Largest marathon prize purse draws crowd to NYC

By Justin McMahon Nov 1, 2006, 18:05 GMT

New York, NY - When the gun goes off Sunday to mark the start of the New York City Marathon, runners will be competing for the largest prize purse in marathon history -- a sum of more than $700,000.

Aside from the money involved, the marathon world record holder from Kenya, Paul Tergat, will attempt to become the first back-to-back winner in New York since countryman John Kagwe did so in 1997 and '98.

The 26.2 mile task will not be easily managed for Tergat, who won last year in a time of 2:09:29, as the draw of a larger purse also brings about a greater quality of runners vying for the title.

Last year's runner-up and the 2004 NYC Marathon champion, Hendrick Ramaala, who finished one second behind Tergat in 2005, will be one of the top contenders in this year's field. Ramaala set a new personal best earlier this year by running a 2:06:55 at the London Marathon.

Among other international notables, Italy's Stefano Baldini, the 2004 Olympic Marathon gold medalist, will make his first trip to run in the NYC Marathon. Baldini owns a marathon personal best time of 2:07:27. Kenyans Frederick Cherano and William Kipsang are also making their NYC Marathon debuts, posting previous personal bests of 2:08:38 (Turin) and 2:06:39 (Amsterdam), respectively.

Despite an absence of American champions on the top of the medal stand since Alberto Salazar in 1982, Meb Keflezighi continues to bring hope for the U.S. distance runners. Keflezighi has earned consecutive top three finishes the past two years at New York, and will once again lead the names of possible Americans in the hunt for this year's title. Keflezighi holds a personal best of 2:09:53 at the NYC Marathon.

A name mentioned very closely with Keflezighi due to his consistent success in American marathons is Alan Culpepper. A two-time Olympian, Culpepper's name has appeared in the top-five at the Boston Marathon twice, where he holds a personal best of 2:09:41.

Dathan Ritzenheim rounds out the top list of American males with high expectations set for him, since he will be making his marathon debut. Ritzenheim's accolades to this point include winning the NCAA individual cross country title and setting the record for the U.S. college 10,000 meters.

With a prize purse equal to that of the men, Latvia's Jelena Prokopcuka will attempt to repeat as the women's champion in New York. In 2005, Prokopcuka posted a time of 2:24:41 to win by 14 seconds.

Prokupcuka's challengers include Boston Marathon winner Rita Jeptoo, who edged Prokupcuka in a personal best time of 2:23:28 earlier this year. The 25-year- old Jeptoo boasts titles from her first two career marathons -- Stockholm and Milan. This will be her first NYC Marathon.

The 2005 NYC runner-up to Prokupcuka, Susan Chepkemei of Kenya, brings one the most successful resumes to New York once again, as she has three second-place finishes since 2001. Chepkemei owns a personal best of 2:21:46, which she ran at the London Marathon earlier this year.

Also successful without a title in New York is Catherine Ndereba. Ndereba currently owns the African marathon record with a time of 2:18:47, which she attained at the 2001 Chicago Marathon. She finished as a runner-up in both of her races at the NYC Marathon, in 1999 and 2003.

Among the group of American women attempting to bring the NYC Marathon title back to the United States is Deena Kastor. Currently the world's number one- ranked marathoner, Kastor continues to improve her times as she bested her previous American record by two minutes earlier this year by capturing the London Marathon in a time of 2:19:36.

Katie McGregor will line up along with Kastor and will be making her marathon debut. Already in her running career, McGregor has captured the 2005 U.S. title in the 10,000-meters as well as back-to-back U.S. 10K titles on the roads.

Despite not being a truly legitimate contender for the title, seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong is entered this year.

The race is scheduled to start on November 5 at 8 a.m. (et). The course makes its traditional start at the Verazzano-Narrows Bridge in Staten Island and finishes at Central Park in Manhattan. Over 35,000 people finished last year's race.

© 2006 The Sports Network