FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
U.S. Olympians Goucher and Flanagan to Test the World's Best in New Orleans
Women's London Olympic 5,000m Champion Meseret Defar Joins
5,000m and 10,000m double Olympic champion Mo Farah at the
Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon
NEW ORLEANS, LA – February 14, 2013 – A city with a world-class reputation
for hosting marquee sporting events will soon showcase the most
high-profile road race to take place in the U.S. this year with the Rock
'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon & 1/2 Marathon on Sunday, February 24.
Double Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah headlines the men's race and a loaded
women's half-marathon field is anchored by two of the biggest superstars in
U.S. distance running: the fastest American female ever to run a
half-marathon Kara Goucher (1:06:57) and her training partner Shalane
Flanagan (1:08:37), the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist at 10,000 meters, who
recently won her sixth U.S. Cross Country title in St. Louis. The
Portland-based duo will look to use the pancake flat New Orleans course as
a tuneup for the Boston Marathon in April.
"After coming off an injury this fall, I am looking forward to racing again
in the Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon," said Goucher, who has run
three of the top-5 fastest half-marathon times in U.S. history. "I have
been training up in Colorado Springs and am ready to run my first race as I
start the process of regaining my form leading into Boston. The Rock 'n'
Roll series is the perfect place for me to get back into racing and I am
excited to be the part of such a fun, fast course."
Lined up to challenge the Oregon Track Club teammates are Ethiopian great
Meseret Defar, a multiple world record-holder who captured gold in the
5,000m at last summer's Olympic Games; Ethiopia's Berhane Adere, who set a
U.S. all-comers mark of 1:07:52 in winning the New Orleans race in 2010;
Kenya's Jemima Jelegat, runner-up at the 2012 Boston Marathon; Kenya's Mary
Ngugi, who set her half-marathon PR of 1:10:54 last year; and New Zealand's
Mary Davies, winner of the 2012 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon with
a personal best time of 2:28:56, the fourth-fastest marathon time by a New
Zealand woman.
"I had a great experience in my first half marathon when I raced at Rock
'n' Roll Philadelphia in 2010. I was so happy to win and hoped to run there
last year but a small injury stopped me from racing," said Defar, who has
won the Carlsbad 5000 three times. "I'm looking forward to coming to New
Orleans. I'm told that the course is fast and flat which I hope will suit
me. I had a wonderful year last year winning a gold medal at the Olympics
and I'm very excited about 2013 and hope that this half-marathon gives me a
great start to my racing schedule."
Defar's legendary finishing speed helped her become one of the best
distance runners in history. In addition to winning 5,000m gold in London,
she captured gold in the same event at the 2004 Games in Athens, and a
bronze medal at Beijing in 2008. Defar has also set the world 5,000-meter
record twice. In her half-marathon debut at Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia in
2010, Defar shattered what was then the U.S. all-comers record, running
1:07:45, the fastest time ever run by a woman on American soil for the
distance.
The talented field and New Orleans' history for record road performances
puts in jeopardy the U.S. all-comers' mark of 1:07:11 set by New Zealand's
Kim Smith in 2012. At the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon
in 2010, Adere ran what was then the fastest half-marathon ever on American
soil (1:07:52) before Defar broke the record in Philadelphia the following
year, and Smith bested that mark at the 2011 Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans
(1:07:36).
The 2013 Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon & 1/2 Marathon begins at 7:00 am
in downtown New Orleans on Poydras Street. With a fast and flat course
below sea level, runners enjoy the sights along beautiful St. Charles
Avenue, running out and back before touring the historic French Quarter,
Esplanade Avenue and iconic City Park. The races will once again finish on
Roosevelt Mall behind the New Orleans Museum of Art, where the Dirty Dozen
Brass Band will kick off the post-race party.
Race weekend will kick off with the Health & Fitness Expo at the New
Orleans Morial Convention Center. The expo is free and open to the public
on Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23. More than 60 exhibitors
and retailers will feature the latest health and nutrition information with
a variety of products for sale and sample as well as free fitness related
clinics.
Kids have the chance to get fit and have fun at ING KiDS ROCK New Orleans
on Saturday, February 23. The non-timed, non-competitive fun run for kids
in grades K-7 will take place in City Park and all participants receive a
T-shirt, goodie bag and finisher's medal. Registration and more information
can be found online at INGKiDSROCK.com.
For more information or to register for the Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans
Marathon & 1/2 Marathon, please visit RunRocknRoll.com.
About Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans
The Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon & 1/2 Marathon will return to the Big
Easy on Sunday, February 24, 2013. The streets will be rockin' with the
sounds of local bands and cheerleaders lining nearly every mile of the 26.2
and 13.1 mile-race courses, along with thousands of spectators. Event
weekend kicks off on Friday, February 22 with a two-day Health & Fitness
Expo at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center where all participants
pick up their race number and packet. The expo will feature more than one
hundred running and fitness retailers, exhibits and interactive clinics.
All Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans participants will be treated to a finish line
concert headlined by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. For more information,
please visit www.RunRocknRoll.com or follow @RunRocknRoll on Twitter.
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