Posted: April 23, 2006

Athletics: Kastor's Pacer Qualifies For U.S. Olympic Trials

From David Monti

© 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

LONDON (23-Apr) -- Akin to the man bites dog story, Deena Kastor's training partner and pacemaker at the Flora London Marathon, Mike McKeeman, qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials Men's Marathon here today as he paced Kastor to an American record 2:19:36.

McKeeman, who is from the Philadelphia area but has lived in California since last year so he could train with Kastor, was the second man home amongst the male pacers who ran in the women's elite race. He crossed the finish line in a personal best 2:20:27. Henry Tarus of Kenya finished ahead of McKeeman, but his time was not readily available.

McKeeman was trying to break 2:20, along with Kastor, to get an "A" qualifer for the U.S. Trials, but his finish time is well inside the "B" standard of 2:22:00.

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