Alan Webb taking the Fifth Avenue Mile title (© Courtesy of New York Road Runners)
Some of the best American male distance runners from the Mile to the Marathon, along with a top international women’s field, are in New York City for the Central Park Challenge, a New York Road Runners 8km event to be contested this Saturday 15 March. The event will have a total prize-money purse of $70,000, with $10,000 each going to the winners and the offer of a $10,000 American record bonus.
Alan Webb, the American Mile record-holder and a 2004 1500m Olympian, will toe the line with about 50 other entrants in the USA men’s 8km Championship. In the inaugural women’s Invitational, to be contested on the same course with a field of about 30 athletes, 5000m and 3000m indoor American record-holder and 2004 5000m Olympian Shalane Flanagan is the top seed.
First race of 2008 for Webb
“We are pleased to be hosting some of America’s and the world’s very top athletes in this Olympic year,” said Mary Wittenberg, the president and CEO of NYRR.
Webb, 25, of Reston, VA, is making a rare appearance on the roads to open his Olympic-year campaign. He capped a stellar 2007 track season with a road victory in the Continental Airlines® Fifth Avenue Mile here last September. In July 2007, Webb ran 3:46.91 in Brasschaat, Belgium, to better Steve Scott’s 25-year-old American Mile record. He is expected to make the 2008 U.S. Olympic team at 1500m.
“At this point in the year, this race will be right up my alley,” said Webb, who has not raced since his Fifth Avenue Mile victory. “I’m in pretty good shape and I think it’ll be a lot of fun.”
Webb will be challenged by 2006 USA 10,000m champion Jorge Torres, 2008 USA Half-Marathon champion James Carney, and 2008 USA 15km champion Andrew Carlson, among others.
Flanagan, 26, of Pittsboro, NC, demonstrated her fitness with a 70-second margin of victory at the USA Cross Country Championships on 16 February. She’s built a huge strength base training at altitude in Mexico for the past two months, and it will take a special performance to challenge her.
“I’m excited to show off how hard I’ve been working,” said Flanagan.
Also in the field are former indoor 3000m World record-holder Lilia Shobukhova of Russia, Canadian Olympian Carmen Douma-Hussar, American Olympians Carrie Tollefson and Amy Rudolph, and four-time USA champion Katie McGregor. Flanagan, Shobukhova, and Rudolph have all run under 15 minutes for 5000m.
Gordon Bakoulis (New York Road Runners, NYRR) for the IAAF
