USA Olympic Marathon Trials

The marathon trials are being held in Houston, Texas on Saturday, January 14. The course is set up in loops for easier spectating. Currently there is no live official coverage on television or streaming online. NBC is having a highlights program from 3-5pm eastern time.
Female athletes could qualify by meeting a time standard in a 10k (sub 33:00), 13.1mile (1:15) or full marathon (2:46 B standard, 2:39 A standard). Only the A standard runners completing a certified marathon course received funding to attend the trials.
Male athletes qualified with a 28:30 10k (track only), 1:05 half-marathon, or sub 2:19 full marathon. Only men with a sub 2:19 marathon received funding to attend.
Three "local" athletes of note are competing; Jen Rhines from Liverpool High School near Syracuse has a 2:29 marathon pr, Melissa White, SUNY Geneseo grad and longtime member of the Brooks-Hanson project, with a 2:33 pr will also be running. On the men's side, Jeff Eggleston from Greece, NY with a 2:13pr is racing and definitely in contention (he won last year's Pittsburgh Marathon).
Other athletes worth watching include; Ryan Hall (2:04pr), Meb Keflezighi (2:09), Jason Lemkuhle (2:13), and Dathan Ritzenhein (2:10marathon, 27:22 10k, 1 hour flat 13.1m). The women's competition should also be tough with Desiree Davila (2:22pr), Shalane Flanagan (2:28), Kara Goucher (2:24), Tera Moody (2:30) and Deena Kastor (2:19pr, but hasn't been under 2:30 since 2009).
It's always difficult to know who is peaking at the right time, is willing just to take the race out and punish the other runners with a strong pace, or who might be nursing an injury or illness. Many times races that reward the top three come down to strategy and finishing time becomes less of an issue. Just because a runner has a better personal record doesn't mean someone can't be stronger and run more intelligently during the trials.

Deena Kastor

Deena Kastor completed the 2010 London Marathon, a race she won in 2006, in a disappointing (for her) 2:36. She had many issues, including travel problems due to the Iceland volcano and allergic reactions during the race for unknown reasons. But, she continued on, vowing not to drop out. Deena dropped out of the 2008 Olympic race, but I guess if you break a bone in your foot during the race that is an okay race to call it a day! She didn't want another dnf.
The following quote is one reason Deena is an all time favorite racer of mine.

"Although disappointed, Kastor chose to take a philosophical approach to today's setback. The marathon, she agreed, is a monster which can never be fully tamed.

"I think that's why we come back to the marathon over, and over, and over again because we feel like just tweak something in our training, or change our race strategy that we can get there a little more brilliantly the next time. It keeps us coming back."