New York City Marathon 2009 - International Men

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New York City Marathon 2009 - International Men Bios
By Sharon Ekstrom

The 40th anniversary running of the New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 1, 2009 will feature an incredibly deep men's field - bringing together most of the best in the world and the best of America. For 2009, there will be two races within the men's race - the top-notch New York City Marathon which we witness each year, together with the USA Men's Marathon Championships.

For the open men's race, organizers have a stellar field of top marathon veterans and fresh new talent. Many of the top finishers from past New York, Boston, Chicago, London and Rotterdam Marathons will be on hand. And while there are literally dozens of runners who have a shot at finishing in the top five or ten, below are the names that you MUST know.

Martin Lel
Age: 31
Country: Kenya
Attempting to claim his third victory at the New York City Marathon, Martin Lel is a favorite in the field and a consistent performer with top-three finishes at almost every marathon he has run. Although Lel's impressive podium streak was broken at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with a 5th place finish (2:10:24), his collection of victories from the New York City Marathon (2003-2:10:30, 2007-2:09:04) and London Marathon (2005-2:07:26, 2007-2:07:41, 2008-2:05:15) remains impressive. Lel ran a personal best at the 2008 London Marathon in 2:05:15, but injury hampered this thirty-year old who was not able to attend the 2009 London Marathon and defend his title. Despite some setbacks in 2008, 2009 has shown Lel at top form, two sub-60 minute half marathons in 2009 - most recently winning the 2009 Great North Run in October in a 59:32, just two seconds off his personal best from the 2006. That half marathon mark is definitely an indicator of Lel's strength and fitness going into the 2009 race and if we add that to his impressive winning record, we must consider Lel the favorite.

Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot
Age: 31
Country: Kenya
Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, the four-time winner of the Boston Marathon and winner of the Chicago Marathon, was a late and exciting addition to the deep men's field at the 2009 New York City Marathon - Cheruiyot's first New York Marathon since his fourth place finish in 2004 (2:11:01). Kipkoech Cheruiyot is a veteran marathoner collecting victories most notably at the Boston Marathon (2003-2:10:11, 2006-2:07:14 [course record], 2007-2:14:13, 2008-2:07:46) and Chicago Marathon (2006-2:07:35). With his successes in 2006 and 2007, Cheruiyot became part of history as the first winner of the World Marathon Majors series and its $500,000 bonus. Despite injuries causing him to withdraw from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and dropping out mid-race at the 2009 Boston Marathon, Kipkoech Cheruiyot finished 5th at the 2009 World Championship Marathon (2:10:46) against one of the fastest fields gathered since the Beijing Games. With a personal best of 2:07:14 set at the 2006 Boston Marathon, Kipkoech Cheruiyot may not have the fastest time in the field, but he is a master at marathon courses requiring strength and stamina like that at New York City and is a true champion.

photo: Olaf Kraak/AFP
Kwambai finishing just behind Kibet at Rotterdam
James Kwambai
Age: 26
Country: Kenya
James Kwambai is not yet known for winning major marathons, but he has notched a number of impressive runner-up finishes and has the fastest marathon time in the field he is the fastest marathoner in the field with the third fastest marathon finish in the world behind Haile Gebrselassie. Kwambai's debut marathon, a 2:10:20 win at the 2006 Brescia Marathon showed promise, but Kwambai never seemed to improve on that promise as his follow-on marathons through Spring 2008 were slower but included a 2:10:36 win at the Beijing Marathon, a 2:14:33 runner-up finish at the 2007 Boston Marathon and 2:15:52 eighth place finish at the 2008 Boston Marathon. But in the Fall of 2008 Kwambai had a breakthrough at the Berlin Marathon as he ran with Haile Gebrsellassie through much of Geb's world record-setting performance and ended in second place with a huge personal best of 2:05:36. Kwambai followed that race with a 2:04:27 finish at the 2009 Rotterdam Marathon. Leading the Rotterdam race for the entire race Kwambai was edged out of a victory in the final few feet, but achieved the same time of 2:04:27 as the winner Duncan Kibet (as times are rounded up to a second) and both share that time as the Kenyan national record. Kwambai returned to the 2009 Rotterdam Half Marathon in early autumn and set a personal best 59:09 as he finished third 3rd. Kwambai is not only a top contender, he is representative of the new generation of younger and faster marathoners dominating the roads and at twenty-six years old can be expected to be a competitor for many more years.

Jaouad Gharib
Age: 37
Country: Morocco
Running the New York City Marathon for the first time, Jaouad Gharib, two-time World Champion (2003 and 2005) and silver medalist from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has a career of top finishes at London, Chicago and Fukuoka Marathons. At age thirty-seven, when most marathoners are past their peak years of running personal bests, Gharib is still going strong. Gharib placed third against a new crop of aggressive marathoners [14 years his junior] at the 2009 London Marathon where he notably set a personal best and Moroccan National Record of 2:05:27 as A new course record was set on the day. Also in 2009, Gharib has run two solid half marathons - a 59:59 second place finish at the Lisbon Half-Marathon) which was 3 seconds off his 2004 personal best at the same race and a 60:03 third place finish at the Great North Run Half Marathon. With six sub-2:08 career marathons, Gharib is a formidable threat to any field. Additionally, his aggressive tactics of throwing surges during the race and retaining a finishing kick will make him a top competitor in New York.

Marilson Gomes dos Santos
Age: 32
Country: Brazil
Returning to defend his 2008 title is two-time New York City Marathon Champion Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil who has always flown under the radar. Early in his marathoning career, his performances at world class races - such as the 2004 Chicago Marathon in 2:08:48 (6th place), the 2005 World Championships in 2:13:40 (10th place), DNF 2008 Beijing Olympic Men's Marathon and the 2009 World Championships in 2:15:13 (16th place) - remain unremarkable given the rising caliber of talent in marathons worldwide. It was in 2006 when he snuck away from the lead pack at the New York City Marathon to win in 2:09:58. That year no one in the field knew who dos Santos was, and the Brazilian was able to repeat his victory once again in 2008 (2:08:43). With a personal best of 2:08:37 from the 2007 London Marathon and one sub-60:00 half marathon finish at the 2007 World Championships Half Marathon (59:33, 7th place), dos Santos may not need to be the fastest in a field of runners capable of 2:07 and faster. Anything can happen in a marathon, but dos Santos has found a winning race strategy in New York City.

Patrick Makau
Age: 24
Country: Kenya
Patrick Makau may seem like an underdog in the men's field having raced only one marathon, but quite the contrary. At twenty-four, the Kenyan has an incredible streak of top performances in the half-marathon dating back to the fall of 2007, placing first or second at almost every race. It gets better...Makau, a two-time silver medalist from the 2007 and 2008 World Road Racing Half-Marathon Championships, is the second fastest half marathoner in the world and holds three of the ten fastest half marathon times ever recorded, and seven times has run the half marathon in less than 60 minutes sinc 2007. And better still, at the 2009 Ras al Khaimah Half-Marathon, Makau clocked personal best times in the 5k, 10k, 15k and half marathon distances, securing a victory in 58:52, surpassing marathon World Record holder Haile Gebrselassie's best effort in the half. Then, he turned to the marathon distance with a 2:06:14 debut in spring at the 2009 Rotterdam Marathon. Although Makau finished in 4th place, he displayed great potential in the distance. New York City will be a great way to test himself against seasoned international stars.

Hendrick Ramaala
Age: 37
Country: South Africa
Hendrick Ramaala, a veteran runner with twenty-three marathons and ten top five marathon finishes to his resume will be returning to the New York City Marathon for the 8th time. An inveterate challenger for over ten years, he has battled it out against top distance runners Paul Tergat, Khalid Khannouchi and Sammy Wanjiru to name a few. Ramaala, two-time Olympian and two-time silver medalist from the World Half-Marathon Championships (1998-60:24 and 1999-61:50), has eight sub 2:10 finishes, despite only two marathon victories from the 2004 Mumbai Marathon (2:15:47) and 2004 New York City Marathon (2:09:28). In 2005, he had one of the most memorable New York City Marathon finishes edged out of a victory by then world record holder Paul Tergat steps from the finish. Next, Ramaala ran a 3rd place at the 2006 London Marathon in a personal best of 2:06:33. A series of disappointing performances followed in 2007, but Ramaala made a comeback at the 2009 London Marathon finishing 5th in a 2:07:44. He may not have the fastest times in the field, but his experience and aggressive racing style make him a formidable challenger. Always, a front runner setting an early pace for the leaders, Ramaala will do the work to break up the pack with quick surges signaling the true start of the race and if his fitness levels are strong, he may surprise us.

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New York City Marathon 2009 - International Men