Three Past Boston Marathon Champions to Run in BAA 5K
For Immediate Release: Monday, March 30, 2009
Boston,
Mass. – Ingrid Kristiansen (Norway, 20th anniversary, 1989), Lorraine
Moller (New Zealand, 25th anniversary, 1984) and Neil Cusack (Ireland,
35th anniversary, 1974) will be honored at various festivities during
the week leading up to the 113th Boston Marathon, and will once again
cross the Boston Marathon finish line – this time as competitors in the
debut of the B.A.A. 5K. The 3.1-mile race begins Sunday morning, April
19, at 8 a.m. at Copley Square Park, and will be run on a loop course
through the historic Back Bay neighborhood.
“We are excited to
celebrate the careers of these great athletes,” said Guy Morse, B.A.A.
Executive Director. “Kristiansen, Moller and Cusack are each a
wonderful reminder of the spirit of the Boston Marathon and the spirit
of running as a lifetime sport. It will be a privilege to have them in
the field for the first year of our B.A.A. 5K.”
Each of the
champions had spectacular careers with Kristiansen, in 1986, holding
the world records simultaneously in the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and
marathon; Moller winning the bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics; and
Cusack, also an Olympian, remaining the only Irishman to have ever won
the Boston Marathon. In addition, Kristiansen is among the first class
of professional athletes to have won prize money at Boston (1986) and
was a charter member of John Hancock Financial’s Elite Team, which
includes many of the world’s premier marathoners.
Taking the
place of the former Freedom Run, the B.A.A. 5K is limited to 4,000
participants, and only a few hundred spots remain. For more
information, or to enter, visit www.baa.org/5k.
Immediately
following the 5K race will be the new B.A.A. Invitational Mile, a
series of four 1-mile races for professional men and women as well as
scholastic boys and girls. Olympic bronze-medalist and Boston-area
native Shalane Flanagan will headline the professional field. The
scholastic participants will represent the eight host cities and towns
along the Boston Marathon course: Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham,
Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline and Boston.
The 113th
Boston Marathon will be held on Monday, April 20, 2009, Patriots’ Day,
in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The race follows a 26.2-mile
point-to-point route from the town of Hopkinton, Mass., to Boston’s
Back Bay. This year’s race will begin with the Elite Women’s Start at
9:32 a.m.
Additional information about the B.A.A. 5K, the B.A.A.
Invitational Mile, the Boston Marathon and the Boston Athletic
Association can be found online at www.baa.org.
Boston Athletic Association
Established
in 1887, the Boston Athletic Association is a non-profit organization
with a mission of managing athletic events and promoting a healthy
lifestyle through sports, especially running. The B.A.A.’s Boston
Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon, and the organization
manages other local events, including the B.A.A. Half Marathon
presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund, and
supports comprehensive charity, youth, and year-round running programs.
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Since 1986, the principal sponsor of the Boston Marathon has been John
Hancock Financial Services.