In an amazing performance early Saturday morning, Ryan Hall shattered the Olympic Marathon Trials record in an amazing 6 mile breakaway to finish in 2:09:02 (4:55).\u00a0 He finished over 2 minutes ahead of his soon to be teammate Dathan Ritzenhein who broke away and finished in 2:11:07 (5:00).\u00a0 Third place was captured by Brooks-Hanson standout Brian Sells who finished in 2:11:40 (5:01).\u00a0 Khalid Khannouchi was able to hang on to fourth place and will the alternate for the US Olympic Marathon team going into the 2008 Beijing Olympics.<\/p>\n
What should have been a day of celebration for US Distance Running and young American athletes, was also a day of mourning the loss of a friend.\u00a0 Ryan Shay collapsed on the course at about 5 1\/2 miles into the race.\u00a0 According to various reports spectators quickly administered CPR and the EMT’s arrived quickly, but\u00a0he was pronounced dead upon arrival to the hospital.\u00a0 Our hearts go out to his wife of 4 months, his family, and friends which includes Ryan Hall.\u00a0 Officials are still unsure of what actually caused him to collapse and we’ll likely not know for at least a week according to ESPN<\/a>.\u00a0 You can read Shay’s pre-race bio here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Indiana Connections<\/strong><\/p>\n Kyle Baker was a graduate of Highland High\u00a0School, he ran a 2:31:37 (5:47)\u00a0on Saturday placing 94th.\u00a0 Kyle, 31,\u00a0now lives in Grand Rapids, MI. Kyle qualified for the trials during last October’s Twin Cities Marathon running a 2:21:02. Baker has earned accolades as Michigan Runner’s Male Runner of the Year in 2003<\/a> and 2002<\/a> not to mention an impressive collegiate resume which includes several All-American and Big-Ten titles.\u00a0 Baker was also profiled in a December 2002<\/a> issue of Running Times.<\/p>\n Cecil Franke, 39 from Dublin Indiana, competed in the trials and ran a 2:25:01 (5:32)\u00a0placing 67th.\u00a0 Cecil ran a 2:20:43 at this spring’s Boston Marathon but used his 2006 Columbus Marathon winning time of 2:18:13 to qualify for the Trials. Franke is a high school Cross Country coach at Centerville High School.\u00a0 Last year in addition to his Columbus Marathon win, he also won and set a course record in Cincinnati’s Flying Pig Marathon.<\/p>\n Ryan Shay ran for Notre Dame and was from Michigan.<\/p>\n