KASTOR, YAMAUCHI LEAD WOMEN'S FIELD FOR NYC HALF-MARATHON
By David Monti
(c) 2010 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
NEW YORK (24-Feb) -- Deena Kastor and Mara Yamauchi, who will face each
other at April's Virgin London Marathon, will square off first at the
NYC Half-Marathon on March 21 here, the New York Road Runners announced
today. The Road Runners also announced that Kiyoko Shimahara of Japan
and Madai Perez of Mexico had also joined the field.
"The women's lineup is now jam-packed with some of the world's greatest
runners including American veteran Deena and international stars like
Mara, Kiyoko, and Madai," said NYRR CEO and president, Mary Wittenberg,
who will direct what is the fifth edition of America's richest
half-marathon. "The race will only up the intrigue leading into the
spring marathons."
Kastor, 37, was the Olympic Marathon bronze medallist in Athens in
2004. Since then she has won both the World Marathon Majors races in
Chicago (2005) and London (2006). She is the American record holder
for both the half-marathon (1:07:34) and marathon (2:19:36).
"This fits perfectly into my preparations," Kastor said in a statement.
"I look forward to testing my fitness on the roads of New York City.
New York Road Runners always attracts the best distance runners in the
world to their events, and the NYC Half-Marathon is no exception."
Unlike Kastor, who ran the NYC Half-Marathon last year, the 36 year-old
Yamauchi will be making her debut at the event. Widely recognized as
Britain's #2 marathoner behind Paula Radcliffe, Yamauchi took second at
last April's London Marathon, running a personal best 2:23:12. Sixth
in the Beijing Olympic Marathon in 2008, Yamauchi has a very fast
1:08:29 half-marathon personal best. Along with husband and coach,
Shigetoshi, Yamauchi lives in Tokyo, but will be coming to the United
States next week for altitude training in New Mexico before racing in
New York.
"The atmosphere and support in New York is fantastic," said Yamauchi
who last raced here at the NYRR New York Mini 10-K in 2007 where she
finished third. "I am really looking forward to racing against
top-level competitors in this event. This will be my final tune-up, so
I can sharpen my race tactics before heading to London."
Shimahara, 33, and Perez, 30, have both raced the NYC Half-Marathon
before. Shimahara, who has a 1:10:16 personal best, finished tenth in
2008, and is coming off of a career year where she made the podium in
three marathons. Perez, the Mexican record holder for the marathon,
ran the NYC Half in both 2007 and 2008, setting her career best time of
1:10:26 in the latter performance. She's using the race as a tune-up
for the Boston Marathon.
On the American side, Sally Meyerhoff, 26, of Scottsdale, Ariz., who
was the 2009 USA 25-K Championship runner-up, will make her NYC
Half-Marathon debut. Representing ZAP Fitness/Reebok, Jessica Minty,
25, of Blowing Rock, NC, who placed 12th at the USA Half-Marathon
Championship earlier this year, also joined the field.
Wittenberg and her team moved the race to the spring this year for the
first time (the previous four editions had been in the summer), so the
event could serve as a tune-up for the top spring marathons. In
addition, she increased the prize money purse to $100,000 with $20,000
going to the winners. That's the largest non-marathon first place
prize of any road race in the 50 states. The New York Road Runners
expect over 10,000 runners to finish the race from Central Park to
Battery Park; nearly 20,000 runners applied for the event through a
lottery.
|
|
|
Runner's World &
Running Times
Combined Only $22
a Year
Save $87
Running & Track and Field Posters
Great Running Shoe Deals Nike Lunar Glide $79.99 A very popular innovative Nike shoe on sale now.