Dennis Barker Talks Trials

By Jim Ferstle
At one point during the Marathon Road documentary chronicling the journey of the "Four Musketeers" of Team USA Minnesota to the 2012 Olympic Trials, two of the runners, Jason Lehmkuhle and Matt Gabrielson talk about giving their all, leaving it all out on the course. "The key is to get to the finish line as fast as you can without dying," says Gabrielson.

With laughter echoing in the background, Lehmkuhle adds: "You can die directly on the finish line. But you have to make it there first."

The somewhat tongue-in-cheek banter illustrates the attitude, camaraderie, and commitment of the group and perhaps how they were able to hold up to the grueling training necessary to compete at the top level of the sport these days. Observing, orchestrating, and organizing the training for the foursome, Team USA Minnesota coach Dennis Barker has attempted to get the group to the starting line in Houston healthy and fit.

Barker has been impressed and thankful that the four have done all that was asked of them and gone through a cycle of marathon preparation "better than any we've ever had." Aside from an unexplained "knot" in Josh Moen's hamstring, which may or may not be an issue in Houston, the four go into the race healthy, fit, and prepared. The last obstacle to overcome being the uncertainty. How will they feel on race day? Will it all come together?

"The men's race is really wide open," says Barker. The two big favorites, defending Trials champion Ryan Hall and 2004 Olympic silver medalist and 2009 NYC Marathon champion Meb Keflezighi, both ran Fall marathons. 2008 Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein is a question mark going in, having struggled recently with a series of injuries. After that are "a handful" of others who all have a shot at the team should any of the aforementioned trio of pre-race favorites falter.

Recovering from a marathon is more of an art form than a science, so Barker believes both Hall and Keflezighi are less likely to adopt a catch me if you can strategy and blow the race open early. So, a large pack of runners could well be together longer at a pace that the Musketeers have trained themselves to be comfortable running. Predicting what happens then gets more complicated. Gabrielson finished eighth in the 2008 5,000 meter track trials and demonstrated his ability to run with the best in a high profile, high pressure race, says Barker.

"Jason really enjoys being in a big race with good runners and being fit," said Barker. "That's what he likes about running." In other words, crank up the stakes, the pressure, and the better some people perform, some of those being several members of Team USA Minnesota, Barker says. The group had tests done to discover how the team's runners performed under high stress conditions--their mental fitness under pressure, said Barker. Lehmkuhle 's tests indicated that as the stress increased, so too did his ability to perform.

"Andrew (Carlson)is like that as well," says Barker. "He's very emotional--feeds off emotion more than the others. The more emotional it is, the better he seems to do. He can dig stuff out of himself that you never thought he could do." The key for any of the guys, however, they all acknowledge, is just being in "the hunt" late in the race, having a shot at a spot on the team with plenty of run left in the legs with a 10K to go.

Same for the women, notes Barker. While most give the top two spots tin the womens' Trials to Desiree Davila and Shalane Flanagan, the third spot is considered up for grabs with a lot of women in contention. Duluth's Kara Goucher said in a recent interview that she believes running 2:25 in Houston will be good enough to make the team. Katie MacGregor would have to have a big PR to make that time, but it's not an impossible jump to make.

Meghan Armstrong Peyton has been hitting training runs at around 2:30 marathon pace. Both go into the race with different goals. For MacGregor it is seeking that elusive Olympic team place that she has just missed in the past. For Peyton, it's to find out if the marathon is her event. About the only thing predictable about a marathon, though, whether you are a veteran like MacGregor or a "rookie," like Peyton, is that it is unpredictable.

Barker is in the preparation business, not predictions, so he'll watch like the rest of us as the drama unfolds in Houston. The preparation has been done, soon it will be time for the show to begin.