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Running Greats To Race In New York City On August 16th In Only 4th Edition, NYRR's NYC Half-Marathon Presents Excellent Field LetsRun.com When: August 16, 2009, 7:00am Eastern As if the opening weekend of the IAAF World Championships weren't enough racing action for the world's running fans, the New York City Half Marathon, presented by the New York Road Runners (NYRR), is stacked with talent, recognizable names, and intriguing distance debuts. Women's Elite Field The best ever Kenyan marathoner and American marathoner will join her. Catherine Ndereba is in the field along with Deena Kastor. American distance running fans may be excited for the debut of Emily Brown at the half-marathon distance. Brown is the 2009 USA Cross Country champion and is a very talented road racer as well. Lindsey Scherf also makes her half debut. The surprise runner-up at the Houston Half-Marathon earlier this year is also in the race, 32-year-old Kelly Jaske. A slew of other top competitors and their running profiles can be viewed at the NYRR site. Men's Race Elite Entrants Perhaps the hottest American distance running star is Ryan Hall. He'll test his fitness and give the New York streets another test before he runs the ING New York City Marathon this October. Hall is the American record-holder at the 13.1, but don't expect a record from him this time. He'll be joined on the line by fellow American elite Abdi Abdirahman and Fasil Bizuneh. Abdi is a US Olympian, talented from the 5000m on the track all the way to the marathon distance. A more recent convert to the marathon, Bizuneh is an up-and-comer with many solid road race performances to go along with his track success. The international field can be expected to put even these top Americans to the test. The pre-race favorite likely will be Ridouane Harroufi (MAR). He is a monster on the road racing circuit, gobbling up big prize-purse wins all over the US. He has a 61-minute half-marathon personal best. Ethiopian Tadese Tola, only 21, is the defending champion of this race and a very accomplished runner at such a young age. Speaking of young, 37-year-old South African Hendrick Ramaala is still young at heart and loves competing in New York. A former ING NYC Marathon champion and runner-up (to Paul Tergat by only one seconds, no less), Ramaala brightens up every race with his presence and aggressive mid-race tactics. For more on the rest of the men's field please click here to go to the NYRR site.
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