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Elite Athletes
2006 ING New York City Marathon
by Sharon Ekstrom and MarathonGuide.com staff
The Men's Field
The 2006 ING New York City Marathon has assembled an amazing field of elite athletes in a competition matching the best runners in the world with nearly fifteen who have run sub 2:09 marathons. This race will see three past men's champions and another three who have held runner-up status fighting for a win. 2005 saw the closest finish in New York City Marathon history, with just 0.3 seconds separating world record holder Paul Tergat and Hendrick Ramaala (the 2004 champion) - both will be returning for a rematch. Tergat has taken a full year break from racing - having dropped out of the London Marathon field due to the premature birth of his daughter - will he be fresh from not racing, or will the absence have dulled his competitive edge. Meb Keflezighi, the third place finisher in 2005, also returns - still having never won a marathon, and looking to remedy that in New York.
A number of debutantes will also grace the field and could upset the veterans: Thomas Nyariki, has run one marathon (2:21:51) at the beginning of recovery after losing an eye, but due to the circumstances, we must consider this his debut and with a successful 1:01:22 win at the NYC Half Marathon, he is poised to show his stuff. 23-year old Dathan Ritzenhein ran a 1:01:25 Half-Marathon at the 2006 Great North Run, just 20 seconds behind Ramaala. Rodgers Rop, the 2002 champion is returning; Stefano Baldini, the European Champion and Olympic Gold-Medalist will be in attendance - and we've mentioned just a few of those who might be in contention.
Rounding out the American contingent will be Alan Culpepper, winner of the Olympic Trials and 12th at the Olympic Marathon; and Peter Gilmore who will hope to break 2:10. While these two will be longshots to win the race, we expect to see them in the top five or ten and show that Americans can still run marathons...
The Women's Field
The 2006 women's field will feature the strongest female competitors in an event that will be as exciting as the men's race. The race will includes the most seasoned women marathoners in the world. Catherine Ndereba, with arguably the greatest marathoning resume, has not yet won the New York City Marathon and will look to add this win to her accomplishments. Deena Kastor, having set the American record and broken the 2:20 barrier earlier in 2006 has set her next goal as a win at New York. Jelena Prokopcuka will be defending her NYC title. Rita Jeptoo, after winning Boston earlier in 2006 shares the leadership of the Marathon Majors scoreboard with Kastor and a win in New York would put her well on her way to earning a $500,000 payday in 2007. This is an impressive field for women.
Elite Athlete Information follows. Click on an athlete's name to review their top all-time performances. Hover over "History" to see past NYC Marathon performances.
| Male Elite Athletes |
| Athlete (Age) | Country | Bib | Best | NYC |
| Paul Tergat (M37) | KEN | 1 | 2:04:55, Berlin, 2003 | History |
| Hendrick Ramaala (M34) | RSA | 2 | 2:06:55 (World Record), London, 2006 | History |
| Meb Keflezighi (M31) | USA | 3 | 2:09:53, New York, 2004 | History |
| Stefano Baldini (M35) | ITA | 4 | 2:07:22 (ITA Record), London, 2006 | History |
| Rodgers Rop (M30) | KEN | 5 | 2:07:34, London, 2006 | History |
| William Kipsang (M29) | KEN | 6 | 2:06:39, Amsterdam, 2003 | History |
| Titus Munji (M26) | KEN | 7 | 2:06:15, Berlin, 2003 | History |
| Dathan Ritzenhein (M23) | USA | 8 | debut | History |
| Raymond Kipkoech (M31) | KEN | 9 | 2:06:47, Berlin, 2002 | History |
| Hailu Negussie (M28) | ETH | 11 | 2:08:16, Hofu, 2002 | History |
| Alan Culpepper (M34) | USA | 12 | 2:09:41, Chicago, 2002 | History |
| Daniel Yego (M35) | KEN | 13 | 2:08:16, Rome, 2005 | History |
| Daniel Cheribo (M25) | KEN | 14 | 2:08:38, Milan, 2004 | History |
| Marilson Gomes dos Santos (M29) | BRA | 15 | 2:08:48, Chicago, 2004 | History |
| Thomas Nyariki (M35) | KEN | 16 | 2:21:51, Chicago, 2005 | History |
| Peter Gilmore (M29) | USA | 17 | 2:12:45, Boston, 2006 | History |
| Stephen Kiogora (M31) | KEN | 20 | 2:09:21, Chicago, 2004 | History |
| Andrew Letherby (M33) | AUS | 22 | 2:11:42, Berlin, 2005 | History |
| Linus Maiyo (M23) | KEN | 102 | debut | History |
Female Elite Athletes |
| Jelena Prokopcuka (F30) | LAT | F1 | 2:22:56, Osaka, 2005 | History |
| Deena Kastor (F33) | USA | F2 | 2:19:36 (USA Record), London, 2006 | History |
| Rita Jeptoo (F25) | KEN | F3 | 2:23:28, Boston, 2006 | History |
| Catherine Ndereba (F34) | KEN | F4 | 2:18:47 (Kenyan Record), Chicago, 2001 | History |
| Susan Chepkemei (F31) | KEN | F5 | 2:21:46, London, 2006 | History |
| Lornah Kiplagat (F32) | NED | F6 | 2:22:22, Osaka, 2003 | History |
| Katie McGregor (F29) | USA | F11 | debut | History |
Continuing coverage of the ING NYC Marathon 2006 races:
Post-Race Writeups
The Overview - What Happened?
NYC Marathon 2006: The Men's Race
NYC Marathon 2006: The Women's Race
As It Happens:
2006 ING NYC Marathon Live Race Coverage/ Mile-By-Mile
Pre-Race Coverage
Marathon Elite Lists and Overview
Pre-Race Interviews with top competitors (additional writeups still in progress)
Also, Complete Results of the 2006 ING NYC Marathon
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