Alan Culpepper and Colleen de Reuck added to NYC Half-Marathon field
Posted Wednesday, 16 August, 2006
Two-time Olympian Alan Culpepper and four-time Olympian Colleen De Reuck will join the sold-out field of 10,000 runners in the inaugural NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE on Sunday, August 27. The two represent the latest entrants in a stand-out professional field for the race.
Culpepper and de Reuck won their respective Olympic marathon trials in 2004, and both have targeted fall marathons. De Reuck will run Chicago on Oct. 22. "I like racing half-marathons before marathons," said de Reuck, a Boulder resident who ran Olympic marathons in 1992, 2000 and 2004. Culpepper hasn't made his plans public, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see him turn up in New York on Nov. 5, because the men's Olympic marathon trials will be there next year.
The 13.1-mile course will take runners on a loop through Central Park, down Seventh Avenue through Times Square, west on 42nd Street and south on the West Side Highway past the site of the World Trade Center to Battery Park, finishing with a view of the Statue of Liberty. "I like the concept of integrating the park, Times Square and Battery Park," said Culpepper, 33, a resident of Lafayette, CO. The field, capped at 10,000, was sold out within hours.
"This race has been a dream for several years," New York Road Runners president Mary Wittenberg said. "We have had a vision of creating another international-class event to complement the (New York City) marathon."
Other elites in the field include marathon world-record holder Paul Tergat of Kenya, four-time Boston Marathon winner Catherine Ndereba of Kenya and Constantina Tomescu-Dita of Romania, the reigning half-marathon world champion.
Click here to view the pro athlete bios.
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