Posted: April 20, 2007

Athletics (RWire): Khannouchi, Keflezighi, Hall Lead U.S. Contingent at Sunday's Flora London Marathon

Men's field stacked; Hall to make his marathon debut By Ryan Lamppa, Running USA wire The Flora London Marathon, set for Sunday, April 22, has put together another stellar field which also includes a strong U.S. contingent of 2002 race champion and former world record holder Khalid Khannouchi, 2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist Meb Keflezighi, rising star Ryan Hall, the emerging Fasil Bizuneh and sub-2:30 marathoner Blake Russell. In recent editions, U.S. runners have done well at London. In 2002, Khannouchi, in an epic battle with Paul Tergat and Haile Gebrselassie, won the race in 2:05:38 to set his second world record (also U.S. record and current course record). Last year, Deena Kastor won the race with her 2:19:36 U.S. record to become the first American woman to break the sub-2:20 barrier, while Khannouchi, who has the best ever career average from his five fastest marathons (an incredible 2:06:13), finished fourth in 2:07:04 in his return from injury. In 2003, Kastor finished third in 2:21:16 to break Joan Benoit Samuelson's long-standing U.S. marathon record (2:21:21 from 1985). This year at the 27th edition, the men's field is formidable with the legendary Haile Gebrselassie, the world record holder Paul Tergat, defending champion Felix Limo, the two-time world champion Jaouad Gharib and the 2004 Olympic Marathon champion Stefano Baldini. With a top performance, Khannouchi, who resides in Ossining, New York, can add to his London laurels, while Team Running USA teammates Keflezighi and Hall, who train at altitude in Mammoth Lakes, California, come to London also seeking top places and fast times. Hall is making his marathon debut, and after the Stanford grad set the U.S. half-marathon record (59:43) in Houston last January, he decided to test himself at the 26.2 mile marathon distance in London. The U.S. debut marathon record (2:09:41) is held jointly by Alberto Salazar (New York City 1980) and Alan Culpepper (Chicago 2002). The deep women's field includes seven women with personal records under 2:22 led by Zhou Chunxiu of China (2:19:51), Berhane Adere of Ethiopia (2:20:42) and Galina Bogomolova of Russia (2:20:47). The London course is flat and fast and seven world records have been set there including the current women's world record of 2:15:25 set by Paula Radcliffe in 2003. The weather forecast for London on Sunday is mostly sunny with race time temperatures in the 50s. As well as chasing prize money and record bonuses totaling more than $500,000, the competitors in this year's race will also by fighting for points towards the World Marathon Majors (WMM) series. The other WMM races this year are the Boston Marathon (April 16), real,- Berlin Marathon (September 30), LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon (October 7) and ING New York City Marathon (November 4), plus the IAAF World Championships marathon races on Osaka (August 25 for men and September 2 for women). 2007 Flora London Marathon Professional Field Athlete / personal record / note MEN Paul Tergat (KEN), 2:04:55, world record, Berlin 2003 Khalid Khannouchi (USA / NY), 2:05:38, U.S. record Haile Gebrselassie (ETH), 2:05:56, two-time Olympic 10,000m gold medalist Felix Limo (KEN), 2:06:14, defending race champion Martin Lel (KEN), 2:06:41, 2005 race champion Hendrick Ramaala (RSA), 2:06:55 Jaouad Gharib (MAR), 2:07:02, 2003 / 2005 World champion Stefano Baldini (ITA), 2:07:22, 2004 Olympic Marathon gold medalist Benson Cherono (KEN), 2:07:58 Hicham Chat (MAR), 2:07:59 Marilson Gomes dos Santos (BRA), 2:08:48, ING New York City Marathon champion (2006) Jon Brown (GBR), 2:09:31 Meb Keflezighi (USA / CA), 2:09:53, 2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist Juan Carlos De la Ossa (ESP), debut Ryan Hall (USA / CA), debut, U.S. half-marathon record (59:43), Houston 2007 Fasil Bizuneh (USA / AZ), 2:18:14 WOMEN Zhou Chunxiu (CHN), 2:19:51, Asian Games champion Berhane Adere (ETH), 2:20:42, LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon champion (2006) Galina Bogomolova (RUS), 2:20:47 Lyudmila Petrova (RUS), 2:21:29, London runner-up (2006) Constantina Tomescu-Dita (ROM), 2:21:30 Gete Wami (ETH), 2:21:34, real,- Berlin Marathon champion (2006) Susan Chepkemei (KEN), 2:21:46 Lornah Kiplagat (NED), 2:22:22 Benita Johnson (AUS), 2:22:36 Blake Russell (USA / CA), 2:29:10 For more race information, go to: London-Marathon.co.uk. Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director (805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016 Ryan@RunningUSA.org www.RunningUSA.org. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest