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Brian Sell has waited four years for a chance to earn a berth on the 2008 United States Olympic marathon running team.

That opportunity will present itself again for him this Saturday, and although the prospect of making the team is a golden opportunity, Sell knows it’s far from a slam-dunk certainty.

Sell — a former three-sport athlete at Northern Bedford High School and standout cross country runner at St. Francis University — will be one of 134 registered competitors vying for three Olympic berths on the marathon running team when the U.S. Olympic marathon running trials are held Saturday morning in New York City’s Central Park.

“This is the toughest field by far in the American Olympic trials,’’ Sell, 29, said. “It’s going to take my best race, along with possibly some other guys screwing up, for me to make the team. This is going to be a very difficult race.’’

Sell said the top runners in the field include: 2004 Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi; 2004 Olympic trials champion Alan Culpepper; California’s Ryan Hall — who completed the London Marathon in two hours, eight seconds this year; former marathon world record holder Khalid Khannouchi, and Somalia’s Abdi Abdi Rahman, who completed the Chicago Marathon in 2:08.

Saturday’s top three finishers will earn a berth on the United States marathon running team, which participates in the 2008 Olympic Games next August 8 in Beijing, China.

Saturday’s trials will begin at 7:35 a.m. and follow a course around Central Park in midtown Manhattan.

‘‘We start at Rockefeller Center, near the Today Show building, and do laps around Central Park,’’ Sell said. ‘‘It’s a very hilly course. It’s rolling the whole time. There are no huge hills, but you’re always going up or down.’’

An Olympic berth has been on Sell’s radar screen since the 2004 Olympic marathon trials in Birmingham, Ala. He ran a strong first 22 miles, then faded in the last four miles, and finished short of an Olympic berth in 2:17:21.

“I guess I never really figured it (an Olympic berth) was a realistic goal up until the 2004 trials,’’ said Sell, who qualified for this Saturday’s Olympic trials by completing the Chicago Marathon in 2:10:40 in 2006. “I led for 22 miles of that (2004 Birmingham trials) race, but I kind of faded at the end. I had a kamikaze race. Ever since then, (an Olympic berth) has been in the back of my mind as something I could possibly do.’’

Sell puts in well over 100 miles of distance running each week of the year. On his heaviest weeks, has run over 160 miles.

Sell has possessed that kind of work ethic since his junior high school days at Northern Bedford, according to his high school wrestling coach, Rod Hoover.

“From the time he was in seventh grade, he was always one of my favorite kids because of his tremendous work ethic,’’ Hoover said. “After wrestling practices, when all the other kids were really tired, Brian would go out and run a couple miles. He also ran in the mornings before school. And as a result of his superior conditioning, he beat wrestlers who were better than he was in the third period of matches.’’

Sell — who lives in Rochester Hills, Mich. with his wife, Sarah, and five-month-old daughter, Lily Grace — is a member of the Rochester Hills-based running team, the Hansons Brooks Distance Project.

Sell will be one of 13 members of the Hansons Brooks team participating in Saturday’s Olympic trials.

“Our whole team worked out on the (Central Park) course about a month ago,’’ said Sell — who finished fourth overall and second among all American citizens at the 2006 Boston Marathon in 2:10:55 — between third-place finisher Keflezighi and fifth-placer Culpepper. “Instead of the 26 miles, we ran a simulator 26K at Central Park, which comes out to about 15 miles. It went pretty well.’’

Sell is hoping Saturday’s event goes just as well, and that he is able to punch his ticket to China for next August’s Olympic marathon race.

“American marathoning has come a long way since the last Olympic trials,’’ Sell said. “It’s nice to be considered one of the contenders, but I know (Saturday) is going to be a very tough race.’’

 

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