan Am marathoners are fairly simple and straightforward. They leave nothing to the discretion of the committee:
1.2.1 The Marathon event will be selected using the best times achieved (per gender) on an IAAF approved course from July 1, 2014 to March 29, 2015. IAAF approved courses can be found at
www.iaaf.org
.
Interestingly, these are not the same as for the World's Team, which give more discretion to the selection committee:
Marathon athletes for Team USA for the 2015 IAAF World Championships shall be selected as follows:
1. One man and one woman from among the top-five finishers at the 2014 USATF Marathon Championships (Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon) on October 5, 2014, will be selected for Team USA, providing that the athletes meet the IAAF Qualification Standards.
2. One Man and one woman from the top-five U.S. finishers at the 2015 USATF Marathon Championships (LA Marathon) shall be selected for Team USA, providing they have achieved the IAAF Qualifying Standard prior to the LA Marathon. Since LA isn’t an IAAF eligible course, athletes will need to have achieved the IAAF Standard on an eligible course between July 1, 2014 and April 26, 2015.
3. One man and one woman from the U. S. marathon performance list from July 1, 2014 through April 26, 2015 shall be selected for Team USA, providing they have achieved the IAAF Qualifying Standard.
Pan Am selection criteria:
http://www.usatf.org/usatf/files/1a/1a9be5b4-8f17-48a9-b86e-cb7785215763.pdf
World Championships selection criteria:
http://www.usatf.org/Events---Calendar/2015/IAAF-World-Outdoor-Championships/Athlete-Info/Athlete-Selection-Procedures.aspx