Champions to Return to Marathon
Trio of Champions Will Run the Marathon on November 6
Olympic speed-skating medalist Apolo Anton Ohno also plans to run
New York, April 27, 2011-On ING New York City Marathon Opening Day 2011, New York Road Runners announced the return of a trio of champions to this year’s race: 2010 winners Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia and Edna Kiplagat of Kenya and 2009 champion Meb Keflezighi of the United States. The announcement was made on the NYRR Live at Opening Day broadcast from Columbus Circle, featuring as hosts Today Show personality Al Roker, veteran WNBC sportscaster Bruce Beck, and WNBC reporter Cat Greenleaf, along with NYRR president and CEO Mary Wittenberg.
NYRR Live was broadcast just steps from the famed marathon course and featured a special drawing of entrants for the race, along with prizes and giveaways to the live audience of several hundred. NYRR officials anticipate a race-record 140,000 applicants, with a record 90,000 in the drawing for about 47,000 starting spots. At the end of the show, entrants will learn of their acceptance status on the tv.nyrr.org website.
Keflezighi, 35, of Mammoth Lakes, CA, was the first American to win the race since Alberto Salazar in 1982. He is a New York favorite who will be running the race for the seventh time and has five top-10 finishes including his historic triumph in 2009 and last year’s sixth-place finish. He is looking to run both New York and the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston in January 2012.
“Marathons are always challenging, but I’m challenging myself further with my goal to run both the ING New York City Marathon 2011 and the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials,” said Keflezighi. “This timing and challenge is very similar to 2004, when I won the silver medal at the Olympic Games and was the runner-up in the ING New York City Marathon 70 days later. This experience gives me, Coach Bob Larsen, and the rest of my team the confidence to pursue the goal of winning the ING New York City Marathon again, and making a third U.S. Olympic team.”
Keflezighi will match up against the defending champion, Gebremariam, 26. Since winning the ING New York City Marathon in 2:08:14, Gebremariam has finished second at the NYC Half in March (1:00:25) and third at the Boston Marathon in 2:04:53. Kiplagat, 31, continued her success after her victory, taking second place at the NYC Half in 1:09:00. She finished third at the Virgin London Marathon, running 2:20:46.
Keflezighi was joined by three-time U.S. Olympian Jen Rhines and eight-time Olympic speed skating medalist Apolo Anton Ohno on the NYRR Live half-hour show; Rhines and Ohno will also run the marathon.
Rhines, 36, of Mammoth Lakes, CA, is coming off a five-year marathon hiatus. She competed in the 2004 Olympic Marathon and the 2008 Olympic 5000 meters. Rhines has won two national championships this year: the half-marathon and 15K. “It is with great excitement and anticipation that I return to the streets of New York this fall,” said Rhines, who last ran New York in 2005. “My training this year shows me that I am stronger than ever, and I will be ready to reach a new personal best. I can’t wait to be fighting for a place on the podium this November!”
Ohno, 28, of Seattle, is the most decorated USA Winter Olympian of all time, having skated his way to two gold, two silver, and four bronze short-track speed skating medals. He has already demonstrated his excellence off his skates by winning the reality TV show Dancing with the Stars in 2007, but running his first 26.2-mile race will be by far one of his biggest career challenges.
“Running a marathon is something that I’ve never done, and I am super-excited to take on this incredible challenge,” said Ohno, who took up the challenge by his fellow Subway® enthusiast Jared Fogle, who finished last year’s ING New York City Marathon. “I hope my journey can serve as an inspiration for others to meet their health goals, get their nutrition in order, and ultimately make smarter lifestyle choices.”
Wittenberg announced that the economic impact of last year’s race was $340 million for New York City, according to the findings of a NYRR study based on a survey of more than 1,000 participants from last year’s race. This represents a 25-percent jump since the last study, done in 2006.
“Opening day, our launch to marathon season, is the starting line for our extended marathon family of professionals like Meb, Gebre, Edna, and Jen, our celebrity stars like Apolo, all the runners from around the country and the world who have secured coveted spots in the race, and their friends, family, and fans, who are now all on the road to the finish at the greatest day in running, the ING New York City Marathon,” said Wittenberg.
