Roster of Olympians, World Champs for NYRR Mini 10K
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 eventÛªs first champion, Jacqueline
Dixon, will be part of
race celebration
New York, May 30, 2012ÛÓThirty-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 worldÛªs first road race exclusively for female
participants will also feature three Mini 10K legends: race co-founders
Kathrine Switzer and Nina Kuscsik, and
the eventÛªs 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.
ÛÏOn
this special anniversary year of the worldÛªs first all-women road race
and of Title IX, weÛªre celebrating with one of the strongest and most
diverse womenÛªs fields around,Û said Wittenberg.
ÛÏOur outstanding roster of champions and legends, coupled with
thousands of active women from around the nation, will more than mark
the MiniÛªs 40th anniversary. It may be called the Mini, but this race,
and what it stands for, is truly massive.Û
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.
DavilaÛªs time of 2:22:38 was the fastest time ever
run by an American woman at the Boston Marathon.
ÛÏThe
Mini 10K has been on my bucket list of races for some time,Û said
Davila. ÛÏIÛªm looking forward to being a part of the 40th anniversary and
competing on the same roads as some of the
greatest female runners ever. IÛªm excited that with my focus being on
the roads, it fits in with my summer schedule and IÛªll finally have the
opportunity to compete in the historic event, and maybe even write a
little bit of history myself.Û
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, womenÛªs 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 ÛÏBoston
IncidentÛ 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.
ÛÏThis
is a whopper of an anniversary year for women,Û said Switzer. ÛÏItÛªs the
year of the first womenÛªs-only road race, the year we were first
ÛÏallowedÛ to run an official marathon, and
the year the Title IX amendment was added to the Constitution; it was
the year that changed everything! IÛªm 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.Û
Honored
guests will include womenÛªs running pioneer and Mini 10K co-founder
Nina Kuscsik, 73, of the United StatesÛÓthe first woman to run in the New
York City Marathon (and a two-time
winner) and the first female winner of the Boston MarathonÛÓand
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.
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·
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 countryÛªs 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 ÛÏminiÛ marathonÛÓnamed
for the miniskirt, which was then in
fashionÛÓrather than a full marathon. It was the worldÛªs 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 womenÛªs road races
around the globe.
The
NYRR New York Mini 10K will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 9, on
Central ParkÛªs West Drive near 61st Street. For more race details,
please visit
http://www.nyrr.org/run-with-us/nyrr-new-york-mini-10K.