Posted: December 31, 2006

Athletics: Hansons To Lead Thousands In Central Park Tonight

From David Monti

© 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

Athletes from the Brooks Hansons Distance Project will lead some 5000 runners at tonight's 27th annual Emerald Nuts Midnight Run in New York City's Central Park. The four-mile road race, which begins at the stroke of midnight, is organized by the New York Road Runners. "There's no better way to feel great the next morning," NYRR president and CEO Mary Wittenberg told the New York Times late last week. "You wake up knowing that you've already accomplished something in the first hour of the New Year." Eleven men from the Hansons team will line up at the front of the race, led by marathoner Clint Verran. "Where else would you want to be on New Year's Eve?" said Verran via cell phone as he toured Battery Park this afternoon with his wife. "It's nice for us to throw in a race here and there in the winter time." The Hansons are on a three-day trip to Manhattan to preview the USA Men's Olympic Marathon Trials course which the Midnight Run will partially incorporate. The Trials will be held on Nov. 3, 2007, the day before the ING New York City Marathon. Not only will they run the four miles at midnight, but they plan a long run the following morning. "We plan on waking up early on New Year's Day and do a 16-miler on the course to get the feel for the hills and the turns," said Verran. He feels that the Hansons emphasis on building strength will make the hilly, multi-loop course play in their favor next November. "We kind of like what we see so far," he added. A victory by a Hansons athlete tonight is by no means assured, however. ZAP Fitness, a rival training program in Blowing Rock, N.C., has sent Thomas Morgan, and many of the best local runners are expected to show up, including Worku Beyi, an Ethiopian citizen who lives in the Bronx. Beyi will be wearing the #1 bib. On the women's side, ZAP runners Allison Grace and Stephanie Pezzullo will take on locally-based Ethiopians Teraza Yohannes, Aziza Alilu and Leteyesus Berhe. Claudia Camargo, an Argentine national who lives in Danbury, Conn., should also be in the hunt for victory. Last year's champions, Andrew Letherby of Australia and Sara Slattery of Lafayette, Colo., are not expected to take part. The records for the one-loop course (18:28 and 21:16) are both held by Americans: Christian Hesch of Morro Bay, Calif., and Amy Rudolph of Providence, R.I. The male and female winners will each receive $500, with $100 bonuses paid to the first three men sub-19:20 and the first three women sub-22:30. If the winners break the course records, they will earn another $100. The website Weather.com reports that temperatures should be well above freezing, about 40°F (4°C), and rain will hold off until after midnight. Athlete List: Emerald Nuts Midnight Run MEN Bib No Name Age City Nat. 1 Worku Beyi 19 Bronx, NY ETH 2 Clint Verran 31 Lake Orion, MI USA 3 Chad Johnson 31 Royal Oak, MI USA 4 Mike Morgan 26 Rochester Hills, MI USA 5 Luke Humphrey 25 Rochester, MI USA 6 Dave Ernsberger 24 Rochester, MI USA 7 Marty Rosendahl 28 Rochester, MI USA 8 Pat Rizzo 23 Rochester Hills, MI USA 9 Josh Eberly 26 Rochester, MI USA 10 Trent Briney 28 Rochester Hills, MI USA 11 Jeff Gaudette 24 Rochester, MI USA 12 Kyle O’Brien 26 Shelby Township, MI USA 14 Thomas Morgan 25 Lenoir, NC USA 15 Brad Lowery 24 Minneapolis, MN USA 16 Demesse Tefera 23 New York, NY ETH 17 Kassahun Kabiso 23 Bronx, NY ETH 18 Deresse Deniboba 20 Peekskill, NY ETH 19 Abiyot Endale 20 Peekskill, NY ETH 20 Genna Tufa 22 New York, NY ETH WOMEN Bib No Name Age City Nat. 21 Allison Grace 24 Lenoir, NC USA 22 Stephanie Pezzullo 24 Charlotte, NC USA 24 Teraza Yohannes 24 New York, NY ETH 25 Aziza Alilu 21 Bronx, NY ETH 26 Leteyesus Berhe 28 Bronx, NY ETH 27 Claudia Camargo 36 Darien, CT ARG Comment on this story. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest

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