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NEW YORK (01-Apr) -- As Cyndi Lauper famously sung, "Girls just want to have fun." But Lauper didn't tell the whole story: they also want to compete.
At the fifth annual More Magazine Marathon + Half-Marathon, scheduled for Sunday, April 6, in New York's Central Park, they get to do both. The New York Road Runners estimate that 7000 grandmothers, mothers and daughters will descend on the word's most famous urban park to run either a full marathon --reserved for women over 40-- or a half-marathon where teams of two women are scored together. In the half-marathon, at least one woman on each team must be at least 40. It's the only such marathon and half-marathon for over-40 women in the world.
Loken, who will be running her second Olympic Trials Marathon in Boston on April 20, will be running the half-marathon this year at More. Paired with reigning U.S. masters cross country champion Jody Hawkins, 41, of Frisco, Tex., this duo will attempt to become the first team of two over-40 women to win the overall title and the $2000 first place prize. The event record is 2:36:03 set by Ann Alyanak and Debbi Kilpatrick-Morris in 2003. The winning team will receive a $500 bonus if they break 2:45:00 or a $1000 bonus if they break 2:30:00.
"My fitness level has never been better," concluded Loken, a mother of three. "I hope it all comes together for a great half in New York City and a PR at the Trials."
With Loken choosing not to defend her crown in the full marathon, two-time Olympic Trials qualifier Kelly Keeler Ramacier of St. Paul, Minn., will be racing for her first More crown. Ramacier, 46, did not begin running until she was 32 years-old. A former smoker, she is like so many other women who will run at More, only discovering later in life that she had hidden physical ability.
"I did not participate in any sports at all until just before my 32nd birthday," said Ramacier. "I was a very shy kid and was afraid to join in anything. I was completely sedentary until I went running on Nov. 20, 1993. I was still smoking for my first year of running and quite cold turkey in Sept. 1994, about six weeks before my first marathon."
Ramacier has come a long way, running 2:45:00 or better for the marathon six times, including a personal best 2:42:25 set at Grandma's Marathon in 1997. At age 38, she finished 17th at the 2000 Olympic Trials.
The race will also feature several special guests, including three-time world cross country champion, Lynn Jennings; nine-time ING New York City Marathon champion, Grete Waitz; and the first women to officially finish the Boston Marathon, Kathrine Switzer. These women will participate in panel discussions at a two-day Health + Wellness Expo prior to the race.
Registration for this event is still open at NYRR.org, the official website of the New York Road Runners.
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