Geoffrey Mutai stuns with a jaw-dropping 2:03:02 run in Boston (© Getty Images)
2011 Boston Marathon champions Geoffrey Mutai and Caroline Kilel and 2011 Virgin London Marathon champion Mary Keitany are part of a powerful field of Kenyan standouts who will compete against Ethiopian Olympic and World Championships medallist Tsegaye Kebede, 2011 Los Angeles Marathon champion Buzunesh Deba, Russian phenomenon Galina Bogomolova, and Swedish sensation Isabellah Andersson in the ING New York City Marathon 2011, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, on Sunday, 6 November.
Previously announced runners for the men’s race include 2010 champion Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia, 2009 champion Meb Keflezighi and fellow Americans Bobby Curtis and Ed Moran, 2011 London Marathon champion Emmanuel Mutai of Kenya and Olympians Juan Luis Barrios of Mexico and Jaouad Gharib of Morocco. Two-time New York City Marathon champion Martin Lel was forced to withdraw from the race due to injury.
In the women’s race, previously announced runners include defending champion and 2011 World champion Edna Kiplagat of Kenya, three-time U.S. Olympian Jen Rhines, New Zealand Olympian Kim Smith, Jo Pavey of Great Britain, Portugal’s championship long distance duo of Jéssica Augusto and Ana Dulce Félix, and U.S. runners Lauren Fleshman and Molly Pritz making their Marathon debuts.
“We have a star-studded international field for the ING New York City Marathon 2011 that brings together an incredible lineup of champions from this year’s Boston, London, and LA marathons,” said New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg. “What a treat to have Geoffrey Mutai, who ran the fastest time ever recorded for a marathon at Boston this year, in the race, along with Buzunesh Deba, this year’s LA winner, here again to compete in the city she lives and trains in.”
Mutai, 29, of Kenya, won the 2011 Boston Marathon in a time of 2:03:02 – the fastest time ever recorded for a certified Marathon. Since then, he has been unbeatable on the roads, winning the B.A.A. 10-K in Boston on 26 June in 27:19, and the Giro Podistico Internazionale di Castelbuono 10-K in Sicily on 26 July in 29:05.
Kebede, 24, of Ethiopia, won the bronze medal in the Marathons at both the 2008 Olympic Games and the 2009 World Championships. One of the world’s most decorated marathoners, he’s won Fukuoka twice (2008 and 2009), Paris in 2008 and London in 2010. He has a 2:05:18 personal best, and will be making his New York debut.
Keitany, 29, of Kenya, won the 2011 London Marathon in a personal best time of 2:19:19, the fastest time in the world this year. She finished third in New York last year and is also the World record holder at the Half Marathon (1:05:50) and 25-K (1:19:53).
Kilel, 30, of Kenya, won the 2011 Boston Marathon by two seconds in a personal best time of 2:22:36 after a thrilling stretch duel with American Desiree Davila. Kilel has also recorded marathon victories in Frankfurt (2010), Ljubljana (2009), Taipei (2008), and Nairobi (2005).
Deba, 24, an Ethiopian who lives full-time in New York City, has recorded two Marathon victories this year, setting personal best times with both efforts. Last March she won the Honda Los Angeles Marathon in 2:26:34, then won the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Marathon last June in an even faster 2:23:31. She won four marathons in 2010, and finished 10th in New York City.
Bogomolova, 33, is Russia’s second-fastest marathoner ever with a 2:20:47 personal best set in Chicago in 2006. She was the Russian Marathon record holder for four years from 2006 through 2010.
Andersson, 30, of Sweden is a four-time winner of the Stockholm Marathon. She is the Swedish record holder with a 2:23:41 career best.
Organisers for the IAAF
