FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ryan Hall, Catherine Ndereba Win Final Running of
ING Philadelphia Distance Run
2010 Event Introduced as ING Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon
Philadelphia, PA (September 20, 2009) -- The 32nd ING Philadelphia Distance
Run, held this morning on a clear sunny day, was highlighted by 26-year-old
Ryan Hall's 1:01:52 victory and Kenya's Catherine Ndereba's remarkable
seventh championship in the women's field.
A very conservative tempo was set in the early miles of the men's race,
hitting miles in the mid-4:40's throughout. The lead pack began to break up
after 10K, leaving Hall to battle Kenya's Ben Limo, Samuel Ndereba and
Valentine Orare. Limo and Ndereba set much of the tempo over the second
half of the race, continuing the consistent pace at 4:44-45 for each mile.
Hall surged at mile 12 running a 4:27 split to break away from three
Kenyans, taking the lead outright into the final straightaway. The American
looked smooth as he waved to the crowd across the finish line, taking his
first half-marathon title of the year.
"It was tough competition but a beautiful course," said Hall, the U.S. Half
Marathon record holder. "Since I've been training for the marathon
distance, it was hit or miss on my pace – but my legs felt great through
the last mile, and overall I thought it was a fantastic race."
Early on in the women's race it was a group of four women, including six
time winner Ndereba, Ethiopan Derartu Tulu, and Kenyans Irene Limika and
Neriah Asiba that assumed control of the race. Like the men, the women ran
very consistent over the bulk of the race, hitting 10K in 33:05 and 15K in
49:48.
Ndereba and Limika pulled away from the other women around the 15K mark and
continued to run together for the remainder of the race. Ndereba was able
to gain a slight lead before the turn to the finish and held off Limika by
narrow three second margin, 1:09:53 to 1:09:56.
"It has been a 7 year gap since my last win in Philadelphia and after
living here for 15 years, it is nice to win at home," said Ndereba.
2008 Beijing Olympic gold medalist Constantina Dita found herself out of
the race early on. Dita finished a distant tenth, but is looking forward
towards her next race, "I really felt it today, I've been doing a lot of
interval training on the track, today's race shows me I still have a lot of
work to do before my next marathon."
The historic road race, known for its running legacy that includes five
World and three American records, will continue the tradition in 2010 as
the ING Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon and will take place on
Sunday, September 19, 2010.
"We are thrilled to be making next year's run part of the Rock 'n' Roll
series," said Mike Smith, CEO, ING US Legacy Annuity. "This change will
broaden the appeal of the race and provide more people with the experience
of this exciting race format, as well as offering our employees the ability
further spread the ING message."
For photos of Ryan Hall crossing the finish line, please visit
http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/files/2009/09/prdhallmwin09.jpg.
Results
Place, Name, County, Time
Men
1. Ryan Hall - USA - 1:01:52
2. Samuel Ndereba - Kenya – 1:01:56
3. Benjamin Limo - Kenya – 1:02:01
4. Valentine Orare - Kenya – 1:02:22
5. Mike Sayenko - USA / WA – 1:05:04
6. Josh Cox - USA / CA – 1:05:09
7. Andrew Dumm - USA – 1:05:41
8. Lee Troop - Australia – 1:05:42
9. Joel Mwaura - USA / MD – 1:05:47
10. Mike McKeeman - USA / PA – 1:05:59
Women
1.Catherine Ndereba - Kenya – 1:09:43
2. Irene Limika - Kenya – 1:09:46
3. Neriah Asiba - Kenya – 1:10:26
4. Derartu Tulu - Ethiopia – 1:10:33
5. Hellen Kimutai - Kenya – 1:10:43
6. Evelyn Lagat - Kenya – 1:12:25
7. Karolina Jarzynska - Poland – 1:12:27
8. Kirsten Fryburg - USA / CO – 1:13:52
9. Samia Akbah - USA / DC – 1:14:06
10. Constantina Dita - Romania – 1:14:47
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