FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Professional Field Announced for
2011 Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon
• Defending champion, four men with sub-60 minute bests eye course record;
New Zealand's Kim Smith leads loaded women's field
• Large group of U.S. runners aiming to qualify for the 2012 Olympic
Marathon Trials in Houston
• Live bands and entertainment positioned along every mile of the route;
Bret Michaels to headline finish line concert at Philadelphia Art Museum
Philadelphia, PA – September 15, 2011 – The Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia Half
Marathon has proudly become one of the world's most prestigious road races,
and rightfully so. Known as the Philadelphia Distance Run for 32 years, the
rebranded event enters its second year as part of the Rock 'n' Roll
Marathon Series on Sunday, September 18, 2011.
"Philadelphia is the premier half-marathon in the world. It is an event
that has grown tremendously from a local half-marathon into the great
American road race," said Tracy Sundlun, SVP of Competitor Group and
organizer of the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series, which will feature more
than 26 events around the world in 2012. "The best athletes in the world
compete. It is also perhaps the most beautiful half-marathon, running to
City Hall, down Market Street, along the Schuylkill River with the finish
in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art."
Over the years the race has attracted such world-class talent as Lasse
Viren, Rod Dixon, Khalid Khannouchi, Mark Curp, Michael Musyoki, Steve
Jones and Dionicio Ceron. On the women's side, Joan Benoit Samuelson,
Catherine Ndereba, Derartu Tulu, Meseret Defar, Deena Kastor, Ingrid
Kristiansen and Colleen De Reuck are just some of the outstanding runners
who have competed. In the 33-year history of the event, five world records
and three American records have gone down.
"It's got a history of being one of the fastest races out there," said Matt
Turnbull, elite athlete coordinator for the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series.
"It has a rich history of attracting the best road racers in the world.
It's an easy sell."
Last year's elite race was no exception. Both the men's and women's winners
set course records. Twenty-one-year-old Matthew Kisorio of Kenya won the
men's race by more than a minute in 1 hour and 16 seconds--nine seconds
under the previous course mark of 1:00:27 set by Khannouchi in 1997. In the
women's race, Defar, the sensational Ethiopian track champion, smashed the
women's mark with a 1:07:45 clocking—a U.S. all-comer's record at the time
and eight seconds under Kastor's mark established in 2005. Second-place
finisher Lineth Chepkirui of Kenya, who crossed the line only two seconds
after Defar, was also under the old women's record.
Kisorio, last year's men's champion, made his half-marathon debut at
Philadelphia a year ago a stunning one. He is returning to defend his crown
this year and will face formidable opposition once again. Kisorio, who set
personal bests this year at 10,000 meters on the track and 10K and 25K on
the roads, also improved his half-marathon best to 1:00:03 at Milan. He
will get his most serious challenge from Deriba Merga of Ethiopia. Merga
has a career best half marathon of 59:15, set in Delhi in 2008. Earlier
this year he ran 59:24 in the United Arab Emirates. In 2009 he ran a world
record of 41:29 for 15K during a half-marathon in the same year he won the
Boston Marathon.
Other highly touted competitors are Sammy Kitwara of Kenya, Abderrahim
Goumri of Morocco, along with Ethiopians Markos Geneti and Tilahun Regassa.
Kitwara's half-marathon best is 58:58 from Rotterdam in 2009. He has run
1:00:26 this year, and last year ran under 1:01 two times. Goumri, a
2:05:30 marathoner, set his half-marathon personal best in Philadelphia
last year by finishing third in 1:01:33. Geneti won the Los Angeles
Marathon earlier this year–his debut at the distance--in 2:06:35. The
21-year-old Regassa has a 59:19 best from last year when he won the world's
richest half marathon in Abu Dhabi.
"Philadelphia deserves to have world-class times," said Turnbull. "It's
surprising no one has broken one hour in the past, although seven men have
been under 61 minutes. This could be the year. That's what we're hoping
for."
In the women's race, New Zealand's Kim Smith, who broke Defar's U.S.
all-comers record with a 1:07:36 clocking at February's Rock 'n' Roll Mardi
Gras Half Marathon in New Orleans, is considered the favorite. Among those
aligned against her will be Mizuho Nasukawa of Japan, Warknesh Kidane,
Misiker Mekonnin and Bizunesh Deba of Ethiopia, and Benita Willis of
Australia.
Nasukawa won the Tokyo Half Marathon in February. Kidane has a
half-marathon best of 1:08:09, ran 2:26 at the Boston Marathon earlier this
year and has won six medals at the World Cross Country Championships,
including gold in 2003. Mekonnin won the 2010 P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll
Arizona Marathon and this year finished second at the Dodge Rock 'n' Roll
San Diego Marathon running 2:25:21. Deba, who lives in New York, ran a
stunning 2:23:31 in winning the Dodge Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon in
June, and Willis, who has a half-marathon PR of 1:07:55, won the World
Cross Country Championships in 2004.
The race course has undergone some minor changes to accommodate this year's
record field of more than 21,000 entrants, some 3,000 participants larger
than a year ago. The race gets underway on Sunday at 8:00 am on the Ben
Franklin Parkway in front of the Philadelphia Art Museum, where it will
also finish.
About Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia
A Competitor Group event, the Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon will
welcome a record 21,000 runners to the City of Brotherly Love on Sunday,
September 18. Known for 32 years as the Philadelphia Distance Run, one of
the premier half-marathons in the world, the event was rebranded in 2010 as
part of the international Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series. The 2011 race will
feature live bands and fanfare entertaining participants along each mile of
the historic 13.1 mile course, the home of five World and three U.S.
records.
Event weekend kicks off Friday, September 16 with a free two-day Health &
Fitness Expo at the Philadelphia Convention Center, which is open to the
public. The Expo, where all participants pick up their race number, will
feature over 100 exhibitors with free samples, the latest in running
apparel and a full schedule of interactive clinics. The event concludes
Sunday afternoon with a finish line festival and concert headlined by Bret
Michaels. For more information, visit Competitor.com.
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