FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Marilson Gomes dos Santos, Alistair Cragg, and Gebre Gebremariam
Added to Field at NYC Half-Marathon
Live broadcast and streaming of the fifth annual race will be available on
Universal Sports TV and UniversalSports.com
New York, March 4, 2010—A lineup of some of the world's best long-distance
runners, including 2006 and 2008 ING New York City Marathon champion
Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil, two-time Olympian Alistair Cragg of
Ireland, and 2009 World Cross Country champion Gebre Gebremariam of
Ethiopia have been added to the field of the first spring running of the
NYC Half-Marathon on Sunday, March 21, it was announced today by New York
Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg.
The 90-minute live broadcast will start at 7:30 a.m. EDT featuring the
men's and women's professional race. It will be seen on Universal Sports TV
and streamed on UniversalSports.com. Veteran sports broadcaster Bruce Beck
will host the show.
"The interest continues to build with the addition of World Cross Country
champion Gebre Gebremariam and Ireland's best long-distance runner Alistair
Cragg as they tackle the half-marathon distance," said Wittenberg.
"Marilson is one of our all-time favorite ING New York City Marathon
champions and we always enjoy having him race here. The broadcast of the
race continues NYRR's strategy of bringing the very best in road racing to
a global audience."
These athletes join a previously announced field of Americans, including
2009 ING New York City Marathon champion Meb Keflezighi, 2004 Olympic
bronze medalist Deena Kastor, three-time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman, two-time
Olympic steeplechaser Anthony Famiglietti, and 2006 NCAA cross country
champion Josh Rohatinsky. International stars in the field include marathon
world record-holder Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, 2009 London Marathon
runner-up Mara Yamauchi of Great Britain, 2008 NYC Half-Marathon runner-up
Madaí Pérez of Mexico, and 2009 Hokkaido Marathon champion Kiyoko Shimahara
of Japan.
The first South American winner of the ING New York City Marathon, Gomes,
32, returns to New York after dropping out in the 23rd mile in last year's
ING New York City Marathon. A hero in his home country, Gomes made history
when he surprised a stellar field in 2006 to win the ING New York City
Marathon. He repeated the victory in 2008, finishing in 2:08:43. In 2007,
Gomes ran the fastest half-marathon ever by an athlete from the Western
Hemisphere with his 59:33 seventh-place finish at the IAAF World Road
Running Championships.
The U.S.-based Cragg, 29, will be making his half-marathon debut. A
seven-time NCAA champion, Cragg is the Irish national record-holder in the
3000 meters, 5000 meters indoors, and 10,000 meters outdoors.
A 2004 Olympian, Gebremariam, 25, will be running in his first road race in
the United States. After much success at the 5000-meter and 10,000-meter
distance, Gebremariam will be participating in only his second
half-marathon.
Previously announced, the NYC Half-Marathon will offer the largest
half-marathon prize purse in the United States: $100,000. The men's and
women's champions will each earn $20,000, the largest first-prize checks
for a non-marathon race in the country.
The NYC Half-Marathon continues to attract leading professional athletes
and recreational runners from around the world. In 2009, more than 19,000
people applied to run the race, and more than 10,000 finished.
On a course designed to celebrate New York City, the NYC Half-Marathon will
take runners on a loop through Central Park, down Seventh Avenue through
Times Square, across 42nd Street, and along the expansive West Side Highway
to Chambers Street in the heart of the city's financial district.
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