It's go time. The hay is in the barn and not much more can be said or done in preparation for the Olympic Marathon Trials. As we sit here, only hours left until the gun sounds, 128 of the best runners in the country will jet off down the streets of Manhattan. The trials of miles and miles of trials are over and it will all come down to who has what come Saturday morning. The favorites for this race have graced the cover of the nation's running magazines and have been featured in numerous interviews, newspaper articles, and videos. A select few have even gone to hit the closing bell at the stock exchange in New York yesterday. Some people called last years USA XC Championships the Super Bowl of American distance running. If a comparison to the Marathon trials were to be made, no sporting contest would do it justice, however, certain battles in history may be appropriate Across the internet all the running pundits are making their picks for the top three, some are calling out weakness, while others are touting strengths. No one knows for sure what will happen, but know this: it will be exciting and it will be dramatic. Over the past few weeks I have spoken with some of the top men in the Trials. I wanted to get an idea, as a runner myself, of what these guys where dealing with, and, as a fan, what was really on the line in New York this weekend. Clearly this is a very big deal. As the weeks wound down, though, I wanted to get one more voice as to how HUGE this race was. So I asked one of the biggest figures in our sport today Meb Keflezghi, who has not only been to, but also excelled in the only race bigger than this: the Olympic Games. The guy is the real deal. He has done enough for me to write about simply thatÂ…but to quickly make the point; he is the only active male American distance runner to be in possession of an Olympic medal (silver in the marathon 2004). Simply stated the guy is good. In the middle of a day full of heavy training in the final weeks before the trails and 2 hours worth of other interviews he gave me a few minutes of his time. Obviously having an Olympic medal of any color would give anyone a little extra confidence. Maybe even enough to look past a race like this. Meb, however, says, "To be able to defend that medal I have to first make the team, and it's going to be a lot more challenging than it was in 2004. I'll think about defending after the race. It's a very competitive field this year. I am just concerned about being there and being competitive in that race." Meb even revealed he was aware he might not be considered the favorite. Truth be told, many of the letsrun.com pundits don't place him much higher than 3rd. It's hard to imagine a race where a defending Olympic Medalist could be picked against, but this race is deep. Meb was quick to say no one could pick a favorite yet, "You can't pinpoint right now. It's so hard to say. There are a lot of guys like Abdi and Ryan who have run fast and the guys who made it in 2004 are all back. There are some new faces too. It's going to be stacked, but it will be really excited. I don't think you could say who the favorites are though, we'll have to wait and see." Maybe it's not only the depth that makes this race so intriguing, but also the looping course. Starting right in front of NYC's famous St. Patrick Cathedral it then heads 1.4 miles through the streets of the city before reaching Central Park where the real fun begins. 5 loops await the runners full of sections described as: not flat ever, always rolling, fun, and treacherous. However, rumors arose that some may have perhaps purposefully exaggerated the extent of the difficulty. The Hanson group at times made the course seems damn near impossible. So I asked Meb, how he felt about the course and he was quick to back the rumors. "The course for the Trials is going to be very challenging," he said without second though. " I've seen it may different times and know for sure it will be tough and I hope that I can be most ready for it." Whatever reason makes the race exciting, it's sure to be epic. Anything that carries this much hype is very good for the sport and bringing it all to bright lights of New York City just makes it all the more special. At 7:35 Saturday morning the talk will end, the pundits will quiet, and the race will start ending weeks of anticipation, months of training and years of planning. At the end of the day three guys will have realized what for some can only be a dream. Let the road to Beijing begin!!! Now for a quick look at what I think! I'll make this brief. (No particular order) Abdi is really fast and really confident. He runs hard and smart. However, when he is off, he can be really off. I don't think he will be though, because he ALWAYS is up for big races in the United States. He promised me XC last year was a fluke. He has some fast marathons under his belt too. Black Cactus will be ready for NYC. Ryan Hall was very down to earth about everything for the whole 45 minutes I talked to him. He is so modest; you almost have to tell him how good he is. However, he knows how to race and when he is fit and focused I think it might be just about impossible to beat him. No matter how fast he ran it, don't forget he has only run one marathon. The guy has for the most part though been a killer on the road. If it weren't against NCAA regulations I'd put some money on him. Meb has more Olympic medals than the entire field combined. My roommate once told me that if he is fit and healthy he can't be beaten. My roommate knows what he is talking about. The key is if he is fit and healthy. Some have concerns. He told me he was fit and that training had been going well. I believe him and bet that even if he is a bit off, he is still really tough to beat. He has experience and smarts that will serve him well. Alan Culpepper is old enough to be my dad. That doesn't mean I don't look up to him and think he couldn't win this race. He has been keeping a pretty low profile. He ran USA Track Champs 10k. Got 4th. He won this race last time around and has experience and a solid PR. He just joined up with a new training group and that probably helped him refocus. He knows this could be one of his last shots at the Games and that has to be a big motivator. Watch out for him to rough up on the peach fuzz babies. Dathan Ritzenhien is young enough to be my brother. One of my teammates calls him his hero. I call him Ritz. He is also a daddy, which seriously can't be easy in the middle of training like he is doing. He is a great runner and everyone knows that, but his career has ups and downs. His first and only other marathon wasn't great. He has changed a lot since then, he moved to Eugene and his coach Brad Hudson has tweaked some things. Based and the interviews and video he seems ready to go. Brian Sell is from PA. That isn't the only reason I like him though. When I told my teammates I wanted to interview Sell, they suggested I "talk to cooler guys like Ritz." That's fine with Sell I am sure. He runs a lot of miles and works at Home Depot part time. Basically he is a very very hard worker. That might be why I like him. I am going to say I WANT him to win. I really do. The guy has as much experience as anyone and has a 2:10 PR. He is good. If he doesn't make top 3 we may not see him run competitively again. Khalid Khannouchi once held a World Record. He has the fastest PR in the field. However, since the late 90's early 2000's he has not been as consistent. This also, most likely, his last shot at the Olympics. Still, he knows what he is doing. Many of the top guys expect him to be up there. I don't, but if Ryan Hall says so I believe it. Dan Browne is a name many haven't brought up. He pulled out a 3rd last time around. In Athens he doubled in 10k and marathon. When high school guys tell me about their 4x800, mile, 800, 3200 doubles I tell them about this. He was hampered by injuries and illness. But this fall has won two straight US road titles over 20k and 5k. Experience can help in races like this. Pete Gilmore is liked by everyone. He is one of the few elite marathoners without a shoe contract. He has a PR of 2:12, which isn't shabby, and a guy with so much to gain from a race like this will go at it like he has nothing to lose. He also works with Jack Daniels and has run in the world championships. Seriously, the guy isn't a nobody. Fernando Cabada has crazy hair. He has crazy talent too. He is young and has more marathon experience then some in this race. He also ran the marathon at the world champs in Osaka. That has to come into play. His debut in Fukuoka was impressive. My roommate once said this is one guy not to mess with. I'll take that advice. Hanson's Group is super scary. You have Clint Verran who is a super veteran and also super fast. He has been around the block. There is also Trent Briney who was 4th in 2004. There is Chad Johnson, Mike Morgan, Kyle O'Brien, Luke Humphrey, Patrick Moulton, Patrick Rizzo, Todd Snyder, Michael Reneau, Martin Rosendahl, and Nick Arciniaga. It helps to have numbers like that. It also helps to travel and be treated like rock stars. I like this group, always have. Some are critical of what they are doing, but it's so important for the sport. Don't forget how their mission statement involved getting people to the Olympics. This is their race and the Hanson's brothers have coached these guys for this since they began the group years ago. Watch for these guys, they are smart and ready. My Pick? 1. Abdi- 2:11.04 2. Hall- 2:11.25 3. Sell- 2:11.54 4. Meb- 2:12.35 5. Ritz- 2:12.40 6. Culpepper- 2:13.05