Crowds Make This a Trials to Remember

Thousands of fans, from near and far, watch riveting Olympic Trials race in NYC

New York, November 3, 2007—In the chilly pre-dawn darkness, crowds lined the barricades along West 50th Street, awaiting the start of the 2008 Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon. All along the block west of Fifth Avenue, fans were packed two and three deep in the minutes before the race began.

Suddenly there was a rush of light and noise as police cars and motorcycles passed by with lights flashing and sirens wailing. As the rush of runners followed, a cheer arose from the crowd. As quickly as the runners emerged from the semidarkness, they were gone, turning the corner by Radio City Music Hall to head south on Sixth Avenue. Once the athletes passed, some of the spectators began their own mad dash west toward Seventh Avenue to catch the runners as they turned north through Times Square. A second wave of fans moved more slowly, headed north to Central Park.

“I’m really into seeing the elite runners,” said Jay Teyan, a Forest Hills resident who competes in Ironman races, as he walked up Sixth Avenue.

“It’s amazing to see the number of people who come out this early to support them,” said Lee Mesna of Minneapolis, who traveled to watch his son-in-law compete in Sunday’s ING New York City Marathon. “I didn’t realize it was such a huge thing. This is just an incredible effort for these runners. There’s so much pressure, but there’s also the elation of being here in New York.” 

More than 24 miles of the Trials race covered multiple loops of Central Park, and fans crowded the sidelines every step of the way. Many were members of local running teams, drawn here to watch the country’s best male distance runners in their own backyard. “What’s going to get me out to run around the park in 45-degree weather? A chance to watch the best in the USA,” said Mike Guastella, the captain of the Warren Street Social & Athletic Club.

Like Guastella, many fans ran from one side of the park to the other to view the Trials athletes up to 10 times. The bridle paths north and south of the Reservoir and the walkways around the Great Lawn looked like road races of their own. Some out-of-towners were here to run or view the ING New York City Marathon the next day; they saw the chance to watch the Trials race as an added bonus. “I’m running tomorrow,” said Henry Hall of Hartford, CT, “but I’m a fan too, and I’m very interested to see who’s going to the Olympics.”

Others traveled to NYC specifically to watch the Trials. “We wanted to see a great race,” said Tim Seeley of Allentown, PA, who was here with friend and former Muhlenberg College teammate Steve Rothwell to watch former Widener University runner, Macharia Yuot, compete in the Trials (Yuot finished 33rd in 2:18:56). A group of 30 former UC Santa Barbara runners came to watch their friends JT Service and Aaron Sharp take their shot at Olympic glory (Service was 45th in 2:21:12; Sharp’s time was 2:24:15, good for 64th place).

Approaching the finish by Tavern on the Green, the sidelines felt like a packed subway car. Many fans held signs with the names or faces of their runners. Crowds filled the bleachers as well, and erupted in huge cheers each time a runner passed. The roar escalated when leader Ryan Hall appeared in the final stretch and built to a crescendo as he crossed the line to win in 2:09:02, setting a Trials record. The cheering continued as runner-up Dathan Ritzenhein finished two minutes later, followed by third-place finisher Brian Sell; these three men will represent the U.S. at the Beijing Olympic Games.

The crowds thinned only slightly after the top three finished, and the spectators continued to cheer, clap, whistle, and ring cowbells as runner after runner ascended the final hill to the finish. 

The crowd’s support buoyed the runners no matter what their individual outcome. “The crowd support was phenomenal,” said Alan Culpepper, who won the 2004 Trials (and was 12th at the Athens Olympic marathon) but dropped out in the 17th mile today. Meb Keflezighi, who placed second at the 2004 Trials and won the silver medal in Athens, placed a disappointing eighth today and was moved to tears by the support he felt from the sidelines. “I couldn’t help it—I started crying at mile 24,” he said. “They were saying, ‘We still love you, you’re still our hero,” and I couldn’t help myself. They were so supportive.”