ATHLETES: RUNNER PROFILES WOMEN

Transcription

1 ATHLETES: RUNNER PROFILES WOMEN JÉSSICA AUGUSTO Portugal Age: 32 Date of Birth: November 8, 1981 Residence: Braga, Portugal Personal Best: 1:09:08, South Shields, 2009 NYC Half History: 2011: 7th, 1:10: Yokohama Women s Marathon 3rd 2:29: London Olympic Marathon 7th 2:25: Virgin London Marathon 8th - 2:24: Bupa Great North Run 12th 1:14:27 Augusto won the 2009 Bupa Great North Run half-marathon in a personal-best 1:09:08 after breaking away only three miles into the race. She debuted at the marathon distance at the 2011 Virgin London Marathon, finishing eighth (in one of the best fields ever assembled) in a time of 2:24:33. She ran 2:25:11 in the 2012 London Olympic Games Marathon to finish seventh overall, moving up 17 places over the second half of the race. The two-time Portuguese Olympian has worldclass track credentials, with PRs of 4:07.89 for 1500 meters and 14:37.07 for 5000 meters. She ran in the heats of both the 3000-meter steeplechase and the 5000 meters at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. In the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, she finished 12th in Mombasa, Kenya, in 2007, and was 21st in Bydgoszcz, Poland, in She has also represented Portugal in four IAAF World Outdoor Track and Field Championships, most recently taking 10th at 10,000 meters in Daegu, South Korea, in YOLANDA CABALLERO Colombia Age: 32 Date of Birth: March 9, 1982 Residence: Bogotá, Colombia Personal Best: 1:10:30, NYC Half, 2013 NYC Half History: 2013: 9th, 1:10:30; 2012: 25th, 1:14: New York City Marathon 2:41:23 19th 2013 Boston Marathon 2:35:10 14th 2013 NYC Half 1:10:30 9th 2011 Boston Marathon 2:26:17 8th 2011 Pan-American Games 10,000m 34: rd Caballero started her career on the track, but she has found success since moving to the roads in She made her marathon debut at Boston that year, and her 2:26:17 performance there is the fastest time ever recorded by a South American woman. Caballero returned to the track that summer to take third in the Pan-American Games 10,000 meters; the altitude of Guadalajara, Mexico (over 5,000 feet) added some challenge for most runners, but Caballero s hometown, Bogotá, Colombia, is above 8,500 feet. She set a Colombian record at the 2013 NYC Half, running 1:10:30 for ninth place 2014 #NYC HALF 1 5

2 ATHLETES: RUNNER PROFILES WOMEN BUZUNESH DEBA Ethiopia Age: 26 Date of Birth: September 8, 1987 Residence: Bronx, NY Personal Best: 1:09:53, Philadelphia, 2011 NYC Half History: 2009: 5th, 1:13:17; 2008: 14th, 1:14: New York City Marathon 2nd 2:25: Houston Marathon 2nd 2:24: New York City Marathon 2nd 2:23: Rock n Roll San Diego Marathon 1st 2:23: Los Angeles Marathon 1st 2:26: New York City Marathon 10th 2:29: New York City Marathon 7th 2:35:54 Unlike most of her fellow Ethiopian distance runners, Deba lives and trains in New York City, taking the subway from her home in the Bronx to track workouts and doing long runs around the circumference of Manhattan. She has won eight of the 13 marathons she has entered, with four of those losses coming in the New York City Marathon where, however, she has never failed to make the top 10. That includes her down-tothe-wire runner-up finish in 2011 to her friend and countrywoman Firehiwot Dado, and her brave race in 2013, when she led from the start until being passed by Priscah Jeptoo in the 24th mile. Her 2011 time of 2:23:19 made her the fastest female New York resident in history. KRISTA DUCHENE Canada Age: 37 Date of Birth: January 9, 1977 Residence: Brantford, Ontario, Canada Personal Best: 1:10:52, Vancouver, Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon 4th 2:28: Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon 1st 1:10: Canadian Half-Marathon Championships 1st 1:12: ABN AMRO Rotterdam Marathon 7th 2:32:06 At the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October, Duchene ran faster than the old Canadian marathon record and finished fourth overall but in third place was her fellow Canadian Lanni Marchant. Duchene s time, 2:28:32, was a personal best by more than three and a half minutes. Only two months earlier, she d been forced to abandon the IAAF World Championships Marathon in Moscow, where the extreme heat caused her to collapse after 12 kilometers. Duchene, a mother of three, lives and trains in Brantford, Ontario #NYC HALF

3 ATHLETES: RUNNER PROFILES WOMEN MOLLY HUDDLE Age: 29 Date of Birth: August 31, 1984 Residence: Providence, RI Personal Best: Debut 2013 US National Road Racing Championships (12K) 1st 37: USA 5K Championships 1st 15: IAAF World Championships 5000m 6th 15: London Olympic 5000m 11th 15: Diamond League Brussels 5000m 10th 14:44.76 Huddle, a New York native, set the American record for 5000 meters in Brussels in 2011; her 14:44.76 shaved four-hundredths of a second off Shalane Flanagan s 2007 mark. She took second at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 5000 meters and placed 11th in the final in London. Last summer, she finished sixth in the meter final at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow. In September, Huddle defended her USA 5K road title in her current hometown of Providence, RI, for her third win there in four years. In November, she won the NYRR Dash to the Finish Line 5K, and two weeks later ran a world-best 37:49 for 12K at the.us Championships. Huddle earned a bachelor s degree in biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame and is married to Kurt Benninger, a Canadian who competed for Notre Dame at 1500 and 5000 meters. This will be her first-ever half-marathon. HILDA KIBET Netherlands Age: 32 Date of Birth: March 27, 1981 Residence: Groet, Netherlands, and Iten, Kenya Personal Best: 1:08:39, Ras Al Khaimah, 2010 NYC Half History: 2012: 4th, 1:09:42; 2007: 1st, 1:10: ABN AMRO Rotterdam Marathon 3rd 2:26: London Olympic Marathon 24th 2:28: ABN AMRO Rotterdam Marathon 2nd 2:24: European Cross Country Championships (8K) 1st 27: NYC Half 1st 1:10:32 The niece of distance-running great Lornah Kiplagat, Kibet has been very successful on the roads of the Big Apple: She won the 2007 NYC Half, edging out defending champion Catherine Ndereba by one second, and she returned to win the 2008 NYRR New York Mini 10K. That same year, she finished 15th in the Beijing Olympic 10,000 meters. In 2011, she ran a marathon personal best of 2:24:27 for second place at the Rotterdam Marathon. The following year, she placed fourth in the NYC Half and third in the Mini, then finished 24th in the London Olympic Marathon. Born in Kenya, Kibet whose longtime partner is Dutch marathoner Hugo Van den Broek became a Dutch citizen in October #NYC HALF 1 7

4 ATHLETES: RUNNER PROFILES WOMEN CAROLINE KILEL Kenya Age: 32 Date of Birth: March 21, 1981 Residence: Bomet, Kenya Personal Best: 1:08:16, Birmingham, BMW Frankfurt Marathon 1st 2:22: Boston Marathon 1st 2:22: New York City Marathon 6th 2:25: IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships 4th 1:08:16 Kilel entered the World Marathon Majors circuit in grand fashion, outsprinting fellow 2014 NYC Half entrant Desiree Linden (née Davila) in the final quarter-mile to win the 2011 Boston Marathon. Her time of 2:22:36 was her personal best until last October, when she ran 2:22:34 to win the BMW Frankfurt Marathon in courserecord time. Her half-marathon personal best came at the 2009 IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships, where she missed the podium individually but helped Kenya earn the gold medal in the team competition. Kilel will look to win her second Boston Marathon title this April. SALLY KIPYEGO Kenya Age: 28 Date of Birth: December 19, 1985 Residence: Eugene, OR District, Kenya Personal Best: Debut 2012 London Olympic 10,000m 2nd 30: London Olympic 5000m 4th 15: IAAF World Championships 10,000m 2nd 30: Zürich Diamond League 5000m 2nd 14:30.42 Kipyego took home the silver medal from the 2011 IAAF World Championships 10,000 meters, then repeated the performance at the London 2012 Olympics and added a fourth-place finish in the 5000 meters seven days later. An injury kept her from competing at the IAAF World Championships last summer. Currently training with the Oregon Track Club Elite, Kipyego graduated from Texas Tech University in 2009 with a degree in nursing. As a Red Raider, she won nine NCAA championships, including three consecutive titles in cross country. In her last trip to New York City, she placed fourth at the NYRR Dash to the Finish Line 5K, running 15:48; it was her first race after 14 months lost to injury #NYC HALF

5 ATHLETES: RUNNER PROFILES WOMEN DESIREE LINDEN Age: 30 Date of Birth: July 26, 1983 Residence: Rochester Hills, MI Personal Best: 1:10:34, Naples, FL, 2011 NYC Half History: 2012: 9th, 1:10: BMW Berlin Marathon 5th 2:29: U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon 2nd 2:25: Boston Marathon 2nd 2:22: Bank of America Chicago Marathon 4th 2:26: IAAF World Championships Marathon 11th 2:27:53 Linden, formerly Desiree Davila, bounced back from injury to record a time of 2:29:15 at the BMW Berlin Marathon in September, good for fifth overall. The race was her first marathon finish since the U.S. Olympic Trials in January 2012, in which she finished second and qualified for the Games; in London, she was forced to drop out near the five-kilometer mark with a femoral stress fracture. Now healthy, Linden has been training in Iten, Kenya, to prepare for the 2014 Boston Marathon. In the 2011 Boston race, she challenged fellow NYC Half competitor Caroline Kilel down Boylston Street in an exciting back-and-forth sprint; she settled for a close second in 2:22:38, the fastest time ever run on the course by an American woman. She married competitive triathlete Ryan Linden on August 24, ADRIANA NELSON Age: 34 Date of Birth: January 31, 1980 Residence: Boulder, CO Personal Best: 1:09:59, Lauwersoog, 2005 NYC Half History: 2013: 11th, 1:11: USA Half-Marathon Championships 1st 1:11: New York City Marathon 13th 2:35: IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships 18th 1:13: Virgin Money London Marathon 10th 2:28: Bank of America Chicago Marathon 2nd 2:33:52 Nelson, née Adriana Pirtea, was born in Bucharest, Romania, and came to the United States to attend the University of Texas, El Paso, where she was a 2005 NCAA All-American in the 3000 meters indoors. Two years later, she almost won her marathon debut in Chicago, finishing second in 2:33:52. The next year, she lowered her best time to 2:28:52 in London. After several years of competitive marathon running, including top-10 finishes in Berlin, Chicago, and London, Nelson has shifted down in distance in recent years. She became a United States citizen in 2011 and ran a personal-best 32:38.95 to finish 14th in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials 10,000 meters. She represented the United States at the 2012 IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships, where she ran 1:13:30 for 18th place. In 2013, she ran her fastest half-marathon since 2005 a 1:11:09 at the NYC Half and was the top American finisher at the New York City Marathon #NYC HALF 1 9

6 ATHLETES: RUNNER PROFILES WOMEN DIANE NUKURI-JOHNSON Burundi Age: 29 Date of Birth: December 1, 1984 Residence: Iowa City, IA Personal Best: 1:09:12, NYC Half, 2013 NYC Half History: 2013: 2nd, 1:09:12; 2012: 11th, 1:10: NYC Half 2nd 1:09: New York City Marathon 10th 2:30: London Olympic Marathon 31st 2:30:13 Nukuri-Johnson lives in the Hawkeye State but competes for her homeland, the African nation of Burundi, where she holds the national records for 1500 meters, 5000 meters, 10,000 meters, the half-marathon, and the marathon; she set the Burundian half-marathon record of 1:09:12 at last year s NYC Half. Nukuri-Johnson was 15 when she competed in the 5000 meters at the 2000 Sydney Olympics; she returned to the Games 12 years later in the marathon, placing 31st in 2:30:13. One of eight children, she left Burundi at age 16 after her father was killed there amid civil unrest. She sought asylum at a Toronto track meet and lived with a cousin in Canada before enrolling at a Kansas junior college and starring at the University of Iowa. She is married to Iowa native Alex Johnson and is coached by the University of Iowa s head cross country and track and field coach, Layne Anderson. GEMMA STEEL Great Britain Age: 28 Date of Birth: November 12, 1985 Residence: Leicester, England Personal Best: 1:10:19, Birmingham, UK, Bupa Great Birmingham Run (half-marathon) 1st 1:10: European Cross Country Championships (8K) 2nd 26: IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships 7th 1:11: European Cross Country Championships (8K) 3rd 26:04 Steel, the fourth-fastest British woman in history over 10 kilometers, will run the NYC Half less than a month after winning the English National Cross Country Championships. Last October, she broke her own course record to win the 2013 Bupa Great Birmingham Run, recording a new half-marathon personal best of 1:10:19. Earlier that year, her second-place finish at the European Cross Country Championships led Great Britain to a gold medal in the team competition. In her only other New York race, she made the podium at the 2013 Oakley Mini 10K, finishing third. After competing in her first-ever NYC Half this March, Steel plans to make her marathon debut in London in April #NYC HALF

7 ATHLETES: RUNNER PROFILES WOMEN LISA STUBLIĆ Croatia Age: 29 Date of Birth: May 18, 1984 Residence: Zagreb, Croatia Personal Best: 1:09:18, NYC Half, 2013 NYC Half History: 2013: 3rd, 1:09: NYC Half 3rd 1:09: Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country (6K) 9th 21: European Cross Country Championships (8K) 9th 28: London Olympic Marathon 52nd 2:34:03 Stublić was born in Waterbury, CT, but has Croatian citizenship through her father, who was born in the city of Sisak. She moved to Croatia in 2008 and since then has set national track records in the 3000-meter steeplechase (10:09.56) and the 5000 meters (16:08.33). In 2012, she became the first Croatian in history to compete in the Olympic marathon; she finished 52nd in London with a time of 2:34:03. The city streets of the NYC Half course are familiar territory for Stublić: She ran for Columbia University and earned All-American honors in cross country in She set the Croatian national record in the half-marathon (1:09:18) at last year s NYC Half, where she stuck with the lead pack throughout to finish third overall. She carried that momentum to the Zürich Marathon in April, where she won and broke her own national record with a 2:25: #NYC HALF 2 1

8 ATHLETES: RUNNER PROFILES MEN JUAN LUIS BARRIOS Mexico Age: 30 Date of Birth: June 24, 1983 Residence: Mexico City, Mexico Personal Best: 1:01:21, NYC Half, 2013 NYC Half History: 2013; 5th, 1:01: NYC Half 5th 1:01: London Olympic 5000m 8th 13: New York City Marathon 12th 2:14: Beijing Olympic 5000m 7th 13:19.79 A two-time Olympian for Mexico, Barrios placed seventh in the 2008 Beijing Games 5000 meters, then placed eighth in that event four years later in London. He has run in the IAAF World Championships at 1500 meters (semifinals, Osaka 2007), 5000 meters (14th in the Osaka final), and 10,000 meters (18th, Berlin 2009). Barrios, who also has three Pan American Games medals (two silvers, one gold) to his credit, began to race longer distances in He made his marathon debut with a 2:14:20 at the Lala International Marathon 2011 in Torreón, Mexico, and lowered his best by 10 seconds with a 2:14:10 in the 2011 New York City Marathon. Last March, he set a new half-marathon personal best (1:01:21) to place fifth in the NYC Half. KEVIN CHELIMO Kenya Age: 30 Date of Birth: February 14, 1983 Residence: Eugene, OR Personal Best: 1:01:21, NYC Half, 2012 NYC Half History: 2013: 13th, 1:02:34; 2012: 6th, 1:01: NYC Half 13th 1:02: NYC Half 6th 1:01: Kenyan Olympic Trials 10,000m 14th 27:46.10 A native of Kabarnet, Kenya, Chelimo was a twotime NCAA Championships qualifier and earned many All-Big XII honors while running for Texas Tech University. There, he met his wife, Sally Kipyego, the 2012 Olympic 10,000-meter silver medalist, who will also run the 2014 NYC Half. After he graduated, Chelimo remained in College Station for a year as a volunteer assistant coach for the Red Raiders, then joined the Oregon Track Club Elite. Chelimo set new personal bests last year in the mile, 3000 meters, and 5000 meters, and he competed in the 10,000 meters at the Kenyan Olympic Trials. He made his half-marathon debut at the 2012 NYC Half, where he finished sixth, and returned to place 13th in last year s race #NYC HALF

9 ATHLETES: RUNNER PROFILES MEN REID COOLSAET Canada Age: 34 Date of Birth: July 29, 1979 Residence: Guelph, Ontario, Canada Personal Best: 1:02:42, NYC Half, 2011 NYC Half History: 2011: 13th, 1:02: Fukuoka Marathon 6th 2:11: London Olympic Marathon 27th 2:16: Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon 3rd 2:10: IAAF World Championships Marathon 25th 2:16:53 Coolsaet comes to the NYC Half shortly after spending a month in Kenya training at altitude. The Canadian Olympian, scheduled to run the Virgin Money London Marathon in April, had a strong showing at the Fukuoka Marathon last December. Originally from Hamilton, Ontario, Coolsaet graduated from the University of Guelph in 2003 and currently trains with the Speed River Track and Field Club, a group originally founded for Guelph student-athletes. His 2:10:55 marathon personal best, set in Toronto, ranks him third on Canada s all-time list. JEFFREY EGGLESTON Age: 29 Date of Birth: October 1, 1984 Residence: Boulder, CO Personal Best: 1:03:00, Marugame, 2014 NYC Half History: 2009: 15th, 1:06: Marugame Half-Marathon 27th 1:03: New York City Marathon 14th 2:16: IAAF World Championships Marathon 13th 2:14: Bank of America Chicago Marathon 16th 2:12:03 Eggleston will run the NYC Half four months after finishing as the second American at the New York City Marathon. His strong five-borough run came a year after setting a personal best of 2:12:03 in Chicago. Originally from Greece, NY, he attended the University of Virginia and currently lives and trains at altitude in Boulder, CO. At the 2011 Pittsburgh Marathon, Eggleston was hired as a pacesetter for 18 miles, but continued past that mark to win the race in 2:16:40. He finished 39th at the 2011 IAAF World Championships Marathon in Daegu, South Korea, and more recently placed 13th in the 2013 IAAF World Championships Marathon in Moscow #NYC HALF 2 3

10 ATHLETES: RUNNER PROFILES MEN MO FARAH Great Britain Age: 30 Date of Birth: March 23, 1983 Residence: London, England, and Portland, OR Personal Best: 1:00:10, South Shields, 2013 NYC Half History: 2011: 1st, 1:00: IAAF World Championships 10,000m 1st 27: IAAF World Championships 5000m 1st 13: London Olympic 10,000m 1st 27: London Olympic 5000m 1st 13: IAAF World Championships 5000m 1st 13: NYC Half 1st 1:00:24 Farah has been unbeatable at major championships in recent years, winning gold medals in the 10,000 meters and 5000 meters at last year s IAAF World Championships in Moscow, as well as at the 2012 London Olympics; he is only the second man, after double world record-holder Kenenisa Bekele, to hold all four global track titles simultaneously. At the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, he took home gold in the 5000 meters and silver in the 10,000 meters. Prior to the 2013 Worlds, he broke the European record for 1500 meters with a stunning 3:28.81 performance in Monaco. Farah won the 2011 NYC Half and returns to the race this year with little over a month remaining before he ll make his marathon debut in London. Born in Somalia, Farah moved to Great Britain at age eight; at age 30, now a father of three, he was honored as a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his services to athletics. ARNE GABIUS Germany Age: 32 Date of Birth: March 27, 1981 Residence: Stuttgart, Germany Personal Best: Debut 2013 IAAF World Championships 5000m 12th (semifinal) 13: KBC Night of Athletics 5000m 6th 13: IAAF World Indoor Championships 3000m 8th 7: European Championships 5000m 2nd 13:31.83 Gabius, a consistent contender in and 5000-meter track races on the European circuit, has trained in Tuscon, AZ, with Americans Bernard Lagat and Abdi Abdirahman; he recently completed a training stint in Kenya. He has won 11 German national championships, including a current string of seven at 5000 meters, and he has represented his country at four World Championships (two indoor and two outdoor) and at the 2012 London Olympic Games, where he ran in a semifinal of the 5000 meters; he was the 2011 European Championships silver medalist in that event. The NYC Half will be his debut at the distance and the longest race of his professional career #NYC HALF

11 ATHLETES: RUNNER PROFILES MEN TESFAYE GIRMA Ethiopia Age: 31 Date of Birth: September 25, 1982 Residence: Bronx, NY Personal Best: 1:00:35, NYC Half, 2011 NYC Half History: 2013: 11th, 1:02:06; 2011: 4th, 1:00:35; 2010: 10th, 1:03:12; 2009: 13th, 1:05: Brooklyn Half 1st 1:06: NYC Half 11th 1:02: NYC Half 4th 1:00: Reims Marathon 4th 2:10:18 Girma, a member of the local West Side Runners team, has run some great races in New York City. He finished fourth at the 2012 UAE Healthy Kidney 10K in Central Park among an elite international field after leading the race for more than five miles. He set his half-marathon personal best at the 2011 NYC Half, finishing 35 seconds over the one-hour mark in fourth place behind winner Mo Farah. After an 11th-place finish in last year s NYC Half, he won the Brooklyn Half in May. BRETT GOTCHER Age: 29 Date of Birth: September 1, 1984 Residence: La Selva Beach, CA Personal Best: 1:02:09, Houston, USA Half-Marathon Championships 2nd 1:02: USA 25K Championships 4th 1:16: U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon 5th 2:11: USA 20K Championships 1st 58:57 Gotcher has returned to the roads after missing much of the 2013 season, looking to build upon his success from 2012, which included a fifthplace finish at the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon. Houston, the site of the Trials race, was familiar territory for Gotcher, who ran 2:10:36 there in 2010 the fourth-fastest debut marathon in history by an American. In 2009, he represented Team USA at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships; that same year, he won his first national title at the USA 20K Championships in New Haven, CT. He is a 2007 graduate of Stanford University, where he was an All-American in the 10,000 meters in #NYC HALF 2 5

12 ATHLETES: RUNNER PROFILES MEN JASON HARTMANN Age: 32 Date of Birth: March 21, 1981 Residence: Boulder, CO Personal Best: 1:01:51, NYC Half, 2013 NYC Half History: 2013: 9th, 1:01: Boston Marathon 4th 2:12: NYC Half 9th 1:01: Boston Marathon 4th 2:14:31 Hartmann has finished fourth in the last two Boston Marathons, both times by running his own race and working through the field in the late stages. He s been first among Americans both times. He prepped for lasts year s Boston by running 1:01:51 in the NYC Half good for ninth place. Hartmann earned his B.A. in education and sociology from the University of Oregon, where he earned six All-America honors for the Ducks in cross country and track. He has represented the at the IAAF World Half-Marathon and World Cross Country Championships and at the Pan American Games. He lives and trains in Boulder, CO. MEB KEFLEZIGHI Age: 38 Date of Birth: May 5, 1975 Residence: San Diego, CA Personal Best: 1:01:00, San Jose, 2009 NYC Half History: 2012: 13th, 1:01:41; 2011: 15th, 1:02:52; 2006: 2nd, 1:01: London Olympic Marathon 4th 2:11: U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon 1st 2:09: New York City Marathon 1st 2:09: Athens Olympic Marathon 2nd 2:11:29 The 2004 Olympic marathon silver medalist lengthened his remarkable stay at the top of the U.S. ranks when he won this year s USA Half-Marathon Championship. He placed fourth in the London 2012 Olympic marathon after earning his spot on Team USA with a win at the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in January in a personal-best 2:09:07. Keflezighi had run his previous PR of 2:09:15 only 10 weeks earlier at the New York City Marathon 2011, where he took sixth; in 2009, he had become the first American in 27 years to win that race. Keflezighi was born in Eritrea in a village with no electricity. His parents took their 11 children out of the country when a war with Ethiopia would have forced the boys into the military. They eventually settled in San Diego, CA; Keflezighi became a U.S. citizen in 1998, and won four NCAA titles while at UCLA. After graduation, he continued to train with his college coach, Bob Larsen, and he set a 10,000-meter national record of 27:13.98 in 2001 that stood for nine years #NYC HALF

13 ATHLETES: RUNNER PROFILES MEN WESLEY KORIR Kenya Age: 31 Date of Birth: November 15, 1982 Residence: Kitale, Kenya Personal Best: 1:01:19, NYC Half, 2012 NYC Half History: 2012: 4th, 1:01: New York City Marathon 9th 2:11: Boston Marathon 5th 2:12: Boston Marathon 1st 2:12: Bank of America Chicago Marathon 5th 2:06: Los Angeles Marathon 1st 2:09: Los Angeles Marathon 1st 2:08:24 The Kenyan-born, American-educated Korir, who holds a BA in biology from the University of Louisville, is one of the most engaging and personable athletes in the sport. His athletic accomplishments include two wins at the Los Angeles Marathon and a victory at the scorching 2012 Boston Marathon, as well as a 2:06:13 personal best set in Chicago in But it s Korir s activity away from running that truly inspires. In 2010, he started the Kenyan Kids Foundation to improve healthcare and education for children in his homeland; the organization has built and opened a new hospital in his hometown of Kitale. Last winter, he was elected to Kenya s parliament, running on a platform of eradicating poverty and fighting government corruption. During his five-year term in office, Korir and his Canadian wife, Tarah, and their children are living in Kenya full-time. GEOFFREY MUTAI Kenya Age: 31 Date of Birth: October 7, 1981 Residence: Kapng etuny, Kenya Personal Best: 58:58, Ras Al Khaimah, New York City Marathon 1st 2:08: Udine Half-Marathon 1st 59: BMW Berlin Marathon 1st 2:04: Boston Marathon 1st 2:03: New York City Marathon 1st 2:05:06 In the 2011 Boston Marathon, Mutai outsprinted Moses Mosop on Boylston Street to win by four seconds. Their times turned the marathoning world on its head: Mutai s 2:03:02 was nearly a full minute faster than Haile Gebrselassie s then world record of 2:03:59, set on the ultra-fast Berlin course. But although Boston s course is famously hilly, it s also point-to-point, which disqualifies the race for record purposes. Mutai cleared up any confusion about his abilities six months later, when he shattered the course record at the 2011 New York City Marathon, winning the race by more than two and a half minutes. When he won the 2012 BMW Berlin Marathon, he became the only active male runner to have won three of the World Marathon Majors. This past November, Mutai became the sixth man in history to successfully defend a New York City Marathon title #NYC HALF 2 7

14 ATHLETES: RUNNER PROFILES MEN LUKE PUSKEDRA Age: 24 Date of Birth: February 8, 1990 Residence: Beaverton, OR Personal Best: 1:01:36, Houston, USA Half-Marathon Championships 6th 1:01: USA Cross Country Championships (12K) 2nd 36: Aramco Houston Half-Marathon 4th 1:01: IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships 17th 1:02: U.S. Olympic Trials 10,000m 8th 27: USA 20K Championships 2nd 58:48 In the two years since he graduated from the University of Oregon, Puskedra has put together a remarkable record on the roads, especially at the half-marathon distance. He ran his personal best, 1:01:36, to take fourth in the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon in 2012, and returned to that race in January of this year, where he placed sixth in 1:01:48. He represented the at the IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships in 2012, finishing 17th; he was the runner-up at the 2014 USA Cross Country Championships in Boulder, CO, in February. The 6-foot-4 Puskedra, originally from Salt Lake City, UT, currently trains with the Nike Oregon Project in Eugene. STEPHEN SAMBU Kenya Age: 25 Date of Birth: July 7, 1988 Residence: Tucson, AZ Personal Best: 1:00:41, Boston, 2013 NYC Half History: 2013: 7th, 1:01: B.A.A. Half-Marathon 3rd 1:00: NYC Half 7th 1:01: UAE Healthy Kidney 10K 3rd 28: Millrose Games 5000m 3rd 13: NCAA Cross Country Championships (10K) 2nd 28:09.52 Sambu lowered his half-marathon personal best by nearly two and a half minutes in 2013 with a 1:01:34 at the NYC Half in March, then chopped off nearly another minute with a 1:00:41 at the B.A.A. Half-Marathon in Boston in October. His time in that race, combined with his performances at April s B.A.A. 5K (13:47) and June s B.A.A. 10K (28:06), gave Sambu the overall victory in the 2013 B.A.A. Distance Medley, which earned him a $100,000 prize. A graduate of the University of Arizona, he now lives and trains in Tuscon, AZ #NYC HALF

15 ATHLETES: RUNNER PROFILES MEN MATT TEGENKAMP Age: 32 Date of Birth: January 19, 1982 Residence: Portland, OR Personal Best: Debut 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon 10th 2:12: London Olympic 10,000m 19th 28: USA 20K Championships 1st 58: Beijing Olympic 5000m 13th 13: IAAF World Championships 5000m 4th 13: Prefontaine Classic Two-Mile 3rd 8:07.07 Tegenkamp made his marathon debut last fall, running 2:12:39 for 10th place at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. The move up in distance came after a number of years at the top of the U.S. ranks in the 5000 meters, including a 12:58.56 performance in 2009 that made him the sixth non-african to break the 13-minute mark. He holds the American record for two miles at 8:07.07, which he ran in That same season, he was fourth in the IAAF World Championships 5000 meters, missing the bronze medal by three-hundredths of a second. Tegenkamp, who hails from Lee s Summit, MO, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin, currently lives and trains in Portland, OR, under former Wisconsin coach Jerry Schumacher #NYC HALF 2 9

16 ATHLETES: WHEELER PROFILES WOMEN AMANDA MCGRORY Age: 27 Date of Birth: June 9, 1986 Residence: Savoy, IL Personal Best: 50:47, Illinois, New York City Marathon 4th 2:05: Bank of America Chicago Marathon 3rd 1:42: Virgin Money London Marathon 2nd 1:46: Boston Marathon 3rd 1:49: IPC World Championships Marathon 4th 1:51: New York City Marathon 1st 1:50:24 McGrory won the 2011 New York City Marathon, breaking the course record by more than two and a half minutes. She also won her debut New York City Marathon in 2006, and she has finished in the top three in New York five times. McGrory is a four-time Paralympic medalist and the 2011 World Championships marathon bronze medalist. Her personal record for the half-marathon is 50:47, set at the 2013 Illinois Half-Marathon. She is a three-time winner and the course record-holder at both the Atlanta Half-Marathon and the Illinois Half-Marathon. McGrory is one of many top wheelers who are current or former members of the powerhouse track and field team at the University of Illinois, where she also played basketball for the three-time national champion Illini. SHIRLEY REILLY Age: 28 Date of Birth: May 29, 1985 Residence: Tuscon, AZ Personal Best: 53:47, Oro Valley, AZ, New York City Marathon 7th 2:11: Bank of America Chicago Marathon 4th 1:49: IPC World Championships 5000m 7th 12: Boston Marathon 1st 1:37: London Paralympic Marathon 1st 1:46: Los Angeles Marathon 1st 1:57:09 Reilly won the 2012 Boston Marathon in a personal-best time of 1:37:36, then finished fourth at the London Marathon a week later. She competed in both races again in 2013, finishing fourth in Boston on April 15 and sixth in London on April 21. She was a member of the 2004, 2008, and 2012 U.S. Paralympic teams; in London, she was the marathon gold medalist, the 5000-meter silver medalist, and the 1500-meter bronze medalist. In 2013, she was nominated for the ESPY Award for Best Female Athlete with Disabilities #NYC HALF

17 ATHLETES: WHEELER PROFILES WOMEN DIANE ROY Canada Age: 43 Date of Birth: January 9, 1971 Residence: Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada Personal Best: 51:11, South Shields, New York City Marathon 10th 2:25: Boston Marathon 7th 1:59: Boston Marathon 3rd 1:42: Virgin London Marathon 3rd 1:53: Beijing Paralympic 5000m 2nd 12: IPC World Championships Marathon 1st 1:44:23 The Canadian came through on a very big stage when she won an invitational 800-meter wheelchair race at the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. At that year s IPC World Championships, Roy took silver at 1500 meters and bronze at In 2010, she notched a pair of runner-up marathon finishes in a span of eight days, taking second in Paris and Boston, after a hat-trick of marathon podium finishes at Paris, Boston, and London in In a bizarre turn of events at the 2008 Paralympics, Roy won the 5000 meters but was forced to give up the gold medal when the race was annulled because of a crash in the final laps. In the re-run of the race four days later, Roy earned silver, her fifth career Paralympic medal. At the 2012 London Paralympics, she competed in every women s distance event from 400 meters through the marathon. SUSANNAH SCARONI Age: 22 Date of Birth: May 16, 1991 Residence: Champaign, IL Personal Best: 53:52, Indianapolis, New York City Marathon 5th 2:05: Twin Cities Marathon 1st 1:54: ASICS LA Marathon 1st 1:54: Grandma s Marathon 2nd 1:42: Bolder Boulder 10K 1st 26: London Paralympic Marathon 8th 1:58:37 Only 22 years old, Scaroni has made a name for herself quickly by winning the Bolder Boulder 10K, the ASICS LA Marathon, and the Twin Cities Marathon, all in Raised in Tekoa, WA, Scaroni is a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, studying food science and human nutrition and training in the school s highly successful wheelchair athletics program. Scaroni, a 2012 London Paralympian, set her half-marathon personal best at the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon last year in Indianapolis, IN, winning in 53: #NYC HALF 3 1

18 ATHLETES: WHEELER PROFILES MEN ADAM BLEAKNEY Age: 38 Date of Birth: August 27, 1975 Residence: Savoy, IL Personal Best: 47:45, Indianapolis, Bank of America Chicago Marathon 2nd 1:34: New York City Marathon 11th 1:42: Athens Paralympic 800m 2nd 1: New York City Marathon 8th 1:47:23 Bleakney remains an active competitor while also serving as the full-time head coach of the prestigious and prodigious University of Illinois track and field and road racing wheelchair team; members of the team won 12 gold medals at the IPC Athletics World Championships last summer. Bleakney finished second behind fellow 2014 NYC Half entrant Josh George at the 2012 OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon with a time of 47:45, and he was third last year in 49:08. He was second at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in 2012, and finished 17th in last November s New York City Marathon. Bleakney was paralyzed after a crash in a mountain biking race in 1995; just five years later, he competed in the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney. JOSH GEORGE Age: 29 Date of Birth: March 18, 1984 Residence: Fairfax, VA Personal Best: 47:45, Indianapolis, New York City Marathon 10th 1:46: Bank of America Chicago Marathon 3rd 1:30: Twin Cities Marathon 1st 1:37: IPC World Championships Marathon 5th 1:32: Grandma s Marathon 1st 1:22: Bank of America Chicago Marathon 3rd 1:36: New York City Marathon 7th 1:39:02 George won the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in 2003, 2004, and 2006; he finished third there in 2011, 2012, and last year. George was profiled in the New York Times on May 15, 2008, when he had set world records at 100, 400, and 800 meters before age 25. He competed in seven track and field events at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and six at the 2012 London Paralympics, where he was the 800-meter bronze medalist. He won that event at the 2013 IPC World Championships in Lyon, France. George suffered permanent paralysis when he fell from a 12th-floor window at the age of four. He weighs 98 pounds, but he can bench-press 220 pounds. In 2007, George graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in journalism. His personal best in the half-marathon came at the Indy 500 Half in May 2012, which he won in 47: #NYC HALF

19 ATHLETES: WHEELER PROFILES MEN KRIGE SCHABORT Age: 50 Date of Birth: September 9, 1963 Residence: Cedartown, GA Personal Best: 45:59, Indianapolis, New York City Marathon 6th 1:42: Bank of America Chicago Marathon 8th 1:35: Los Angeles Marathon 1st 1:39: Virgin Money London Marathon 3rd 1:32: London Paralympic Marathon 10th 1:33: Los Angeles Marathon 1st 1:33:15 Schabort was a soldier in the South African army before a bomb explosion took his legs in Angola in 1987; he began to race wheelchairs in One of the most successful athletes in the sport s history, Schabort has notched marathon victories in Cleveland, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, New York City (2002 and 2003), and Honolulu an astounding seven times. His runner-up finish to Kurt Fearnley in the 2009 New York City Marathon was the closest in the race s history, with both athletes being given the same finish time and Fearnley winning by mere inches. Schabort was on the South African Paralympic Team in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004, and he took the bronze medal in the 1992 Barcelona Paralympic Marathon. He improved to the silver medal eight years later in Sydney. Now a United States citizen, Schabort lives in Georgia with his wife and three children, and he gives inspirational speeches in schools and hospitals #NYC HALF 3 3