U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials 2012: Ryan Hall, Abdi Abdirahman Keep Lead Pack Zipping Through 15 Miles

Something's got to give, because four men are not going to finish the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials below 2:08 ... right? The lead pack of Ryan Hall, Abdi Abdirahman, Dathan Ritzenhein and Meb Kefleghezi blazed through the halfway mark at 1:03:25. If anyone in the pack runs an even or negative split, that means we'd have a sub-2:07 Trials finish. Before Saturday morning, it seemed inconceivable that multiple runners would pull that off.

The 13th mile did drop the pace a bit, down to 4:55, and the split on Mile 15 was 4:56. Mo Trafeh, who won last year's U.S. Half-Marathon Championships in Houston over Hall but has never finished a marathon, dropped off the pack before the 15-mile mark, and may drop out according to media reports from Houston. He had said before the race that he planned to run a hard, 1:03 first half -- which he did -- but it's likely he didn't expect Hall, Meb, Ritz and Abdi to come along for the ride. Holding on against the crew in your first marathon must have been too daunting, even for someone as talented as Mo.