Posted: May 24, 2007

Athletics (RRW): Three World Champions Set For New York Mini 10-K

From David Monti © 2007 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com NEW YORK (23-May) -- Three world champions --Lornah Kiplagat, Catherine Ndereba and Benita Johnson-- will face off at the 36th New York Mini 10-K, the world's original and oldest all-women's road race, on Saturday, June 9, organizers announced here today. Kiplagat, 33, the reigning IAAF World Cross Country and World Road Running champion from the Netherlands, has won the Mini three times, including the last two years. She trails only two legendary five-time Mini champions, Grete Waitz and Tegla Loroupe, for most wins at the event. According to Kiplagat's husband and manager, Pieter Langerhost, the Mini will be Kiplagat's only road racing appearance in the United States this year. The 34 year-old Ndereba won the IAAF World Championships marathon in 2003 in Paris, and was the silver medalist at the same event in 2005 in Helsinki. The former world record holder in the marathon from Kenya won the silver medal at the Athens Olympic Games, and she'll be using the Mini as part of her preparation for the IAAF World Championships in Osaka where she will attempt to win her third marathon medal at those championships. Johnson won the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 2004, and holds nearly ever Australian distance running record, from 3000m to the marathon (but not the half-marathon). The 28 year-old was fourth at the Mini last year and third in 2005. The Mini, which was founded and is still organized by the New York Road Runners, is a grand celebration of women's running featuring a majestic start on Manhattan's Central Park West. The race attracts top athletes from around the world, and the Road Runners also announced that two other athletes from the British Commonwealth would take part. Mara Yamuchi, the #2 British marathoner behind Paula Radcliffe, and Nina Rillstone, the New Zealand half-marathon record holder, will make their first appearances at the Mini. "What better way to celebrate the strength and power of women today than by bringing in an absolutely stellar field to set the pace," said New York Road Runners' president and CEO Mary Wittenberg in a prepared statement. "These women rule the roads of running and are history-makers in our sport. They continue the rich history of the original women-only road race." The list of previous Mini champions reads like a who's who of women's distance running. Besides Waitz and Loroupe, other champions include Deena Kastor (2004), Paula Radcliffe (2001), Delillah Asiago (1991 and 1995), Liz McColgan (1992), Lisa Ondieki (1987), Ingrid Kristiansen (1986), and Anne Audain (1983). The first edition was staged in 1972 and, according to the independent Association of Road Running Statisticians, the event has doled out close to half a million dollars in prize money throughout its history. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest