Olympic marathon trials set for Saturday

The top distance runners in the country will be competing for spots on the U.S. Olympic team Saturday in Houston during the Olympic trials marathon.

The top three male and female finishers in the 26.2-mile race will qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.

The favorite in the men's race is Ryan Hall, 29, who has the best American marathon time - a 2-hour, 4-minute, 58-second run in the 2011 Boston Marathon - and won the 2008 Olympic marathon trials. He also finished first in the 2009 Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Philadelphia.

Meb Keflezighi, 36, a naturalized American who won the 2009 New York City marathon and ran a 2:09:13 marathon in New York in 2011, is another top contender.

For the women, Shalane Flanagan, 31, has run in only one marathon, the 2010 New York City Marathon, where she finished second in 2:28:40. She also won the bronze medal in the 10,000 meters in the 2008 Olympics.

Another top contender is Desi Davila, 28, who placed second in the 2011 Boston Marathon in 2:22:38, which made her the top American finisher.

The American system of picking its Olympic marathon team is more democratic than the rest of the world. Most countries pick their runners by committee. However, 226 women and 161 men have qualified for the U.S. trials. Any American woman who has run a 2:46 marathon, 1:15 half marathon or 33-minute 10,000 meters and any American man who has run a 2:19 marathon, 1:05 half marathon or 28:30 10,000 meters made the cut.

Samantha Howard, 25, is a high school teacher at Manheim Township High School and qualified in the 2011 Philadelphia Marathon - her first marathon - finishing in 2:45:45.

"It's been a goal of mine since I graduated college," said Howard, who ran track at Duquesne and currently trains with the Downingtown Running Club. "It was also a matter of staying healthy because I was injured in college. I knew physically I was in the shape to do it as long as I could keep myself together, I could do it."

Her goal is to run a 2:43 marathon in Houston, and keep training for the 2016 Olympic Trials Marathon.

Lisa Baumert, 24, balances training with graduate school at the Princeton Theological Seminary. She says she been an okay runner at Wheaton College, but didn't excel until she started working out with the Princeton running teams that she started to excel.

"At Princeton, I just really increased my mileage and my training, jumped into the team blindly, probably getting over my head a lot of times." She qualified at the 2010 Chicago Marathon, running a 2:41:17. She's hoping to run a 2:36 on Saturday and to finish in the top 40. Like Howard, she plans on working toward dropping her times further for the 2016 Olympic Trails marathon next.

The men's race starts at 9 a.m., with the women following 15 minutes later. NBC10 will air a tape-delayed broadcast at 3 p.m. For live updates, follow @runningtimes or @runnersworld on Twitter.

Here are some of the local runners who have qualified for Saturday's Olympic Trials Marathon in Houston, along with their qualifying time and race.

Lisa Baumert, Princeton, N.J., 2:41:17, 2010 Chicago Marathon

Samantha Howard, Exton, 2:45:45, 2011 Philadelphia Marathon

Emily Hulme, Havertown, 2:44:30, 2010 Philadelphia Marathon

Carol Jefferson, Schwenksville, 2:44:44, 2010 Twin Cities Marathon

Michael McKeeman, Ardmore, 2:17:42, 2009 Chicago Marathon

Donna Palisca, Bryn Mawr, , 2:44:41,2011 Philadelphia Marathon

Christa Plummer, Quakertown, 2:45:17, 2010 Twin Cities Marathon

Sean Quigley, Philadelphia, 1:03:23, the 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships

Abigail Swift, Newark, Del., 2:43:20, 2011 Long Beach International Marathon