Lornah Kiplagat defending her title at the Circle of Friends New York Mini 10-K (© New York Road Runners)
Defending champion and threetime winner Lornah Kiplagat of the Netherlands will return to Central Park for the NYRR New York Mini 10km on Saturday 9 June, it was announced by New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg.
With victories in 2003, ’05, and ’06, Kiplagat trails only two legendary five-time champions, Grete Waitz and Tegla Loroupe, for most wins in the world’s original women-only road race, which debuted here in 1972.
A loaded field of professional runners, including former Marathon World record holder and Olympic silver medallist Catherine Ndereba of Kenya, 2004 World Cross Country champion Benita Johnson of Australia, Commonwealth Games medallist Mara Yamauchi of Great Britain, and New Zealand Half Marathon record holder Nina Rillstone, will challenge Kiplagat for the title and a $10,000 first-place prize.
“What better way to celebrate the strength and power of women today than by bringing in an absolutely stellar field to set the pace,” Wittenberg said. “These women rule the roads of running and are history makers in our sport. They continue the rich history of the original women-only road race.”
Kiplagat, 33, a Dutch citizen since 2003, notched her career’s biggest victory in March at the 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in her native Kenya. With more than 70 victories, she is arguably the best road racer in the world. In 2006, Kiplagat lowered her own 20km World record to 1 hour, 3 minutes, 21 seconds in winning the IAAF Road Running Championships.
Ndereba and Johnson complete World class field
Ndereba, 34, nicknamed “Catherine the Great,” became the first woman marathoner under 2:19 when she ran 2:18:47 to win the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in 2001. The 2004 Olympic marathon silver medallist, Ndereba has won seven World Marathon Majors races and the 2003 World Championships Marathon. In 2006, she finished third in the ING New York City Marathon.
Fourth in last year’s Mini, Johnson, 28, returns to New York for the first time since her thrilling race to the wire in the 2006 NYC Half-Marathon last summer, when Ndereba edged her by three-tenths of a second in 1:09:42.3. Johnson went on to set the Australian record in finishing third at the 2006 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.
Yamauchi, 33, was the 10,000m bronze medallist at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and finished sixth at the 2007 Flora London Marathon. Rillstone, 32, took seventh at the ING New York City Marathon 2006.
Richard Finn for the IAAF
