Long Distance
Legend Haile
Gebrselassie to Run 2010 ING New York City Marathon
This marks the marathon world record-holder’s
ING
New York City Marathon debut and his first major marathon in the United
States
New York, June
2,
2010ÛÓLong-distance legend, multiple Olympic and World
Championships gold medalist, and marathon world record-holder Haile
Gebrselassie of Ethiopia will make his first career appearance at the
ING New
York City Marathon 2010 on November 7, it was announced today by New
York Road
Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg.
“It is pretty much a thrill of a lifetime for us
to
host Haile in the marathon,” said Wittenberg. “We have looked
forward to this day for literally years. Haile represents the very best
of our
sport and more. We are privileged and honored to bring him here. I know
he’ll touch New Yorkers, as he has touched fans around the world.”
The announcement was made at Icahn Stadium,
where
Gebrselassie joined 1,500 schoolchildren for the New York Road Runners
Mighty
Milers Fun Run as part of the second annual National Running Day
celebration.
“It has been a
long
dream of mine to compete in this outstanding event, and I’m so excited
about competing for the first time in my career in the ING New York City
Marathon this November, ” said Gebrselassie. “I know my longtime friend
Tesfaye Jifar has the course record in New York and with all of us in
the field
I believe that we might be able to make it a race which can be
remembered for a
long time as a historical race.”
Widely considered
the
greatest distance runner of all time, Gebrselassie, 37, set the marathon
world
record in 2008 at the real,- Berlin Marathon with a time of 2:03:59.
Gebrselassie has focused on road racing and the marathon since the 2004
Olympic
Games, and he captured his first title in a World Marathon Majors race
in
Berlin in 2006. In addition to four straight wins in Berlin, he has also
claimed marathon victories in Amsterdam (2005), Fukuoka, Japan (2006),
and
Dubai (2008, 2009, 2010).
The 1996 and 2000
Olympic
10,000-meter gold medalist has won 124 races, only four of which
(Atlanta,
Boston, Tempe, and New York) have been in the United States. He has now
set 25
world records in his illustrious career with a total of 15 senior medals
at the
Olympic Games (2), World Outdoor Championships (7), World Indoor
Championships
(4), World Half-Marathon Championships (1), and World Cross Country
Championships (1).
It was also announced today that fresh off his
course-record
victory of 2:09:34 at the Ottawa Marathon on Sunday, Arata Fujiwara of
Japan
will run in this year’s race. Fuijwara, 28, was twice the runner-up at
the Tokyo Marathon (2008 and 2010) and was third at the Fukuoka Marathon
in
2008. No Japanese man or woman has won the ING New York City Marathon.
New York Road Runners
New York Road Runners, founded in 1958, is
dedicated to
promoting the sport of distance running, enhancing health and fitness
for all,
and responding to community needs. Our road races and other fitness
programs
draw upwards of 300,000 runners annually, and together with our magazine
and
website support and promote professional and recreational running. A
staff of
more than 100, assisted by thousands of volunteers, stages the ING New
York
City Marathon, as well as a road race nearly every weekend plus many
track and
cross country events. NYRR’s home base in New York, and its lifelong
identification with Central Park, have given many of its events iconic
status,
attracting the world’s top professional runners. Our youth
programs provide running to nearly 100,000 schoolchildren in New York
City,
around the country, and in South Africa who would otherwise have few or
no
fitness opportunities. For more information, visit www.nyrr.org.
The ING New York City Marathon
The premier event of New York Road Runners, the
ING New York
City Marathon is one of the world’s great road races, drawing nearly
105,000 applicants. The race attracts many world-class professional
athletes,
not only for the more than $600,000 in prize money, but also for the
chance to
excel in the media capital of the world before two million cheering
spectators
and a worldwide broadcast reach of 330 million. As any one of the more
than
830,000 past participants will attest, crossing the finish line in
Central Park
is one of the great thrills of a lifetime. For more information visit www.ingnycmarathon.org.