RUNNERS TO WATCH - NYC HALF
By Chris Lotsbom
(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

NEW YORK (19-Mar) -- Tomorrow's NYC Half-Marathon boasts one of the deepest professional fields of any half-marathon ever held in the United States, and has the largest prize money purse of any USA half-Marathon: $100,000.  Here is out exclusive look at the major players in tomorrow's race.

* MEN *

Aiming to defend his title from a year ago is Kenya's Peter Kamais.  Kamais, who has yet to race in 2011, is one of only two men ever to run sub-60 minutes here in New York.  His 59:53 personal best joins Haile Gebrselassie's course record 59:24, run in 2007. 

Kenyan compatriot Moses Kigen Kipkosgei also returns to the Big Apple.  Kipkosgei placed second last year in a personal best 1:00:38, out kicking American Mo Trafeh in the final meters.  The 28 year-old from Eldoret more recently placed a surprise third in the ING New York City Marathon last year. 

ING New York City Marathon champion Gebre Gebremariam will be looking to make it three for three in this city.  Last year, the tall Ethiopian won both the marathon and UAE Healthy Kidney 10-Km, on his way to claiming five victories in American road races.  His only loss came at the Rock 'N' Roll Philadelphia Half-Marathon, where he finished second in a personal best 1:00:25.

Former ING New York City Marathon winners Meb Keflezighi and Marilson Gomes dos Santos return to join Gebremariam in the field. Keflezighi, who is not scheduled to run a spring marathon, has made the NYC Half his sole focus for the spring.  Gomes dos Santos finished a disappointing ninth last year due to stomach problems.  They have run 1:01:00 and 59:33, respectively, for the half-marathon distance.

American record holder in the half-marathon Ryan Hall (59:43) leads the U.S. contingent.  He remains the only American ever to run under 60 minutes, coming in his debut half in Houston four years ago. The self-coached Hall finished second at the U.S. Half-Marathon Championships in January.

In what could be the most anticipated half-marathon debut since Hall's in 2007, Galen Rupp will try the 21.1 km distance for the first time tomorrow.  The Portland, Ore., based Rupp, training under Alberto Salazar, chose to run here after not being able to run a 10,000m track race in Christchurch, New Zealand, due to the earthquake there.  The newly-crowned American record holder in the 5000m indoors has only run one road race before, and still plans to do a track season this spring.

Rupp's new training partner in Portland, Britain's Mo Farah, will also be running his first half-marathon here.  The double European Champion indoors, Farah hopes to transfer his success to the roads. 

Abdi Abdirahman and Alistair Cragg return to New York City after running the NYC Half last year.  Abdirahman did not finish after stepping in a pot hole, and Cragg finished seventh in 1:01:58 in his debut at the distance.  Abdirahman, a three-time Olympian, set his half-marathon personal best here of 1:00:29 in 2007.

* WOMEN *   

American Kara Goucher headlines the women's field heading into the race.  Goucher, who gave birth to son Colton on September 25 of last year, says she feels in top form following the pregnancy.  The IAAF World Championship bronze medallist at 10,000m in 2007, Goucher is preparing for the Boston Marathon in April.  Her personal best time is 1:06:57 from the Great North Run in 2007.

In her lone road race this year, the P.F. Chang's Rock 'N' Roll Arizona Half-Marathon, Goucher finished second to Mexico's Madai Perez.  Perez, who ran a time of 1:11:49, has consistently seen success in New York.  She finished second in 2008, third in 2010, and fifth in 2007.  Her personal best of 1:09:45 was set here a year ago, when she finished behind Great Britain's Mara Yamauchi and America's Deena Kastor. 

Speaking of Great Britain, the European nation has seen excellent success at the NYC Half.  Yamauchi and marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe are the past two champions of the Central Park-to-Lower Manhattan race.  Teddington's Jo Pavey hopes to continue the streak.  Pavey's personal best, 1:08:53, ranks third in the field behind Goucher and Ethiopia's Werknesh Kidane.

Kidane, who is married to Gebremariam, ran the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon in January, finishing eighth in 2:27:15.  Kidane's last time in New York was when she finished third at the NYRR New York Mini-10K last June.  The question is can the former IAAF World Cross Country Champion bounce back from her Dubai performance and earn a spot on the podium here?

Edna Kiplagat, the 2010 ING New York City Marathon champion, is familiar with the podium.  The 31 year-old from Iten, Kenya, captured three other victories on the road in America last year.  Her versatility from short distances (a win at the Steamboat Classic 4-mile) to long distances (last year's Honda Los Angeles Marathon champion) could help her in the half-marathon.  Her personal best of 1:09:32 was set back in 2006.

Portugal's Jessica Augusto is enjoying her first ever trip to the United States, and hopes to leave here with the top spot and a check for $20,000.  Similar to Kiplagat, Augusto has shown excellence at many distances.  She ran at the Beijing Olympics in the 5000m and 3000m steeplechase, and won the 2009 Great North Run half-marathon.  If it comes down to a final kick, Augusto likely has the best foot speed in the field.  Her half-marathon personal best is 1:09:08.

The biggest heart-warming story coming out of New York is that of Japan's Yuri Kano.  Kano was a late entrant into the half-marathon, as she was preparing for the Nagoya Women's Marathon.  Due to the earthquake and tsunami which rocked the nation last week, the marathon was cancelled, leaving Kano with no place to race.  That's when Brendan Reilly, her Boulder, Co., based manager, and Mary Wittenberg, CEO and President of the New York Road Runners, came together and brought the 32 year-old to New York.  Thankfully, all of Kano's family members are accounted for.  He's run 1:08:57 for the half-marathon.

Although not well-known in the United States, Russia's Olesya Syreva could be a threat for victory.  The soft-spoken athlete just collected a silver medal at the European Indoor Championships at 3000-meters.  Her half-marathon best is 1:09:52.

The NYC Half can be watched LIVE online at http://tv.nyrr.org beginning at 7:30 a.m. EDT tomorrow.