Posted: August 28, 2007

Athletics: Professional Field Announced for Seventh Annual Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., (August 28, 2007) - The elite athlete field is set for the seventh annual Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach on Sunday, September 2, 2007. More than 40 men and women, including returning and past champions, promising newcomers and strong American contenders will compete for cash and bonuses totaling more than $114,000. It's ladies first in Virginia Beach as the women's professional field starts 15 minutes ahead of the men. Edna Kiplagat of Kenya leads this year's field as the returning champion. The 27-year-old won her debut half-marathon last year at the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in a time of 1:11:08. This year, Kiplagat has maintained to her winning ways, establishing a May road racing trifecta, as she added the Bolder Boulder 10K title in Colorado to her wins at the ING Bay to Breakers 12K in San Francisco, and Lilac Bloomsday 12K in Spokane, Washington. She will be challenged by a couple of Ethiopian newcomers, Ashu Kasim and Teyba Erkesso, who both have performed well of late. Kasim, 22, finished fourth at the All-Africa Championships in the 10,000m in Algiers, and has consistently turned in personal best times at distances ranging from 1,500 to 10,000 meters in 2007. Countrywoman Erkesso is riding a wave of successes this year on the American road tour with victories in New Orleans at the Crescent City Classic 10K, the Vancouver Sun Run (10K), and at the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Miler where she set the current world record of 51:44. Running fans and spectators will have the chance to watch two outstanding local athletes this Sunday. Cheryl Anderson, 25, from Richmond and Kathy Newberry, 29, from Williamsburg lead the American bid at the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon. Both have qualified to compete in the 2008 Olympic Trials, Anderson in the marathon, and Newberry, who is the head track and cross county coach at The College of William & Mary, in the 5,000m and 10,000m. Anderson and Newberry will be joined by Susan Loken, 44, of Phoenix, Ariz. who earned her trip to the 2008 Women's Olympic Trials Marathon in Boston next April as the national master's marathon champion. In the men's race, 2004 Rock `n` Roll Half Marathon champion Haron Toroitich of Kenya returns to the streets of Virginia Beach where he barely nipped fellow Kenyan Joshua Chelanga at the tape in 2004. Toroitich earned a $25,000 bonus that year for adding the Rock `n` Roll Half Marathon title to his earlier musical marathon victory at the P.F. Chang's Rock `n` Roll Arizona Marathon that January. Moroccan Ridouane Harroufi, 26, also has good memories of Virginia as he finished second at the 2007 Shamrock Sportsfest in a time of 1:03:43. He also took top honors at the Bolder Boulder 10K on Memorial Day in Colorado, beating several top men who will also contend in Virginia Beach. Allies in the Kenyan dominated men's field include Julius Kibet, 25, winner of the 2004 Philadelphia Distance Run and Nicholas Kamakya, 22, who has been running well with wins at the 2007 Utica Boilermaker 15k, a third place finish at the 2007 Peachtree 10k in Atlanta, and recently, a fifth place finish at the hilly Parkersburg Half Marathon in West Virginia. They will be tested by four Ethiopian runners led by 25-year-old Teferi Wodajo, a member of the 2004 Ethiopian Olympic marathon team. Wodajo earned his first marathon victory last year in Cologne, Germany, and finished fifth at this year's Boston Marathon. Two training partners who may work together toward victory are Kenyan Tom Nyariki and Tanzanian John Yuda. Running for the Kimbia Team, Nyariki, 36, and Yuda, 27, bring top international credentials to Virginia Beach. Nyariki has earned bronze medals at the World Track and Field Championships, as well as the World Cross Country Championships. Yuda has twice finished third at the World Half Marathon Championships, while holding the fastest half marathon time in this year's Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon field at 60:02. Both have also shown good form this year. Yuda finished a strong third at the Beach to Beacon 10K in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and Nyariki won the 10,000 meter crown at the Kenyan Armed Forces Championships. Saturn SKY to Pace the Race The Saturn SKY is the official vehicle of the 2007 Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon and will lead the professional athletes as they race for victory. The SKY will also be on display at the Health & Fitness Expo and Finish Line Festival. To discover Saturn, please visit your local Saturn retailer or www.Saturn.com 2007 Women's Elite Field NAME, AGE, COUNTRY, BEST, FACT/COMMENT 1) Kathy Newberry, 29, USA (VA), NA, Head Coach at The College of William & Mary, 2008 Olympic Trials 5k & 10k Qualifier 2) Cheryl Anderson, 25, USA (VA), 1:17:00, 1st 2007 Shamrock Marathon, 2008 Olympic Trials Marathon Qualifier 3) Tera Moody, 25, USA, 1:16:00, 1st 2006 Freescale Austin Half Marathon 4) Susan Loken, 44, USA (AZ), 1:16:00, Two-time U.S. National Masters Champion at Twin Cities, 2008 Olympic Trials Marathon Qualifier 5) Tatiana Aryasova, 26, RUS, 1:10:20, 3rd 2003 Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Virginia Beach 6) Sharon Cherop, 23, KEN, 1:11:00, 1st 2007 Parkersburg Half Marathon 7) Angelina Mutuku, 25, KEN, 1:13:59, 3rd 2006 Wharf to Wharf, 8th 2007 Crazy 8's 8k, 9th 2007 Boilermaker 15k 8) Edna Kiplagat, 27, KEN, 1:10:12, 1st 07 Bay to Breakers, 1st 06 Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Virginia Beach 9) Kathy Butler, 33, GBR, 1:11:05, 1st 2006 Bellin Run 10k, 3rd 2006 Philadelphia Distance Run 10) Akane Wakita, 19, JPN, 1:11:01, 7th 2007 Japan Half Marathon Championships 11) Yoko Miyauchi, 24, JPN, 1:10:04, 8th 2007 Japan Half Marathon Championships, 6th 2006 Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon 12) Hiroko Miyauchi, 24, JPN, 1:11:11, 3rd 2007 Miyazaki Half Marathon (PB), 8th 2006 Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon 13) Kayoko Obata, 35, JPN, 1:10:20, 14) Teyba Erkesso, 24, ETH, NA, 1st 2007 Cherry Blossom 10Mi (WR), 1st 2007 Crescent City Classic 10k, 1st 2007 Vancouver Sun Run 15) Ashu Kasim, 22, ETH, 1:17:29, 4th 2007 All-Africa National Championships 10,000m 2007 Men's Elite Field NAME, AGE, COUNTRY, BEST, FACT/COMMENT 1) Festus Langat, 22, KEN, 1:01:01, 1st 2007 Nedbank Half Marathon Durban 2) Julius Kibet, 25, KEN, 1:01:17, 1st 2004 Philadelphia Distance Run 3) Mesfin Hailu, 26, ETH, 1:01:59, 3rd 2007 Parkersburg Half Marathon 4) Tekeste Kebede, 25, ETH, 1:02:51, 5th 2006 Rock 'n' Roll Marathon 5) Teferi Wodajo, 25, ETH, NA, 1st 2006 Cologne Marathon, 5th 2007 Boston Marathon 6) Yusuf Sangoka, 28, KEN, 1:00:56, 2nd 2007 Turin Marathon, 3rd 2005 Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Virginia Beach 7) Haron Toroitich, 29, KEN, 1:01:55, 1st 2004 Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Virginia Beach, 1st 2004 P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon 8) Yoshinori Oda, 26, JPN, 1:01:58, 5th 2007 Japan Half Marathon Championships, 16th 2004 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships 9) Kazuo Ietani, 30, JPN, 1:01:30, 8th 2005 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships 10) Kazuhiko Bandou, 27, JPN, 1:02:49, NA 11) Kenji Noguchi, 32, JPN, 1:02:20, NA 12) Charles Munyeki, 19, KEN, 1:01:34, 1st 2005 Nariobi Half Marathon, 2nd 2006 Lilac Bloomsday 13) John Yuda, 27, TAN, 1:00:02, 3rd 2006 Beach to Beacon 10k, 3rd '01 & '02 World Half Marathon Championships 14) Tom Nyariki, 36, KEN, NA, 8th 2007 Beach to Beacon, 1st 06 NYC Half Marathon, 1st 2006 Beach to Beacon 15) Nicholas Kamakya, 22, KEN, 1:01:31, 1st 2007 Boilermaker 15k, 3rd 2007 Peachtree 10k, 6th 2007 Beach to Beacon 16) MacDonald Ondara, 23, KEN, 1:01:21, 5th 2007 Lilac Bloomsday, 3rd 2006 Big Sur Half Marathon 17) John Kiprotich, 23, KEN, 1:02:26, 5th 2006 Coachuila Half Marathon, 3rd Monterrey Mexico Half Marathon 18) Robert Letting, 23, KEN, 1:02:16, 5th 2007 Coachuila Half Marathon, 3rd Chihuahua Half Marathon 19) Ridouane Harroufi, 26, MAR, 1:01:37, 1st 2007 Bolder Boulder, 2nd 2007 Shamrock Half Marathon 20) Woku Beyi, 20, KEN, 1:03:41, 3rd 2007 Bolder Boulder, 10th 2007 Peachtree 10k, CR 2007 NYC 5 mile 21) Stephen Chemlany, 25, KEN, 1:04:50, 1st 2006 Boston Mayor's Cup 8k 22) Timothy Psitet, 26, KEN, 1:07:10, 7th 2007 Stratton Faxon Fairfield Half Marathon 23) David Langat, 33, KEN, NA, 1st 2007 RRCA National 5k Championship, 2nd 2006 Nyeri Half Marathon 24) Nicodemus Malakwen, 25, KEN, NA, 5th 2007 Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon San Jose, 1st 2006 Houston Half Marathon 25) Linus Maiyo, 24, KEN, 1:02:40, 3rd 2007 Crescent Classic 10k, 3rd 2006 Philadelphia Distance Run 26) Samuel Ndereba, 30, KEN, 1:01:50, 1st 2007 Azalea Trail Run 10k, 5th 2006 Philadelphia Distance Run 27) Jason Warick, 33, CAN, 1:05:00, 2nd Ranked Marathoner in Canada 28) Joseph Sitienei, 32, KEN, 1:03:28, 2nd 2007 ING Georgia Marathon, 13th 2007 Parkersburg Half Marathon COUNTRY KEY CAN Canada ETH Ethiopia GBR Great Britain JPN Japan KEN Kenya MAR Morocco TAN Tanzania RUS Russia USA United States PRIZE MONEY Men & Women Overall 1st Place-$12,000. 2nd Place-$7,000 3rd Place-$5,000 4th Place-$3,000 5th Place-$2,000 6th Place-$1,500 7th Place-$1,000 8th Place-$750 9th Place-$600 10th Place-$500 World Record Bonuses $10,000 for better than 58:33 (M) and 66:44 (W) American Record Bonuses $5,000 for better than 59:43 (M) and 67:34 (W) American Soil Record Bonuses $5,000 for better than 58:55 (M) and 67:53 (W) Course Record Bonuses $1,000 for the first finisher better than 60:42 (M) and 69:17 (W) Masters (40 and over) Prize Money 1st man - $500 1st woman - $500 2nd man - $250 2nd woman - $250 Hampton Roads Residents 1st man - $500 1st woman - $500 2nd man - $250 2nd woman - $250 Wheelchair Prize Money (NOT HAND CYCLES) 1st man under 1:00:00 $600 1st woman under 1:15:00 $600 2nd man under 1:00:00 $400 2nd woman under 1:15:00 $400 3rd man under 1:00:00 $300 3rd woman under 1:15:00 $300 4th man under 1:00:00 $200 4th woman under 1:15:00 $200 Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest