CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine
(July 27, 2010) ÛÓ A pair of running legends ÛÓ Catherine Ndereba and Khalid Khannouchi ÛÓ and an Ethiopian couple who are among the hottest road racers in the world, have joined an already talented field for the
upcoming TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, race organizers announced Tuesday.
The late additions include Gebre Gebremariam, 25, of Ethiopia, who is coming off an impressive win (27:56) at the AJC Peachtree Road Race. Well-known for his sprinter’s kick, in May he ran the fastest-ever 10K in Central Park (27:42) at the UAE Healthy Kidney 10K. The 2009 IAAF World Cross Country champ who also finished fourth at 5000m in the 2004 Olympics, Gebremariam is currently ranked 14th in the world by Running Times.
Ndereba and Khannouchi, household names in the running world, are both familiar faces marking their returns to the TD Bank Beach to Beacon after long absences. Ndereba, 38, a Kenyan running legend and two-time Olympic marathon silver medalist known as Û¢Catherine the Great’, is a five-time TD Bank Beach to Beacon champ and former course record holder (31:33). She last competed in the race in 2004, ending a remarkable run that included winning five of the first six, including the first four races from 1998-2001.
A four-time BAA Boston Marathon champ, two-time World Champ and former world-record holder, Ndereba won silver medals in the marathon at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
“It’s going to be really special to see Catherine back in the TD Bank Beach to Beacon,” said Larry Barthlow, the race’s elite athlete coordinator. “She started winning our race right at the point that her running career really skyrocketed. I know she enjoys coming to Maine, and she is extremely popular here.”
The TD Bank Beach to Beacon also holds special meaning for Khannouchi, also 38, who won the 1999 TD Bank Beach to Beacon (27:48) as a Moroccan, then returned to Maine a year later to compete in his very first race
after gaining U.S. citizenship. Like Ndereba, he last took part in the TD Bank Beach to Beacon in 2004.
A former world record holder in the marathon and four-time Chicago Marathon champ who still holds the American marathon record (2:05:38), Khannouchi is on the comeback trail after a series of injuries, including foot surgeries, derailed his career. He hasn’t run competitively since 2008. He is using the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K as a third and final test to gauge his fitness toward his ultimate goal of competing in a marathon this fall, according to reports.
Barthlow also noted that Martin Lel of Kenya, who is one of the world’s top marathoners with three London Marathon and two New York City Marathon titles, has confirmed that he will take part in the race. Lel, who finished fifth in the marathon at the 2008 Olympics, won the Mardi Gras Half Marathon earlier this year but pulled out the London Marathon in April due to injury. He is now healthy, Barthlow said.
In addition to Ndereba, Limika will face an especiall star-studded field of young runners. Kenyan Lineth Chepkurui, 22, ranked 9th in the world by Running Times, is coming off a dominating victory at the AJC Peachtree (30:51). Dubbed the Û¢Queen of the Roads,’ she ran the fastest 10K (30:45) so far in 2010 at the Crescent City Classic and set a world record at 12K (38:07) at the ING Bay to Breakers.
Also in the field is Edna Kipligat, 30, of Kenya, who set a course record (47:57), earlier this month to win the Utica Boilermaker 15K and also won the 2010 Los Angeles Marathon (2:25:38).
Barthlow also confirmed Tuesday that Wude Ayalew Yimer, 23, of Ethiopia, is returning to the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K for the first time since 2007, when she came in as a race favorite but got tangled with another runner early in the race, never recovered and finished a disappointing fourth. She has improved since, taking home the bronze medal at 10,000m at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, and setting a new course record (31:58) to win the 2010 World 10K Run in India.
Top American runners Rebecca Donaghue and Ilsa Paulson also are in the field.
The TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K (www.beach2beacon.org), set for Saturday, Aug. 7 in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, was founded by Olympic champion Joan Benoit Samuelson, a Cape Elizabeth, Maine native and running icon.
Prize money for the winner of the men’s and women’s races is $10,000. In all, nearly $60,000 in prize money will be awarded to the top finishers and place winners in the various categories for men and women. A $2,500 bonus also
is available for any runner who breaks an open course record.
TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank ®, (www.tdbank.com) is the title sponsor of the race. The race director is Dave McGillivray, president of DMSE, Inc. (www.dmsesports.com), a national sports event management company. McGillivray also serves as the race director of the BAA Boston Marathon and many other top events in the U.S. and around the globe.
TD Bank Beach to Beacon ÛÓ Elite Field
Men Country
Ed
Muge
Kenya
Gebre
Gebremariam
Ethiopia
Martin
Lel
Kenya
Boaz
Cheboiywo
Kenya
Khalid
Khannouchi
USA
Dejene
Berhannu
Ethiopia
Click Here: ADELAIDE CROWS 2019 MEN’S HOME GUERNSEY
Stephen
Koskei
Kenya
Joel
Kemboi
Kimurer
Kenya
Wilson
Chebet
Kenya
Andrew
Lemoncello
UK
Lee
Troop
Australia
Ben
True
USA
Martin
Fagan
Ireland
Patrick
Rizzo
USA
Justin
Young
USA
Women
Irene
Limika
Kenya
Lineth
Chepkurui
Kenya
Worknesh
Kidane
Ethiopia
Edna
Kipligat Kenya
Wude
Ayalew Yimer
Ethiopia
Catherine
Ndereba
Kenya
Rebecca
Donaghue
USA
Ilsa
Paulson USA
Benita
Willis
Australia
Joy
Petrina
New
Zealand
Malika
Medjdoub Morocco
Assefa
Ayalech
Ethiopia