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Brian Sell, by his own admission, was not a top runner in high school when he attended Northern Bedford, but now he’s one of the top three distance runners in America.

By finishing third in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Central Park, Manhattan Saturday, Sell qualified for the 2008 Olympic Marathon running team.

Sell finished with a time of 2:11:40, just behind second-place finisher Dathan Ritzenheim (2:11:07) and winner Ryan Hall (2:09:02).

“Competing in the Olympics has been my dream for as long as I can remember,” said Sell. “Every day through training I had one goal in mind — to run for my country in Beijing. It’s an incredible feeling knowing my hard work has paid off, and I have my team to thank for pushing me every day.”

Among the competition Sell bested was 2004 Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi, who topped Sell in the Boston Marathon, and Khalid Khannouchi, an established champion runner who finished fourth nearly a minute behind Sell.

It was at the Boston Marathon where Sell, a St. Francis graduate, began to gain national attention with a fourth place finish, second among all Americans.

Sell then qualified for the trials with a time of 2:10:47 in the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.

Saturday’s trials featured 131 runners, with the top three making the Olympic team.

Sell took the lead 32 kilometers into the race, but fell back shortly after. Near the 21st mile, Sell moved into fourth place, and a mile later passed Khannouchi and never let up.

“When you weren’t the top guy in high school and everything didn’t exactly go your way, and you don’t have a lot of natural talent, I think you have got to put more time in to achieve your goals,” Sell said.

Sell definitely puts in more than his fair share of work, running 100 to 160 miles per week.

Distance running has been gaining in popularity through the past few years, and Saturday’s race featured 54 more runners than in 2004, making Sell’s achievement even more impressive.

While Sell fulfilled a lifelong dream qualifying to run in Olympic competition, one of his racing teammates passed away in the race. Ryan Shay, 28, who resided in Michigan along with Sell, collapsed after the 5-mile mark and was pronounced dead at the Lenox Hill Hospital with more than an hour remaining in the race.

None of the participants in the race were aware of Shay’s passing until after the race had completed.

Prior to Saturday’s race, Sell acknowledged the feat it would take to qualify for the team.

“This is what I’m living for right now,” Sell said. “It’s going to be the toughest Olympic trials in the marathon ever. I picked a bad year to put it all on the line for one race, but that’s the goal.”

It turns out that it didn’t matter what year Sell picked, he’s not a high schooler struggling to be near the top of his class in the state. He’s one of the best distance runners in the world.

 

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