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Meb
Keflezighi led the pack in the 17th mile.
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By
this point, the pack has begun making up ground...
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...on
Brian Sell, whose lead had been greater than 60 seconds
at it's peak.
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Trent
Briney, 25, who has a PR of 2:21:10, was the biggest
surprise in the pack.
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Keith
Dowling ran in seventh place in the 17th mile.
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With
such a strong group in the pack, any runner who let
go of the pack...
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...knew
that his chances of making the team were slipping
away.
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In
a race with only 71 finishers, anyone who dropped
off the pack...
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...was
likely to have a lonely race the rest of the way.
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As
the six men in the pack turned onto 12th Street, they
took advantage...
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...of
the opportunity to look around and see who was and
wasn't with them.
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Though
it was no surprise to see Hellebuyck, 43, up with
the leaders...
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...it
was, nonetheless, impressive. Hellebuyck ran a 2:12:46
marathon in 2003.
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Just
before the 17-mile mark, Alan Culpepper has assumed
the pacesetting duties.
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Once
Culpepper and Keflezighi began pushing the pace, it
became clear that they would catch Sell.
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The
only questions were when and how would Sell react.
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As
Culpepper began to push the pace, the pack began to
stretch out.
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Briney
(right) and Browne
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Hellebuyck
and Larson were the next two runners to drop off the
back of the pack.
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Culpepper
later said that they could always see Sell. He joked
that the Hansons uniforms weren't too hard to spot.
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