 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
Brian Sell Finishes Fourth in the Boston Marathon |
| Home |
 BOSTON
— Woodbury’s Brian Sell entered the 110th running of the Boston Marathon
hoping for a top-10 finish that would catapult him toward his ultimate goal
of the 2008 Olympics.He finished the race with a boatload of momentum. Sell covered the circuit of probably the most prestigious of all marathons in 2 hours, 10 minutes and 55 seconds, good for a fourth-place finish on Monday. The former Northern Bedford High School multi-sport standout and seven-time Northeast Conference champion at St. Francis College, who turned 28 last week, bettered his previous personal record by nearly 21/2 minutes. It was Sell’s fifth marathon and first Boston Marathon, and his placing netted him an $18,000 prize. Sell managed it despite falling well behind the leaders’ breakneck pace early on. Kenyan Robert Cheruiyot won the race in a record time of 2:07:13. “My goal was just to run as close to a five-minute pace as I could per mile,’’ Sell said. “I hit pretty well five flats through the first half, and those guys (the leaders) were out of sight. I was worried at the halfway, but, you know, I stuck to the game plan, and it turned out pretty well.’’ Running for the Hansons and Brooks team, Sell remained fairly consistent throughout the race. He crossed the 10-kilometer mark in 30:55 and had a 1:05:17 time at the halfway point. “When those guys went out like they did really fast, I kind of went into the mode I was in at (the World Championships) in Helsinki where I just kind of let the pack go and hoped I would see them again,’’ Sell said. “I think today was obviously a course-record day. But, you know, a lot of guys went out a little too hard, so I lucked out.’’ Sell caught Alan Culpepper, one of the prerace favorites, on the final turn and edged him out by five seconds for fourth place. “When Brian went by me, I thought he was some guy that jumped on the course,’’ Culpepper said to the laughter of the assembled media. “I thought I was clear. I just passed this woman and I’m like, ’Man, she’s coming back good.’’ A ninth-place finisher at last year’s World Championships, Sell was concerned about the course layout when asked while training in Florida last week, calling it the toughest course he’d ever run. He adjusted his approach accordingly. “We hit the hills pretty well in February when we came out [to Boston]. We ran the hills a few times. I sort of knew what was coming, kind of held back early in anticipation of the hills, so I think that helped in the long run today,’’ Sell said. “I’ve got to give (Culpepper and third-place finisher Meb Keflezighi) credit for going out with the leaders. I wasn’t quite gutsy enough to do that, but I ended up running a decent time.’’ Sell’s performance was part of a big day for the U.S. men. Five of the top 10 finishers were Americans, the most since the race started giving out prize money in 1986. Naturalized-citizen Keflezighi, the defending Olympic silver medalist, led the way, finishing behind only Cheriuyot and his fellow Kenyan, Benjamin Maiyo. No American man has won since Greg Meyer in 1983. The men’s top 10 has been devoid of a U.S. presence a dozen times since then. Rochester, Mich.-based Hanson and Brooks trained seven of the top 22 male finishers. “I have to thank Hanson and Brooks for having a team, because I can’t do it on my own,’’ Sell said. “I wouldn’t make it out of bed in the morning if not for those guys. The team is working for me, and the American support on the course was amazing. It was really good.’’ Sell was hoping yesterday’s result would serve as a springboard to representing his country in the 2008 Olympics. “I’m still really hungry,’’ Sell said. “I want to be up with the leaders, maybe not next time, but two marathons from now and, hopefully, in 2008, in the Olympics, we can take a few more medals. That’s the big goal. This is a step in the right direction.’’ Of course, after his sterling performance in his inaugural Boston Marathon, there were inevitable questions about the more immediate future — like next year at this time. “I’m going to play it on what the leaders do,’’ Sell said. “I went in, I knew I wasn’t ready to make it a four- or five-minute jump [in PR]. I made a three-minute jump, and I’m pretty happy with it. I try to race where I feel I’m at, and, you know, eventually, if I keep improving that level, I’ll be up there mixing it up with (the top) guys. But one step at a time, I guess.’’ Rita Jeptoo won the women’s race, making it four Kenyan sweeps since 2000. article from altoonamirror.com |