FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Keflezighi, Hall lead U.S. hopes in Boston
INDIANAPOLIS - The eyes of all U.S. long distance running fans will be on
Boston Monday for the 114th Running of the B.A.A. Boston Marathon in hopes
of seeing the first U.S. men's champion since Greg Meyer in 1983.
Leading the charge will be Meb Keflezighi (San Diego, Calif.) who last year
became the first U.S. man to win the famed New York City Marathon since
1982. A win would make Keflezighi the first U.S. man to pull-off the New
York/Boston double since Alberto Salazar in 1982.
Keflezighi will have company in his quest to become Boston champion in
occasional training partner and Mammoth Track Club teammate Ryan
Hall (Big Bear Lake, Calif.). Hall, the reigning Olympic Trials
Marathon champion, finished third in last year's Boston Marathon after
taking charge of the pace in the early stages of the race.
Keflezighi and Hall will face a top international field that includes
defending champion Deriba Merga of Ethiopia. Merga, the fourth-place
finisher from the 2008 Olympic Marathon in Beijing ran away from the 2009
Boston field in the Newton hills to win comfortably.
A major threat to Keflezighi, Hall and Merga will be Abderrahim Goumri of
Morocco, who will make his debut on the Boston course as the fastest man in
the field. With second-place finishes in London, Chicago and in New York
City (twice), he is the fastest marathoner in history never to win, and
this time he is determined to clinch the top spot in Boston.
Other international athletes looking to claim the Boston crown include
Chala Dechase of Ethiopia. In only his second marathon, Dechase challenged
world record holder Haile Gebrselassie in the closing miles of the Dubai
Marathon.
The women's race in Boston will feature a rematch between 2009 champion
Salina Kosgei of Kenya and runner-up Dire Tune of Ethiopia. Last year, the
pair dueled until the final steps when Kosgei edged ahead for the
one-second win.
Other top Americans in the field include 2006 NCAA Division I Cross Country
Champion Josh Rohatinsky (Portland, Ore.), 2010 USA Half Marathon Champion
Antonio Vega (St. Paul, Minn.) as well as his Team USA Minnesota teammates
Jason Lehmkuhle (Minneapolis, Minn.), and Michelle Frey (Minneapolis,
Minn.). A late addition to the field also includes 2009 Team USA World
Championship marathoner Paige Higgins (Flagstaff, Ariz.).
For more information on the 144th B.A.A. Boston Marathon visit www.baa.org.
About USA Track & Field
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and
field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF
encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched
events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school
participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United
States.
For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org
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