Fresh off a knee surgery just 17 days before the inaugural women's Trials marathon in 1984, Joan Benoit-Samuelson was a bit of a question mark coming into the race, but as eventual runner-up Julie Brown said afterward, "I knew if Benoit started the race, she would finish it." Benoit-Samuelson had minor knee surgery on April 25 to deal with some knee trouble, but even worse, she aggravated her left hamstring compensating for the knee issue. With a week to go she was still finding it difficult to run, so she sought treatment at a meet in Eugene. That apparently did the trick and the holder of the world best set off to win the Trials, going almost immediately to the lead on the way to a 2:31:04 that gave her the victory by 37 seconds to secure an historic berth in the first women's Olympic marathon. Benoit-Samuelson went on to win the Olympic title and etch her name in the history books.
Future physician Bob Kempainen got some on-the-run physiology training at the 1996 Trials in Charlotte, North Carolina, creating a media stir that he would probably be happy to forget. Kempainen, who today is a pulmonologist in Minnesota, moved to the lead at 18 miles and then started to ease away in the subsequent miles. With three miles remaining, Kempainen encountered intestinal issues and suffered several bouts of vomiting as he continued to lead, launching intermittent oral projectiles all the way through the finish line. His 2:12:45 was a course record, and Kempainen earned $100,000 for his 20-second victory over Mark Coogan. "At 22 miles I stopped for a bottle of water," Kempainen said after the race. "I knew I didn't feel good. Once I took the first sip, that's when I got my upset tummy. I was a bit surprised with the stomach distress. I've taken the same type of fluids before, and I never had any problems. I wasn't so worried about finishing as I was about inhaling and coughing up. I must've ran and vomited well."
She wasn't even listed in the top 50 entrants coming into the 1996 women's Trials at Columbia, South Carolina, but Jenny Spangler left this capital city as a star in the making after huge PB saw her win in a course record 2:29:54, taking more than three minutes off her previous best. Two years into a return to competition after a lengthy vacation from the sport, Spangler put herself into contention early in the race as she ran with a group of much better-known athletes. The 33rd-place finisher at the 1984 Trials, Spangler took the lead for good at mile 16 and started to stretch it in the ensuing miles. She yielded a bit of ground in the closing stages but broke the tape 12 seconds in front of Linda Somers to claim a most unlikely victory.
Space City turned into Speedville for the men's Trials at Houston in 2012 as a flat and fast course coupled with cool weather produced four sub-2:10 finishers for the first time in the event's history. Less than three months after a sixth-place finish at the New York City Marathon in a PB 2:09:13, 37-year-old Meb Keflezighi became the oldest man to win the Trials, clocking a PB 2:09:08 to take the title by 22 seconds. Silver medalist at the 2004 Olympic Games, Keflezighi was challenged by defending Trials champion Ryan Hall, who set a rapid early pace, along with Abdi Abdirahman and Dathan Ritzenhein. Hall zipped through the halfway point at 2:06 pace but couldn't maintain it and gave way to Keflezighi, who qualified for his third Olympic team. Hall was second in 2:09:30, with Abdirahman third in 2:09:47 to make his fourth Olympic team. Ritzenhein was the odd man out in fourth at 2:09:55.
Little did the six men and women who earned Olympic berths at the 2020 Trials in Atlanta know that they would have a long, very long, wait for those Games. In the final major championship before the world shut down for Covid, the cream of the American marathoning crop gathered on Feb. 29 to vie for top-three finishes in the two races. Reigning men's champion Galen Rupp, the bronze medalist at the 2016 Games in Rio, took over the lead from Brian Shrader after the 16-mile mark and he held the top spot through the finish to win in 2:09:20 and join Frank Shorter as the only men to win back-to-back Trials titles. Seeking a record fifth Games spot, 43-year-old Abdi Abdirahman almost caught Jacob Riley, with Riley taking second in a PB 2:10:02 and Abdirahman third in a U.S. masters 40-44 record 2:10:03. Aliphine Tuliamuk captured the women's crown in 2:27:23, the second-fastest winning time in Trials history, eight seconds in front of Molly Seidel, while Sally Kipyego was third in 2:28:52. Eighteen months later at Sapporo, Japan, Seidel earned Olympic bronze and the U.S. six finally had their Games moment.