Written By: David Monti
(c) 2010 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved

NEW YORK (21-Apr) — Reigning ING New York City Marathon champion Meb Keflezighi announced here today that he is forming a charitable foundation which will support varied causes in health, fitness and education.  Called the MEB Foundation, which the Olympic Marathon silver medalist said stood for “Maintaining Excellent Balance,”  the announcement was made at the RUN store by Foot Locker just off of Union Square in Manhattan.
“We like to think he began his running career with us,” said Foot Locker U.S. CEO and president Dick Johnson who introduced Keflezighi today.  Johnson recalled how Keflezighi watched the Foot Locker Championships high school cross country meet in San Diego playing soccer in 1987; he had no interest in running at the time.  But in 1993, he raced those same championships finishing second to Adam Goucher, the true beginning of Keflezighi’s racing career.

“Yes, 20 years ago as Dick mentioned, I was in Morely Field in San Diego playing soccer,” said Keflezighi.  He continued: “There was runners and, I’m like, why are these people running for?  That was 1987 when Marc Davis, who happened to go to San Diego High School, won the race.  I said, well, these people are crazy.  Six years later I was on the starting line.”

Keflezighi said the he does not yet have specific projects where the foundation will be making donations.  However, he said that his connection to his native Eritrea would be an influence.  He also announced that the ING New York City Marathon had granted his foundation 20 charity entry spots in this year’s race where he will defend his title on November 7.

“Our goal is to use those spots to fund raise,” he said.

One guest was so inspired by Keflezighi, who finished fifth at last Monday’s Boston Marathon, that he made a $10,000 pledge on the spot.

American Meb Keflezighi will be down in New York City to announce his new foundation known as the MEB Foundation. The MEB foundation will focus on promoting health, fitness and education in the United States and in Meb’s native country of Eritrea.

Meb will be at RUN by Foot Locker located between 5th Avenue and University in New York City on Wednesday to unveil the foundation. The announcement of his foundation comes just two days after his gutsy fifth place finish at the 2010 Boston Marathon.

Written By: Mario Fraioli

Standing out in her yellow singlet on the left side of the TV screen, Heidi Westover of Walpole, New Hampshire was right in the mix during the early miles of Monday’s Boston Marathon.

Westover hit the 5K mark in 17:12, just two seconds off the women’s lead pack. She was the second American through the halfway point in Wellesley in 1:16:35 – three seconds behind Lomita, California’s Mary Akor – and eventually went on to finish as the top New Englander and fourth American in 2:39:14, good for 18^th overall in the women’s race.

“It’s a great accomplishment,” Westover said of being the first New Englander across the finish line. “I’m very excited about that. I’m a fourth and fifth grade teacher and I’m excited to go home and share it with my kids.”

Westover, who represented the United States at the World Half Marathon Championship last October, came into the race with a personal best of 2:35:04, set last May at the Vermont City Marathon. After a fast start, Westover hit the halfway point ahead of schedule but fell off pace heading into the Newton Hills. Despite some disappointment with her time, Westover was happy with her aggressive effort on Monday and walked away from the race with no regrets.

“That was the goal,” Westover said of trying to better her previous personal best. “It’s disappointing that I didn’t get that but there’s always opportunity again. I went out strong and was just hoping for the best all the way through. If I kept it a little slower in the beginning I would have had a little bit more for the end, which would have been helpful.”

Falmouth, Maine’s Sheri Piers, the top American woman at last year’s Boston, finished just over a minute behind Westover in 2:40:46 to place second amongst New Englanders. The 38-year old was the third American across the finish line and 22^nd overall in the women’s race. Michelle Sarney of West Bridgewater, Massachusetts was the third New Englander across the finish line, placing 40^th amongst women in 2:52:26.

In the men’s race for local bragging rights, 26-year-old law school student Lucas Meyer of Ridgefield, Connecticut made his first marathon a memorable one, crossing the finish line in 2:21:29, good for 24^th overall.

“This was my first marathon so I didn’t have too many expectations,” said Meyer, a member the Boston Athletic Association racing team. “I wanted to run 2:16 to 2:18 and I was right on pace through halfway but I crashed hard the last eight miles. It was a tough day but a good experience.”

Meyer, a former cross country and track American at Yale who qualified for the 2008 Olympic Trials in the steeplechase, took advantage of his association with the BAA and relative proximity to the race course to go for a few training runs along Boston’s revered roads. Despite some familiarity with the terrain, Newton’s unforgiving hills did a number on Meyer’s unsuspecting legs.

“I came up to Boston three times for long runs or a hard workout on the course,” Meyer said. “I saw the course, so no excuses, but my quads just were not prepared.”

Scott Rowe of Dover, New Hampshire was the next New England male across the finish line, placing 35th overall in 2:24:34. David Bedoya, a 33 year old from Somerville, Massachusetts representing the Greater Boston Track Club, rounded out the top three New Englanders, running 2:25:19 to place 37th.

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We will continue to add more as they come in!

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For more news about Meb click here.

Written By: Mario Fraioli

Because he was already in Boston to do some promotional work for a few of his sponsors this weekend, Josh Cox decided on Saturday night that he might as well feed off the energy of the electric atmosphere around him and participate in a local road race on Sunday morning.   

Cox, who hasn’t raced since running 2:13:51 (for a second-place result) at the Cal International Marathon in December, lined up at the start of the second annual BAA 5K and led from the sound of the starter’s horn to top the field of 5,000 in a winning time of 14:31. He is preparing to run the 56-mile Comrades Marathon in South Africa on May 30 and used Sunday’s race as a tune-up of sorts before contesting the Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon next weekend in Nashville.

“I thought the 5K would be a great way to loosen up the legs, bust some rust and get the legs turning over,” Cox said. “It’s so exciting to be here this weekend. You get caught up in the excitement of it all and I wanted to be part of the action. It’s a way for everyone to get involved and be in on some of the action.”

For a couple of top local runners who were hoping to battle it out for bragging rights on Sunday morning, it came as something of a surprise to see an athlete of Cox’s caliber standing next to them on the starting line the day before Boston’s biggest race of the year.

“Yeah, I was definitely thrown off,” said the Boston Athletic Association’s Brian Harvey, who finished 14 seconds behind Cox to take second place overall. “I don’t know a lot about him but I know he runs with Ryan Hall. It’s good to have good competition but he was out front from the start.”

“I thought I could hang a little bit,” added Keene, New Hampshire’s Mark Miller, who finished third in 15:00. “And then I started feeling redline city around 1,200 into it and had to re-evaluate the situation.”

Still, Miller was excited to be part of the action on Sunday and said that the energy of the crowds along the course inspired him to run the main event on Marathon weekend in 2010.

“When I walked in here this morning I said sign me up for next year,” Miller said. “I’m definitely going to do the marathon next year. It’s too good of a vibe not to be a part of in some capacity and I can only imagine how electric it would be on a Monday.”

Jennifer Campbell, a 26-year-old from Watertown, Massacusetts, won the women’s race in a course-record of 16:52, almost 45 seconds ahead of the course standard established by the Boston Athletic Association’s Maria Varela last year.

Campbell, who trailed second-place finisher Jeannette Seckinger of Somerville, Massachusetts through two miles, pulled away over the final third of the race to win by eight seconds.

“This is a great event to be part of during marathon weekend,” Campbell said. “It’s a great crowd out there and great competition. It was awesome.”

Wet and Wild Miles

A cold rain, wet roads and tight turns aren’t ideal conditions for a fast mile, but Andrew Baddeley didn’t let any of that bother him one bit.

The 27-year-old from Great Britain blasted the final turn onto Boylston Street and inched out Ethiopian Markos Geneti by two tenths of a second to win the men’s professional race at the second-annual BAA Invitational Mile in a course-record of 4:08.6.

“I was comfortable and I had quite a lot left,” said, who took home $5,000 for his efforts. “The crowds were amazing considering it was hammering down rain, it’s freezing cold out and you can see your breath. It went by very quickly.”

In the women’s race, Morgan Uceny pulled away from Mammoth Club teammate Sara Hall halfway through the last lap on the three-lap course and held on to win in 4:43, seven tenths of a second ahead of the second-place Hall

“I was trying to save some energy the first couple laps and just relax in the last lap,” Uceney said “I was kind of antsy. I just wanted to push it to make sure that coming around those turns nobody could make a move on me.”

Hall, who took the lead heading into the race’s last lap, couldn’t respond to Ulceney’s final move, but was excited for the opportunity to inspire Monday’s marathoners with her effort.

“I just tried as best I could to cover Morgan’s move,” Hall said. “She made a really strong move. Hopefully we could bring some inspiration for the marathoners out here watching. I felt like that was our role today.”

In the high school races, Framingham’s Ben Groleau pulled away from Ezra Lictman and Yuji Wakimoto, both of Newton, with 200 meters to go to win the boys race in 4:40.3. Groleau, who finished tenth in this race last year, was unexpectedly excited with his winning effort on Sunday.

“This is incredible,” said. “I would never have expected to do this well in a race of this magnitude.”

On the girls side, Melanie Fineman of Newton proved she was the tops in the town, winning a close race over fellow Newtonite Margo Gillis. Fineman, who followed Gillis’ fast pace from the get-go, crossed the finish line in a winning time of 5:10.9, four tenths of a second ahead of her cross-town rival.

“It was a really, really fast race,” Fineman said. “I was really lucky she was in the race. We worked together throughout the race and then I just dug deep and I kicked at the end.”

Written By: Mario Fraioli

While the weekend’s main event—the Boston Marathon—will take place on Monday, a handful of high level middle-distance races will be contested on Sunday morning with the BAA Invitational Miles, which will take place on a three-lap USATF-certified course that starts and finishes at the Marathon finish line on Boylston Street.

Andrew Baddeley is the favorite in the men's mile. Photo: PhotoRun.net

In the men’s professional race, which will get underway shortly after 10 o’clock, Great Britain’s Andrew Baddeley looks to be the favorite with a personal-best of 3:49.38, some 6 seconds ahead of his closest competitor. Baddeley won the Fifth Avenue Mile last year on the streets of New York City and is a 2008 Olympic finalist in the 1,500 meters. Last year’s winner, Darren Brown of Austin, Texas, ran 4:11.6 to top the field on the turning, three-lap course and will be returning to defend his title. Baddeley’s biggest challenge looks to come from Ireland’s Alistair Cragg, a two-time Irish Olympian with a personal-best of 3:55.04 who finished third at this event last year and has been training well of late with the Terrance Mahon and Mammoth Track Club. Other athletes in the 8-person field looking to take home a chunk of the $7,250 prize purse include Mexico’s Juan Luis Barrios (3:56.08 PR), the United States’ Garret Heath (3:57.34), Great Britain’s Mark Draper (3:45.80) and Ricky Stevenson (3:56.31) and Ethiopia’s Markos Geneti (3:33.83 for 1,500 meters).

The women’s field features one sub-4:30 miler in the Erin Donahue. The former North Carolina Tarheel has a personal best of 4:26.48, five seconds better than countrywoman Morgan Uceny – the 2010 US indoor champion at 1,500 meters – who has a 4:31.70 mile to her credit. Donahue and Uceny will be challenged by Uceny’s Mammoth Track Club teammate, Sara Hall (4:32.24) and fellow American Frances Koons (4:33.24). Ireland’s Roisin McGettigan, a Providence College alum and Irish national record holder in the steeplechase, sports a personal best of 4:35.55 in the mile. Serbia’s Maria Muncan, who ran 4:31 at the Fifth Avenue Mile in 2007, rounds out the five-woman field.

Preceding the professional races will be the boys and girls scholastic mile races at 9:45. This invitational event features high school runners representing schools from towns along the historic Boston Marathon course. Newton North High School’s Ezra Lichtman leads the field of 16 in the boys race with a personal best of 4:27. His next closest competitor is Newton South senior Yuji Wakimoto, who has run 4:31. On the girls side, junior Margo Gillis of Newton North High School returns as defending champion. Gillis, who sports a personal best of 5:00, will be challenged by Newton South senior Melanie Feldman, who ran a best of 4:57 this past winter at the Nike Indoor National Meet.

Written By: Mario Fraioli

Don’t think you can get through a marathon without stuffing your shorts full of energy gels? Well, now UCAN.

Debuting at this year’s Boston Marathon Expo, Generation UCAN is a new sports drink that utilizes a unique energy source called SuperStarch, a healthy, naturally modified carbohydrate that was originally developed for children with a very rare disease where they cannot produce any blood sugar in their bodies naturally. Used for performance purposes, Generation UCAN products are said to force the body to use fat as its main fuel source, which can extend glucose maintenance while having little to no effect on insulin levels.

“We got into sports nutrition by accident,” said Peter Kaufman, executive vice president for the UCAN Company. “We were at a clinical trial at the University of Oklahoma to see what effect it would have on people who didn’t have that disease. The carbohydrate doesn’t have the spike and crash you get with sugars and maltodextrin. It has almost no reaction by insulin. Because of this, it forces the body to use more fat as its fuel source.”

Generation UCAN is packaged in powdered form and mixes with water in a single serving. Available in five flavors–pomegranate blueberry, vanilla, chocolate, lemon and plain–the product is claimed to provide a better fuel balance between fat and carbohydrate, sparing muscle glycogen, maintaining blood glucose and helping people achieve a more efficient and healthy metabolic state, all without gastric distress.

“It actually doesn’t cause gastric distress like other sports nutrition products,” Kaufman said. “It’s not a thirst quencher. Remember, it’s mostly a starch that provides a steady energy burn.”

So how effective is Generation UCAN? Effective enough that it has already become Meb Keflezighi’s sports drink of choice for Monday’s Boston Marathon.

“I believe this product, its team and the company’s vision will change the face of sports nutrition,” Keflezighi says. “Since I’ve been using Generation UCAN for my workouts, I’ve noticed improvements in both my performance and metabolic state.”

Into The Expo Atmosphere

Year in and year out the Boston Marathon Expo serves as a launchpad for different vendors looking to make some noise with new products and exciting attractions. This year’s retail rodeo is certainly no exception.

On the footwear front, Saucony announced its presence in the minimalist shoe movement with the introduction of the Kinvara, a lightweight trainer developed in response to the growing trend of less is more on your feet.

“It weighs in at 7.7 ounces for men, 6.8 ounces for women,” said Brian St. Onge, a Shadow Rep for Saucony. “The upper is also lightweight and pretty breathable and the midsole is light and flexible but still supportive. It’s a minimalist approach with maximum protection.”

For the third year in a row, Mizuno featured their Precison Fit System, a scientific way of scanning a runner’s foot that looks at foot type and other structural and mechanical factors to help determine the appropriate type of running shoe.

“It’s a unique system that takes into account a lot of biomechanical factors,” said Colin Ingram, New England Territory Manager for Mizuno. “In a lot of places it’s done by simply watching you walk and seeing all kinds of different stuff. But when you break down the pieces of the stride that affect what shoe is best for you, it’s essentially hip rotation, how your knee tracks and all these little pieces the scanner isolates as one and puts it all back into one picture to present you with the shoe that will work best for you.”

Moving into the world of training tools and medical accessories, a few lesser known products were hoping to make more of a name for themselves amongst the crowd of marathoning masses invading Boston this weekend.

The Tiger Tail rolling muscle massager combines a rolling pin and a foam roller to target trigger points and reduce pain brought on by tight, overworked muscles. It can also serve as an effective warmup tool before workout out.

“It just rolls pain away,” said Spring Faussett, inventor and president of Tiger Tail. “It’s a lot like a hand-held foam roller. It helps with muscle recovery, it helps push out lactic acid and it helps warm up and stretch muscles before an activity.”

And if you’re trying to keep an annoying overuse injury at bay so it doesn’t slow you down on race day, then it might be worth giving Kinesiology Therapeutic Tape a try. KT Tape is the first brand of kinesiology tape that’s been made available to the consuming public. Available in 10-inch adhesive strips, KT tape can be used to treat common overuse injuries such as patella tendinitis, shin splints, IT band syndrome and plantar fasciitis. Company CEO John MacKay says that aside from relieving pain and providing stability and support for these common types of injuries, the product is highly effective at speeding up muscle and joint recovery without restricting movement.

“It’s very non-invasive,” said John MacKay, CEO of KT Tape. “It’s a very light intervention. You don’t even know you’re wearing it, but it takes enough of the stress off of the affected tissue that it keeps the inflammation from increasing and you can get through those things without it being an issue.”

[sig:MarioFraioli]

Written By: Mario Fraioli

Sharing a table with Meb Keflezighi at the pre-race media conference at the Fairmont Copley Plaza on Friday morning, Antonio Vega and Josh Rohatinsky looked a little bored.

“It’s kind of nice to just sit back and not really have any pressure on me,” said Vega, the US half marathon champion. “I just need have a good race and do what I can on Monday. That’s how I’m going into it.”

With all the hype – and media – surrounding Keflezighi and Ryan Hall before Monday’s Boston Marathon, some of the lesser known American runners like Vega, Rohatinsky and Jason Lehmkuhle have managed to slip under the radar and quietly go about business as usual before their biggest race of the year.

“It’s going to be good to be able and go out there the next few days and especially on Monday and focus on what I’ve been preparing to do,” added Rohatinsky. “I just need to go out there and do what I know I can do.”

“In a way, I don’t envy the kind of pressure that guys like Ryan and Meb get,” admitted Lehmkuhle, who finished 10th at last fall’s New York City Marathon. “In a way, it’s nice to be able to come to a large race like this knowing that anything I do is kind of going to be under the radar.”

Vega, a member of Team-USA Minnesota, opened some eyes in January with a surprising victory at the US Half Marathon Championship in Houston. He followed that up with a third place finish at the Gate River Run 15K last month and believes a solid winter of unconventional indoor preparation has left him ready to take a good-sized chunk of time off his marathon best of 2:15:45 on Monday.

“I did a lot of my long runs in the winter from January through early March on the treadmill,” Vega said. “I think that marathon stuff I’ve done on the treadmill has really paid off quite a bit and has helped me to work on maintaining pace and staying mentally tough for an extended period of time.”

Lehmkuhle, who has a 2:12:54 personal best to his credit, is hoping to bounce back from a bad Boston experience in 2007, where he finished in 2:38:05. This time around, he and coach Dennis Barker have emphasized specific hill sessions to prepare for the unforgiving ups and downs that this fabled course has to offer.

“I knew very early on in the race that I didn’t do enough stuff specifically on the hills to replicate what was going to go on here,” Lehmkuhle said of his previous Boston experience. “I learned a lot from that mistake and feel like we’ve done a much better job in this buildup to prepare my legs to handle it.”

Rohatinsky, running in his third marathon on Monday, admittedly has “two or three different plans” for race day, but is committed to keeping the lead pack in sight through 16 miles and having fresh legs when he hits the hills in Newton. He is excited to be part of a strong American contingent and hopes his efforts on Monday can help contribute to an impressive US showing.

“The field is really a lot deeper than they’ve had in a long time here,” Rohatinsky said. “It would be really cool to team up with Antonio, Jason, Ryan and Meb and help the Americans make a good showing and maybe put 4 or 5 guys in the top 10.”

Vega shared a similar sentiment, hoping that he some of the other unheralded Americans can work together on Monday and collectively contribute to a solid showing for the hometown boys on Patriots Day.

“Hopefully there’s a good group of us going around the same pace,” Vega said. “I hope that with Jason and Josh and a couple other guys, we can get together for at least the first half of the race and go from there.”

So with the weight of winning resting on the shoulders of superstars Keflezighi and Hall, can the other Americans step out of the shadows on Monday and help the United States put 4 or 5 runners amongst the top 10?

“I know that’s certainly a goal of mine,” Lehmkuhle added. “I don’t think it’s unrealistic for us expect to see 4 or 5 Americans in the top ten, similar to what happened in New York last year. I know that’s certainly a goal of mine, and I know that’s what Antonio’s thinking as well.”

[sig:MarioFraioli]

Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt, world record holder over 100m and 200m, will compete on April 24th at the 2010 USA vs. The World at the Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. Bolt will compete for Jamaica in the 4x100m relay that will highlight the weekend at the Penn Relays.

Bolt was part of the world-record setting 4X100m Jamaican relay team at the 2008 Olympics.

For More: ThePennRelays.com

NEW YORK (07-Apr) — Olympic marathon medalists Meb Keflezighi and Deena Kastor, both of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., committed today to run the 2010 ING New York City Marathon, the New York Road Runners announced here today.  Keflezighi will attempt to retain the ING NYC Marathon title he won last year –the first by an American in 27 years– while Kastor will attempt to win her first.

American Meb Keflezighi will defend his ING NYC Marathon title in 2010. Photo: PhotoRun.net

“With Meb’s win last year and Deena’s gutsy efforts over the years, they have become part of the magic and history of our marathon,” said New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg in a statement.  “We are so pleased to welcome them back today, as we warmly welcome runners from around the globe to our ING NYC Marathon 2010.”

For Keflezighi, 34, who will run the Boston Marathon in 12 days, this will be his sixth ING New York City Marathon appearance.  He made his marathon debut in New York in 2002, then finished second in 2004 and third in 2005 before winning a two-man duel with Kenyan Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot in last year’s race, running a personal best 2:09:15.

“The ING New York City Marathon has been the core race in my marathon career,” said Keflezighi in prepared remarks.  “I came back several times looking for that elusive victory and I finally got it. I hope that my victory on November 1, 2009, teaches us that while we may not accomplish our dreams and goals overnight, we need to stay committed.”

Like Keflezighi, Kastor, 37, began her marathon career in New York.  While the rubble of the fallen World Trade Center still smoldered in 2001, Kastor set a then USA debut record of 2:26:58, finishing seventh overall and winning her first USA marathon title.  Subsequently, she failed to finish the 2004 race (after winning her Olympic Marathon bronze medal less than three months before), and finished sixth in 2006.  She also participated in the race in 2003 as a special pacer for women who were trying to qualify for the USA Olympic Marathon Trials.  Kastor has earned World Marathon Majors victories at Chicago in 2005 and London in 2006; she’s running the Virgin London Marathon on April 25.

“I was brought to tears when Meb won [last year] against a stellar field of the world’s best, and I’m inspired to commit to succeeding in New York come November,” said Kastor through a statement.  “The ING New York City Marathon is a perfect representation of the diversity that the city is known for, and it’s wonderful to be part of such high-spirited celebration of running.”

On the same day that Keflezighi and Kastor committed to the event’s professional division, the first recreational runners were selected out of a record pool of 120,000 in the marathon’s annual entry lottery (it was the fourth consecutive year that over 100,000 runners had requested entry).  On a live streaming internet broadcast from the Parker Meridien Hotel near the race’s Central Park finish line, the race announced that Victoria Salbu of Oslo, Norway, was the first runner to gain entry.

“A quantum leap in the number of marathon applicants, in the midst of the recession, speaks volumes about the importance of the ING NEW York City Marathon in the lives of so many,” said Wittenberg, who is planning for a starting field of 42,000 to 43,000.

John Hancock Financial today said that Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot has withdrawn from the114th running of the Boston Marathon on April 19.

Cheruiyot, a four-time champion of the race, injured his right hip a few weeks ago and has been unable to conduct his usual training for the race.

For More: BAA.org

Courtesy of John Hancock Financial

Written By:  Chris Lotsbom
(c) 2010 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved

Surprising events midway through today’s NYC Half-Marathon made for a thrilling race here in the streets of New York City.  Two completely different races played out on the men’s and women’s sides, both ultimately delivering satisfying finishes on the West Side Highway under the beautiful morning spring sky.

For the men, the race began in Central Park as a group affair, as no one wanted to push the pace too hard during the early hilly stages of the race.

Kenya's Peter Kamais wins the NYC Half Marathon. Photo: PhotoRun.net

Passing the mile in a pedestrian 4:49, a lead pack began to develop with Kenya’s Peter Kamais and Moses Kigen Kipkosgei leading the way, and Ethiopians Haile Gebrselassie, Bekana Daba, and Americans Abdi Abdirahman and Mo Trafeh behind.

After completing the 10 km loop of Central Park in 28:51, the leaders began to string out, with Kamais, the second-fastest man ever in a record-standard 10-K, out in front.  Gebrselassie stayed at Kamais’s shoulder for the next mile or so, with Trafeh staying close to the 33 year-old father of four from Eldoret.  Abdirahman had fallen back after stepping on a storm drain, and would eventually drop out.

After turning onto 42nd Street and running under the bright lights of Times Square, Kamais began to pull away.  As he did so, Gebrselassie stopped suddenly a little before the 15 km mark, leaning on one of the steel barricades lining the course.  He appeared to be holding his chest, though Gebrselassie had shown no signs of pain prior to his abrupt halt.  After stopping for a few seconds, he attempted to run again, and it appeared as if he could get back into the thick of the race and possibly catch Kamais.  But, soon after picking it up again, he stopped, this time for good, at a medical tent on the course.

After entering the medical tent, Gebrselassie returned to his hotel, where he told a New York Road Runner staff member said that he was suffering from asthma, flared up by the dust kicked up in the city streets, possibly from a lead vehicle.

“What are you going to do, it happens,” he said through the staff member.

With Gebrselassie out, Kamais surged and never looked back.  As he said in the post race press conference, he did not look back once until he was more than 30 meters ahead of Gebrselassie.  He went on to cross the finish in 59:53, setting a personal best by 42 seconds and recording the second-fastest time at this race.

“I was not expecting to win,” said Kamais.  “From 10 to 12 kilometers, I knew that I would win this race because I felt very good.”

Brit Mara Yamauchi breaks the tape in New York. Photo: PhotoRun.net

Behind Kamais was fellow Kenyan Kigen Kipkosgei, who out-sprinted Trafeh in the final meters to earn the second spot, 1:00:38 to 1:00:39.  Both men set personal bests.

Trafeh, who moved to California from Morocco when he was 14 years-old and gained USA citizenship in January, 2008, was thrilled with his finish.  For the second weekend in a row, he landed on the podium; last week he won the Gate River Run, in Jacksonville, Fla. which also served as the U.S. 15 km championships.

“I am just thankful that I am here,” the self-coached Trafeh said. “For getting the support needed to compete against the best in the world.”

On the women’s side, the first 10 miles of the race was the Deena Kastor show, as the 2004 Olympic Marathon bronze medallist of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., built up a 30-second lead over Great Britain’s Mara Yamauchi and Mexico’s Madai Perez.

“What I wanted out of this race was to run really aggressively, and I feel like I did that, minus losing the gas in the end,” said Kastor who passed through 10 km in 32:30, well under course record pace.  “But I am really happy with the race today, it was the best I had in me.”

In the 19th kilometer, Kastor said Yamauchi went by “swiftly,” as the British Olympian dropped her.  Kastor said she could hear her coming, but she could not respond.

Yamauchi described her thoughts when she realized Kastor was coming back to her as, “I just suddenly woke up, and thought, hang on a minute, maybe she did go out too fast.”

“I just thought she was in awesome shape,” said Yamauchi.  “In the last 5 or 6 km, I thought maybe I could catch her.”  She continued: “It helped to see [Kastor].”

Catch her she did, as Yamauchi went on to break the course record, running 1:09:25.  Kastor finished 17 seconds back in 1:09:43, and Perez in third in a career best 1:09:45.

“So it wasn’t rubbish?” Yamauchi quipped after the race.

Kastor and Yamauchi will face each other again in the Virgin London Marathon on April 25.

Written by: Sean McKeon

The 2010 edition of the New York City Half Marathon will feature marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia and American half-marathon record holder Deena Kastor. Both men’s and women’s fields are stacked and both races will prove to be important indicators for the upcoming spring marathon season.

Gebrselassie will look to reclaim his 2007 title, which he won in a course-record 59:24. Gunning to take down the former half-marathon world record holder will be two-time New York City Marathon champion Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil and Ethiopian Gebre Gebremariam. Gomes dos Santos comes in with designs on improving upon his personal best 59:33 and Gebremariam hopes to add a title in NYC to a resume that also includes a 2009 world cross country championship victory. Also ready to challenge up front will be Irish 10,000m record holder Alistair Cragg and American Olympians Abdi Adirahman and Anthony Famiglietti.

On the women’s side Kastor will seek to improve upon her 1:09:42 win at January’s P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Half Marathon. The 2004 Olympic marathon bronze medalist will have her hands full with Britain’s newest star, Mara Yamauchi. Kastor and Yamauchi are both preparing for the Virigin London Marathon, where the Brit finished second last year. Also in the field are 2009 Hokkaido Marathon champion Kiyoko Shimahara of Japan and and 2008 New York City Half Marathon runner-up Madaí Pérez of Mexico. Other Americans to keep an eye on include US 25K champion Sally Meyerhoff and Olympic trials qualifier Heidi Westover.

The NYC Half Marathon will be streamed live on Universal Sports and a full recap and photos will be available here on Competitor.com following the race.

[sig:SeanMcKeon]

Written By: David Monti
(c) 2010 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved

NEW YORK (11-Mar) — Reigning ING New York City Marathon champion Meb Keflezighi has withdrawn from the NYC Half-Marathon on Sunday, March 21, the New York Road Runners announced yesterday.

Keflezighi, who is also planning to run the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 19, said he lost training time due to a knee injury and needs to play catch-up in order to be ready to compete in Boston.

Meb Keflezighi still plans to run in Boston. Photo: Lester Cacho/Ollie Neglerio

“Due to a setback in my training a few weeks ago, I will not be prepared to compete in the NYC Half-Marathon,” Keflezighi said in a statement to NYRR officials.  “The New York Road Runners have assembled a great field once again, and I was looking forward to being a top contender.  But I developed soreness on my left knee that required me to take several days off and cut back on mileage for a few weeks.  Since I lost most of the build-up phase of my marathon training in February, I will have to pass on a tune-up race and focus my time on preparing for the Boston Marathon.”

Keflezighi, 34, became the first American man to win the ING New York City Marathon since 1983 when he pulled away from Kenyan Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot in the final phases of the race last November.

Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie and Brazil’s Marilson Gomes dos Santos lead the men’s professional field for the NYC Half-Marathon, the fifth edition of the race, and the first to be held in the spring.  The event features a $100,000 prize money purse, the largest of any half-marathon in the United States, and will have over 10,000 runners.