FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Elite Racing, Inc.
Ian Monahan
(858) 518-6077
Returning and Past Champions Lead Professional Elite Race
at Eighth Annual Country Music Marathon & ½ Marathon
Race set to host largest participant field in event history
with nearly 30,000 runners and walkers on race day
NASHVILLE, Tenn., (April 23 2007) - Past champions Luke Kibet and Jomo
Kororia from Kenya, along with returning women's champion Tatiana Mironova
from Russia lead a professional elite field of 27 athletes at the eighth
annual Country Music Marathon in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, April 28,
2007. The race is set to host its largest participant field to date
composed of nearly 30,000 runners and walkers from around the world in the
marathon and half-marathon combined.
Competition will be fierce as 18 men battle for five prize money positions.
With three Country Music Marathon titles between them, Kibet, 33, and
Kororia, 26, both hope to use course experience to their advantage. Kibet
covered the 26.2-mile course en route to his 2004 and '00 victories in
times of 2:14:11 and 2:12:55 respectively. Kororia broke the tape in 2003
in a time of 2:12:56.
Both Kenyans will be challenged by Ethiopian Fekadu Degefu, 31, who plans
to better his 2006 bronze medal performance in Nashville. Degefu is joined
by countryman and training partner Belay Welasha, 38. Both men train in the
Entoto hills above Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Athletes from Eastern Europe and South America frequent this race to
utilize their strength on the undulating Country Music Marathon course. To
date, no athletes from either region have been successful against the
Kenyan and Ethiopian dominance on the men's side, but Ukrainians Yuriy
Hychun, 30, and Evgeni Bozhko, 31, and Columbians Hugo Jimenez, 32, Juan
Cardona, 32, hope to change this trend in 2007.
Between the Ukrainians and Columbians, Hychun has the strongest finish in
Nashville. With victory in sight during the 2005 race, Hychun was left with
bronze after his commanding lead was diminished in the final miles by hard
charging Nephat Kinyanjui and Luke Kibet, who finished one and two
respectively.
On the women's side, Mironova, now 37, bettered her 2005 third-place finish
in Nashville last year, running to victory after she used a strong surge
over the final two miles, making up a 40-second deficit, to pull away from
Kenyan Anne Jelegat and cross the finish line alone.
This Saturday, Mironova will defend her title against a women's field that
includes 29-year-old Abebe Tola of Ethiopia. Tola recently finished third
at the L.A. Marathon (2:45:16) and holds a personal best time of 2:29:54.
Svetlana Pretot, 35, from France, who won the 2006 Nant Marathon, will also
match strides with her former Russian country woman.
Ukranian Olena Shurkhno, 35, who set a course record in her 2006 victory at
the Munster Marathon in Germany (2:37:50), and Ethiopians Alem Ashebir, 24,
and Hirut Legesse, 25, are all expected to push the pace on race day.
Americans Suzy Schumacher, 37, from Arizona and Jenny DeWeese from North
Carolina represent America's bid.
For more information on the Country Music Marathon & ½ Marathon, please
visit www.CMMarathon.com. Registration for the marathon will be open at
the Health & Fitness Expo on Thurs. April 26 and 27 at the Nashville
Convention Center. Registration for the half-marathon is closed and no
longer accepting participants.
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