Running through Ryan's park

NEW YORK—There is nothing to indicate where the exact spot occurred, but for those who take their runs through Central Park, they don’t need a marker or some sort of designation for where it happened. We can feel it.

Just north of the Boat House, approximately the 5.5 mile mark of the men’s marathon Olympic Trials that was held exactly two years ago today, is where Ryan Shay collapsed and died of a heart attack caused by an enlarged heart. It was both American marathoning’s best and worst days rolled into one.

It was a great day because Ryan Hall, Dathan Ritzenhein and Brian Sell made the Olympic team. Hall did so spectacularly while Sell fought for third place as if he was in a gang fight. Hall also established himself as the most talented American-born marathoner ever by obliterating the field and a hilly course in 2:09. Over terrain more favorable to fast running, Hall might have challenged the American record.

It was the worst day because of what happened to Shay. That’s the part of the day no one will ever forget. There was a newlywed young man ready to enter the prime of his life cut down by some ridiculous congenital effect.

It was the cruelest thing ever.

So when we run through the spot where it happened with “Ryan’s Rock” serving as the makeshift shrine near the mark, and an officially dedicated bench by the city of New York farther up the road with the inscription from Shay, “It is necessary to dig deep within oneself to discover the hidden grain of steel called will,” it’s very difficult not to be overcome with emotion.

Shay’s friend Meb Keflezighi felt the same thing when he ran through Central Park during the New York City Marathon last weekend. In fact, Keflezighi gave tribute to his friend when he crossed the tape as the winner of one of the sports’ crown jewels and fought back a range of emotions during his dedication.

How could he not?

In fact, Keflezighi, the first American to win the race since 1982, said he targeted a specific spot in the park to begin his surge to the finish line. That spot was where his best friend died two years prior.

"The memory of Ryan Shay is what I cried for," said Keflezighi, who was the 2004 Olympic marathon silver medalist.

The memory of Ryan Shay is one of the reasons why many of us run. Distance running, and marathon running in particular, is as beautiful as a sport can be. Bathed in simplicity, running is as pure as athletics can be. But it’s also a cruel sport. Often, every weakness is exposed during a competition no matter how strong or well prepared a runner is.

But then again, that’s part of why we love the sport so much.

And so on the anniversary of the best and the worst day of our sport, we remember the glory and the agony. We can’t have one without the other:

“It is necessary to dig deep within oneself to discover the hidden grain of steel called will.”

Breaking down the Trials field... sort of

For some reason ESPN the Magazine is delivered to my house every two weeks. I don't know why this is because I never ordered it and I don't really think I particularly want it, either. In fact, I even called a number I found inside of the magazine to ask them to stop sending it to me and they politely yet forcefully told me, "No." So I continue to get the ESPN the Magazine.

Occasionally I even look at it because I have a few friends who work there and I like to keep up with them.

That's just the way I am... I am a supporter.

Supporter or not, I think I am pleased that the magazine comes to my house because there was a quarter-page capsule/preview for the Olympic Trials Marathon, which is quickly approaching on Nov. 3 in Manhattan. Written by Alyssa Roenigk (she has a cool web site), the preview outlines the chances five of the top runners have to make the Olympic team for the 2008 games in Beijing.

It was nice marathoning in an ESPN sponsored publication.

However, there were a few glaring omissions within the five top runners previewed. Included are Abdi Abdirahman, Ryan Hall, Meb Keflezighi, Khalid Khannouchi and Brian Sell, which is good and correct. Any top three could (should?) include at least two of that bunch.

But how did Dathan Ritzenhein get on the pay-no-mind list? Or what did defending Trials champion and current national cross-country champ Alan Culpepper do to be excluded? Excluding Ritz and Culpepper is kind of like having a baseball season without the Yankees or Red Sox. Sure, they can be beaten, but chances are they will be with near the top of the standings at the very end.

Meanwhile, some of the capsules on the runners explain how some might miss the top three because of the hilly nature of the course. Two of these runners who don't like such terrain are 2:08 marathoners. Now I don't know much about anything, but I know that 2:08 marathoners are rare in America. In fact, in the history of running, only six American men have run 2:08. That's six, as in one more than five. Of those six, only three - Hall, Dick Beardsley and Bob Kempainen - were born in the United States. The other three - Abdirahman, Khannouchi and Alberto Salazar - were born elsewhere. That doesn't make them any less American, but the point is, 2:08 American marathoners are not common and they won't be bothered by the rolling course.

Anyway, with a little more than a week to go before the big race, here's my top 3, which I am liable to change in the days leading up to the race.

The Top 3:

1.) Ryan Hall 2.) Dathan Ritzenhein 3.) Abdi Abdirahman

Watch out for Sell. ESPN says "he loves hills and will push the pace, keeping opponents honest from Mile 1." But in Boston in '06 where he ran his 2:10:47 PR, Sell ran an even pace and surged during the final 10k where he picked off faltering runners (including Culpepper) to finish fourth. Sell is a brute and a tank and he runs smart.