Q & A With Brian Sell

Brian Sell
2008 Olympian
Event: Marathon
Height: 5-10
Weight: 140
PRs: 10 km: 28:36 (2002); Half-Marathon – 1:02:39 (2006); Marathon – 2:10:47 (2006)
Born: April 11, 1978 in Altoona, Pa.
Current Residence: Rochester Hills, Mich.


PM: You ran 2:24 in NYC and looked like you were hurting pretty bad at the finish.
Were you having any injury problems, or was it just a bad race?

BS: It was a lot of both. Going in, I didn't have a great base or buildup. I hit a few good workouts in the 30 days leading up to the race, but that wasn't enough to carry me through 15, let alone 26.2. I had some foot and hip problems throughout 2009 and they both really got to me around the Bronx, as well. I really wanted to run well at New York, and the race was an A plus, unfortunately, my race was an F minus.


PM: You mentioned in some interviews before the race that you were doing lower
mileage than in the past. What did you top out at in prep. for NYC, and what were
you averaging?

BS: I topped out at about 130 or so. High mileage worked well for me before, but I think I overdid it going into Boston 2009(3 x 160+ mile weeks) and ran poorly there, so I decided to try the other side of the coin and go in more rested and fresh than before.

PM: There are thousands of self appointed running experts on the message boards. I read it all because i have no life, but you probably don't. A lot of what I've seen in regard to yourself was that you had built such a huge base already
from running 150-160 mpw in the past, people though that you may have just become stale from it, and perhaps if you dropped the mileage and did more quality over quantity, as some of the Kenyan marathoners are now doing, you may have found some more success. Any thoughts on that?

BS: Possibly. I've had a good run considering the times I ran in high school. I had the honor of rooming with Ritz in Beijing, and I've seen a lot of places in the world and the US on someone else's dime, so I am happy and have no regrets. I gained a lot of confidence from running high miles and that allowed me to feel like I belonged on the same starting line at the big races with the fast guys.


PM: Are you OFFICIALLY retired now? Are you running at all? And is there any chance you will race again?

BS: I am done for now. I am still running about 5 days a week, but only about 10 miles at a time. When we get through winter here in Michigan(hopefully sometime in June) I may crank it back up a little and try a few workouts. The days of being nationally competitive are over, but it would still be nice to run a few of the Rock and Roll half marathons since Brooks sponsors them.


PM: Have you been accepted into a dental school yet?

BS: Not yet. It is a rolling admission through May or so for most schools. My scores on the DAT (entrance exam) were a point or two low, but hopefully being an Olympian shows that I am ready to work. Its been over 10 years since I had organic chemistry and biology, so my brain is a little rusty.


PM: Your bloody shoes from the Olympic marathon; what did you do with them, and can
I have them? How about just one?

BS: I threw those in the first trash can I saw in Beijing. My dad is really angry about that. At the time I wasn't happy with my performance and just wanted to forget about it, but now it would be nice to have them. They would probably smell like a raccoon roadkill at this point though.


PM: You are obviously a fan of the running mustache, like myself, and paid tribute by sporting one yourself for the big races.
Do you have a mustache hero and if so, who?

BS: Pretty much everybody with a mustache is a hero. Rollie Fingers, Teddy Roosevelt, Freddy Mercury, Yosemite Sam, etc. All great great men, all with mustaches.



Thanks Brian, and good luck with all your future endeavors. You are a true American hero in the world of running.