Rupp and Tuliamuk win Olympic marathon trials

Galen Rupp and Aliphine Tuliamuk won the mens and womens marathon Olympic trials

On chilly and windy day the goal was straightforward: finish in the top-three and an Olympic berth would be yours.

Rupp, who won the 2016 trials race in his debut over the distance and then went on to take Olympic bronze in Rio, used that experience to his advantage.

The Oregon, native broke from a group at 20 miles where Rupp put in a surge that created a three second cushion Soon thereafter, the battle for the win was over as Rupp surged away, first to a 17 second lead after 21 miles, a lead he extended to 29 a mile later. He crossed the line in 2:09:20, Jacob Riley in 2:10:02. Abdirahman finished third in 2:10:03 for a fifth Olympic appearance at age 43.

Womens Race

In the womens race there was 11 people in the lead group at half way they reached the half in 1:14:38, by mile 16 the pack had started to thin out. at 21 miles Tuliamuk and Seidel decided to take command. Running together, they built a seven second lead over Kipyego a mile later, and extended it to 22 seconds by mile 23. Tuliamuk then broke away in the 25th mile to finish unchallenged in 2:27:23, seven seconds ahead of Seidel.

Kipyego, who won Olympic 10,000m silver for her native Kenya in 2012 and becames a US citizen last year, took the third spot in 2:28:52,