FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Boston Champions Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot and Salina Kosgei are Late
Additions to the ING New York City Marathon 2009
Past ING New York City Marathon champions Paul Tergat
and Jelena Prokopcuka have withdrawn
Also announced are slight modifications to marathon
course for the 40th running
New York, October 14, 2009—Four-time Boston Marathon champion Robert
Kipkoech Cheruiyot and 2009 Boston Marathon champion Salina Kosgei, both of
Kenya, have entered the ING New York City Marathon 2009 on Sunday, November
1, it was announced today by New York Road Runners president and CEO and
race director Mary Wittenberg.
"Like all Boston Marathon winners, Robert and Salina are proven champions,"
said Wittenberg. "They'll both be looking to join the elite few who've
become champions of both races."
The ING New York City Marathon 2005 champion, Paul Tergat of Kenya,
two-time ING New York City Marathon champion (2005–06) Jelena Prokopcuka of
Latvia, and Irish Olympian Martin Fagan have withdrawn from this year's
event. Tergat continues to suffer from a leg injury that forced him to
withdraw from the Lisbon Half-Marathon earlier this month. Prokopcuka, a
three-time Olympian, withdrew due to pregnancy.
Fagan's manager, Ray Flynn, offered this statement: "Martin Fagan has
decided to withdraw from the race because of fears that a slightly injured
Achilles tendon may not hold up for the full marathon distance."
Recent permanent road reconfiguration required slight modifications of this
year's race course. The course has been modified in Brooklyn at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music at mile 8 and at McCarren Park at mile 12, in
Queens coming off the Pulaski Bridge near mile 14, and in the Bronx just
past mile 20. No changes have been made from mile 21 to the finish in
Central Park.
Cheruiyot, 31, last competed in the ING New York City Marathon in 2005,
finishing fourth in 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 1 second. A four-time Boston
Marathon champion (2003, '06–08), Cheruiyot is the Boston course-record
holder (2:07:14, his personal best). Earlier this year, he dropped out of
the Boston race after 35K due to back pain; he ran the IAAF World
Championships Marathon in August in Berlin, finishing fifth (2:10:46).
Cheruiyot has five World Marathon Majors (WMM) race victories, having won
the Chicago Marathon in 2006, and was the inaugural WMM series champion
(2006–07).
Kosgei, 32, will make her second appearance at the ING New York City
Marathon; she finished fourth in 2005 in 2:25:30. In April, Kosgei won the
closest women's race in the history of the Boston Marathon, crossing the
finish line one second ahead of defending champion Dire Tune to win in
2:32:16. In 2008, Kosgei finished fourth at the London Marathon and was
10th in the Olympic marathon in Beijing.
Athletes will be vying for a total guaranteed prize purse of $800,000, the
largest in race history. In celebration of the 40th running of the New York
City Marathon, a new champion's bonus of $70,000 will be awarded to any
past champion who wins this year, bringing a former champion's first-place
prize this year to $200,000.
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