Two San Diego area runners have qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics with their second place finishes in the men and women’s U.S. Olympic Team Marathon Trials.
The trials, which took place in Los Angeles Saturday morning, looped through parts of Los Angeles. The top three men and top three women earned a spot on team USA for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Galen Rupp and Amy Cragg placed first in the men and women's trials, respectively, qualifying them for the Olympics.
Meb Keflezighi, 40, of San Diego, placed second in the trials to qualify for the Rio de Janeiro games. He had the fastest qualifying time going into the race at two hours, eight minutes, 37 seconds, established when he won the 2014 Boston Marathon. He had previously said he expected to be slower because of the heat. The Olympian has been training in San Diego for his fourth round at the games.
Keflezighi finished with a time of two hours, 19 minutes and 42 seconds.
Desiree Linden, of Chula Vista, also qualified for Rio with a second place finish. She finished in two hours and 29 minutes exactly.
The 373 runners fought through temperatures in the low-to-mid 70s at the start of the race and upper 70s to low 80s by the time it ended.
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The loop course, winding through parts of Southern California, was similar to the expected set-up in Rio de Janeiro, organizers said.
The top three men and top three women earned a spot on team USA for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
