FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Remarkable Roster of Olympians and World Champions to
Run NYRR New York Mini 10K 40th Anniversary Race on June 9
U.S. Olympic Marathon team member Desiree Davila, reigning world marathon
champion Edna Kiplagat, and 2011 ING New York City Marathon and 2012 NYC
Half champion Firehiwot Dado lead a field that includes eight 2012
Olympians
Women's running pioneers and NYRR New York Mini 10K co-founders Kathrine
Switzer and Nina Kuscsik, and the event's first champion, Jacqueline Dixon,
will be part of race celebration
New York, May 30, 2012-Thirty-one world-class athletes representing 12
nations, led by U.S. Olympic Marathon team member Desiree Davila, reigning
world marathon champion Edna Kiplagat, and 2011 ING New York City Marathon
and 2012 NYC Half champion Firehiwot Dado, will run the NYRR New York Mini
10K on Saturday, June 9, it was announced today by New York Road Runners
president and CEO Mary Wittenberg.
The 40th anniversary of the world's first road race exclusively for female
participants will also feature three Mini 10K legends: race co-founders
Kathrine Switzer and Nina Kuscsik, and the event's first champion,
Jacqueline Dixon, who won the inaugural race in 1972. From those who led
the way 40 years ago, to active women and girls participating in sports
programs across the country, this race will bring together several
generations of women who run.
"On this special anniversary year of the world's first all-women road race
and of Title IX, we're celebrating with one of the strongest and most
diverse women's fields around," said Wittenberg. "Our outstanding roster of
champions and legends, coupled with thousands of active women from around
the nation, will more than mark the Mini's 40th anniversary. It may be
called the Mini, but this race, and what it stands for, is truly massive."
Davila, 28, of Rochester Hills, MI, became a member of the U.S. Olympic
marathon team by finishing second in the U.S. Trials with a time of
2:25:55. She burst into the spotlight with her thrilling second-place
finish at the 2011 Boston Marathon, in which she battled for the lead with
eventual winner Caroline Kilel of Kenya through the final miles and
finished only two seconds behind Kilel. Davila's time of 2:22:38 was the
fastest time ever run by an American woman at the Boston Marathon.
"The Mini 10K has been on my bucket list of races for some time," said
Davila. "I'm looking forward to being a part of the 40th anniversary and
competing on the same roads as some of the greatest female runners ever.
I'm excited that with my focus being on the roads, it fits in with my
summer schedule and I'll finally have the opportunity to compete in the
historic event, and maybe even write a little bit of history myself."
Kiplagat, 32, of Kenya, is the 2011 World Championships marathon gold
medalist. She finished second in the 2012 Virgin London Marathon with a
personal best time of 2:19:50, earning her a spot on the Kenyan Olympic
Marathon team. Kiplagat won the 2010 ING New York City Marathon in a time
of 2:28:20.
Dado, 28, of Ethiopia, is the 2011 ING New York City Marathon and 2012 NYC
Half champion. Dado finished the marathon in a personal-best time of
2:23:15 in her New York City debut. She is also a three-time winner of the
Rome City Marathon.
Switzer, 65, of the U.S., is a running legend, women's running pioneer, and
Mini 10K co-founder. She is best known for challenging the all-male
tradition of the Boston Marathon and becoming the first woman to officially
enter and run the event. Her participation created an uproar and worldwide
notoriety when a race official tried to forcibly remove her from the
competition. The "Boston Incident" also inspired Kathrine to become a
respected athlete: She has run more than 30 marathons, won the 1974 New
York City Marathon, and ran her personal best of 2:51.33 by finishing
second in the 1975 Boston Marathon.
"This is a whopper of an anniversary year for women," said Switzer. "It's
the year of the first women's-only road race, the year we were first
"allowed" to run an official marathon, and the year the Title IX amendment
was added to the Constitution; it was the year that changed everything! I'm
so proud of this race, and of NYRR, who have kept it thriving through the
years. The Mini 10K continues to give women of all ages and abilities a
forum to run, inspired by an elite field leading the way."
Honored guests will include women's running pioneer and Mini 10K co-founder
Nina Kuscsik, 73, of the United States-the first woman to run in the New
York City Marathon (and a two-time winner) and the first female winner of
the Boston Marathon-and Jacqueline Dixon, 57, of the United States, the
winner of the first Mini 10K in 1972.
Other top contenders in the field:
·Jessica Augusto, 30, of Portugal, will compete in the 2012 Olympic
Marathon. She is a 2008 Olympian, was the 2010 European Championships
bronze medalist at 10,000 meters, and won the 2010 European Cross Country
Championship.
·Buzunesh Deba, 24, of Ethiopia, is the 2011 ING New York City Marathon
runner-up and is a top NYRR member, living and training in the Bronx.
·Claire Hallissey, 29, of Great Britain, is a member of the 2012 British
Olympic Marathon team. After crossing the line in a personal-best time of
2:27:44 at the 2012 Virgin London Marathon, she gained the third and final
spot on the team that also includes Mara Yamauchi and world record-holder
Paula Radcliffe.
·Hilda Kibet, 31, of the Netherlands, is a two-time NYRR event winner (NYC
Half, 2007, and NYRR New York Mini 10K, 2008), the 2008 European Cross
Country champion, and a 2012 Olympian in the marathon. She was also a 2008
Olympian at 10,000 meters.
·Catherine Ndereba, 39, of Kenya, is a two-time Olympic marathon silver
medalist (2004 and 2008) and two-time World Marathon champion (2003 and
2007).
·Diane Nukuri-Johnson, 27, of Burundi, will be competing in her third NYRR
New York Mini 10K. She is a 2000 Olympian at 5000 meters, 2012 Olympian in
the marathon, and a multiple national record-holder.
·Barbara Parker, 29, of Great Britain was a 2008 Olympian in the 3000 meter
steeplechase and hopes to compete in that event and at 5000 meters at the
London Games.
·Stephanie Rothstein, 28, of the U.S., was the fourth-ranked U.S.
marathoner in 2011.
·Lidia Simon, 38, of Romania, is the 2000 Olympic Marathon silver medalist
and a three-time world marathon championships medalist (gold in 2001 and
bronze in 1997 and 1999). She will run her fifth Olympic Games marathon
this summer, the only athlete ever to do so.
·Lara Tamsett, 23, of Australia, is her country's best 10K road racer and a
world-champion mountain runner.
·Irvette Van Blerk, 24, of South Africa, is a 2012 Olympian in the
marathon.
Founded by NYRR in 1972, the Mini got its name when race founder Fred Lebow
convinced the first sponsor to support a six-mile "mini" marathon-named for
the miniskirt, which was then in fashion-rather than a full marathon. It
was the world's first all-women road race. A few weeks later, Title IX
became law, guaranteeing young women the right to participate in school
sports and creating new opportunities for generations of female athletes.
The first race featured 78 participants. The event has had a total of
nearly 150,000 finishers and has been a model for women's road races around
the globe.
The NYRR New York Mini 10K will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 9, on
Central Park's West Drive near 61st Street. For more race details, please
visit http://www.nyrr.org/run-with-us/nyrr-new-york-mini-10K.
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