Lornah Kiplagat winning the New York’s Mini 10K. © Victah Sailer
Lornah Kiplagat beat a high-class field at New York’s Circle of Friends Mini 10K on Saturday. The Dutch clocked a fast 31:27 minutes on a hilly course in Central Park. It was Kiplagat’s third victory at the race—the 32-year-old had come to New York as defending champion and also won the 2003 edition.
Lornah Kiplagat took the initiative right from the start. She was initially joined by Ethiopia’s Gete Wami, who was second in the 2000 Olympic 10,000 meters; Australia’s Benita Johnson, who won the 8-kilometer world cross country championship in 2004; and Latvia’s Jelena Prokopcuka, the reigning ING New York City Marathon champion. But soon after passing halfway in 15:38 minutes Kiplagat left behind her last rival, Wami. The Ethiopian later dropped back to third place (31:56), while Prokopcuka ran a strong 31:34 for second. Johnson came in fourth in 32:14. After her victory, Kiplagat announced that she will run the 10,000m at the European Championships in Gothenburg in August. She might meet marathon world record holder and defending champion Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain in this final.
World Marathon Majors Sign Stars
Two of the five races in the World Marathon Majors recently announced key signings for this fall’s running.
The biggest news was that Haile Gebrselassie’s next marathon will be the real,-Berlin-Marathon on September 24. The signing of Ethiopia’s superstar is among the most high carat commitments ever in the history of the biggest German marathon. Gebrselassie is the second star signed for this year’s race. Japan’s reigning Olympic champion, Mizuki Noguchi, will return to Berlin. Last year she won the race in an Asian record of 2:19:12 hours. “We surely made a special coup by signing Haile Gebrselassie,” said race director Mark Milde. “And we are happy that Haile, who is one of the best long-distance runners of all time, decided to come to the real,-Berlin Marathon.”
Gebrselassie dominated long-distance track running for years. He was 10,000m Olympic champion twice (1996 and 2000), and won the event at four consecutive world championships (1993,1995,1997 and 1999). In addition, the 33-year old has set 20 world records in his career. At the 2004 Olympics in Athens he had to be content with fifth place in the 10,000m final owing to an injury. After that, Gebrselassie decided to concentrate on road running. This year, he has already broken two road world records, neither of which are yet officially approved: He ran the half marathon in 58:55 and clocked 1:11:37 for 25K.
Berlin will be Gebrselassie’s fifth marathon. At the age of 15, he ran his first marathon in 2:48 in Ethiopia. His real debut came in 2002, when he finished third in a very fast 2:06:35 at the Flora London Marathon. Last October, he won Amsterdam in 2:06:20, the fastest time in the world in 2005. In April, Gebrselassie faded in the final miles of the Flora London Marathon and finished ninth in 2:09:05.
Ritzenhein to Debut at ING New York City Marathon
Meanwhile, American star, Dathan Ritzenhein will make his marathon debut in November at the ING New York City Marathon. “I want to debut in the marathon now because it is the right choice for my career,” said Ritzenhein, 23. “My main goal on November 5 will be to get in the heat of the race and see how well I can hang with the best runners in the world. The other runners will have the experience that I don’t have, but I want to see how I compare against them. If I train smart and race tough, I think I can be up there.”
Ritzenhein has already had a strong 2006 season with a win at the First Oregon Invitational 5000 meters (13:25.81 minutes), a second-place finish in the 10,000 meters at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational (27:35.65) and a fourth-place finish in the 12K at the USA Cross Country Championships (35:27) in New York. “Dathan’s decision to run in New York sets up one of the most anticipated marathon debuts by an American ever,” said New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg. “We salute him for taking such a bold step at this point in his career, and we’re confident we’ll see a spectacular showing from him.” Ritzenhein is the first professional athlete announced for the ING New York City Marathon 2006. “The ING New York City Marathon is the place to do something special,” said Ritzenhein.
