Central Park Challenge to Bring Top Athletes to NYC in Olympic Year
Ritzenhein, Webb and Flanagan highlight outstanding fields

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By NYRR
Posted Wednesday, 12 March, 2008

On Saturday, March 15, fans of distance running will witness two world class races in NYC as New York Road Runners hosts the Central Park Challenge. After the NYRR 8000 people's race at 7:30am, the USA Men's 8K Championship will take place at 9:00am, followed by a new event, the Women's Invitational, at 9:30am.

Eight Olympians and 10 current and former USA champions are entered in the two 8K (4.97-mile) races. There is a total prize-money purse of $70,000 - $20,000 of which will go to the top male and female finishers ($10,000 each) - plus a $10,000 bonus offered to any winner who breaks the U.S. 8K record of 22:04 for the men (Alberto Salazar, 1981) or 24:36 for the women (Deena Kastor, 2005).

NYRR hosted the USA Men's 8K Championship in 2002-2005 and again last year. This year's race will be more exciting than ever as it features a host of 2008 Olympic hopefuls eager to test their early-season fitness. Dathan Ritzenhein, who won the USA Cross Country Championship in San Diego this February, will take on U.S. mile record-holder Alan Webb in a renewal of one of America's leading long distance rivalries.

Ritzenhein holds a 5-2 advantage in races against Webb, a 2004 Olympian. The pair has taken turns in the top spot in their last two meetings: Webb won the 10,000-meter race at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational in 2006, and Ritzenhein beat Webb in the 2 mile at the Prefontaine Classic last year.

Also in the field is Jorge Torres, the 2005 USA 8K champion and 2006 national 10,000 meter champion. Other entrants include Aaron Aguayo, Bolota Asmerom, James Carney, Josh McAdams, Ed Moran and Edwardo Torres. Ritzenhein, Jorge Torres and Moran have all made the U.S. team for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, to be held March 30 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Olympian Shalane Flanagan, 26, of Pittsboro, NC, headlines the field for the Women's Invitational. The U.S. record holder at 5000 meters (14:44.80) and 3000 meters indoors (8:33.25), making her Central Park professional debut, is fresh off a commanding victory at the USA Cross Country Championship. She has spent most of the past two months training at 6,500 feet in the rugged mountains of San Luis Potosí, Mexico, with two-time New York City Marathon champion German Silva. Carrie Tollefson, Amy Rudolph, Katie McGregor and Erin Donohue are also among the leading contenders in this inaugural event.

For a complete entrant list and more, go to: www.nyrr.org/races/2008/r0315x00.asp

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