FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Vicki Bendure
202-374-9259
Angela Casey
703-528-8176
WASHINGTON DC MARATHON SECURES ELITE ATHLETES
WASHINGTON, DC-The Washington DC Marathon announced today that the upcoming
event has confirmed that elite athletes will be participating from around
the world. Elites booked so far represent a good cross section of
athletes with respectable personal best times from a good mix of countries.
More than 30 elite athletes have been booked to date representing countries
such as Kenya, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Russia, Scotland, Poland, Morocco,
Slovakia, Canada, Romania as well as the United States. "This event is
beginning to attract the type of world-class talent we have hoped for,"
explains John Stanley with H2O Entertainment, the event organizer.
The course was altered slightly this year to make it even flatter and
faster with the hopes that world records might be set.
The backgrounds on the elites are extremely diverse. Some of the male
runners include Joseph Kamau (KEN) who has a best time of 2:10 and was a
one of the top three finishers at the NYC and Boston marathons; Michael
Dudley (USA) won the Las Vegas marathon and was a member of the USA World
Champion Marathon Team in 2001, he is also a former All-American from West
Virginia University; Igor Osmak (UKR), was the third place finisher of the
Motorola Austin Marathon in 2001; and Kassahun Kabiso (ETH) was the runner
up at the 2002 Hartford Marathon. Women elites include Leila Aman (ETH),
who placed seventh in the World Cross Country Championships and was the
Winner of the Bay Bridge Marathon in 2002. Janna Malkvova (RUS) was the
winner of five international marathons in the last three years and Dana
Petrescu (ROM) is a Romanian Marathon prodigy who has already run 2:34.
There are currently more than 6000 runners registered and prize money is in
excess of $25,000.
The second annual Washington DC Marathon is the District's only
internationally competitive marathon that completely resides within the
border of the nation's capital. The Washington DC Marathon was organized
by H2O Entertainment, Inc., an entertainment and special events company
which owns and operates premiere events and facilitates client events. For
more information on the marathon, SunTrust Team Relay Challenge, and the
marathon training programs, visit the web site at
www.washingtondcmarathon.com.
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