Run Gloucester! 7 Mile Road Race Attracts Elite Athletes
Field includes 10K talent Kenyan Lineth Chepkurui for inaugural event

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Posted Monday, 16 August, 2010

From Ryan Lamppa, Running USA

GLOUCESTER, Mass. - (August 12, 2010) - The inaugural Run Gloucester! 7 Mile Road Race has attracted three top elite athletes - including record-breaker Lineth Chepkurui of Kenya - to the Sunday, August 22 race on scenic Cape Ann, race organizers announced.

The Run Gloucester! 7 Mile Road Race, which includes nearly five miles of often breathtaking ocean views, is still accepting race registrations at www.rungloucester.com.

Lineth Chepkurui, 22, ranked 9th in the world by Running Times, is coming off a course record-setting (30:59) victory at the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K in Cape Elizabeth, Maine last weekend, following her win at the Peachtree 10K Road Race in July.

Joining Chepkurui in the Run Gloucester field will be countrymen James Koskei, 41, one of the top Masters runners in the world, and newcomer Alan Kiprono, who should make a strong impression in his first races on American soil.

Following a long career in the open division, Koskei is now a dominant force in the Masters category. He took the Masters title at the BAA Boston Marathon last April (2:17.28), finishing 18th overall in a deep field, and also is the reigning Masters champ at both the TD Bank Beach to Beacon (29:54 in 2010) and Falmouth Road Race, races he won in 2002.

Kiprono, 20, placed second at the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K with a blazing 27:42, just 1.3 seconds behind the winner, and will be seeking a top placing in Falmouth this weekend.

Chepkurui has won the past two Peachtree Road Race 10Ks, Crescent City Classic 10Ks and Cherry Blossom 10 Mile. A member of the Kenyan Armed Forces, she set a world record at 12K (38:07) to win the ING Bay to Breakers 12K earlier this year, and ran the fastest 10K in the world so far in 2010 at the Crescent City Classic (30:45). She smashed the course record at the highly competitive TD Bank Beach to Beacon by more than 25 seconds.

Race organizers and the lead sponsor, Saucony, Inc., have established a prize purse of $5000. The winning man and woman will each receive $1500, with $750 for the runner-ups and $250 for third.

Proceeds from the Run Gloucester! 7 Mile will benefit the Gloucester Fishermen Athletic Association (GFAA) and DMSE's Children Fitness Foundation.

The GFAA, the race's primary beneficiary, raises funds for Gloucester High School student-athletes, sports programs and facilities, and is a key supporter of the renovation of Gloucester High's Newell Stadium.