Wilson Kipsang (Kenya) - 58:59
Dathan Ritzenhein (U.S.A.) - 1:00:00
Abdi Abdirahman (U.S.A.) - 1:00:29
Julius Arile (Kenya) - 1:00:31
Tesfaye Girma (Ethiopia) - 1:00:36
Deressa Chimsa (Ethiopia) - 1:00:51
Meb Keflezighi (U.S.A.) - 1:01:00
Sam Chelanga (Kenya) - 1:01:19
Kenta Murayama (Japan/Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:19
Kevin Chelimo (Kenya) - 1:01:21
Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) - 1:01:48
Hafid Chani (Morocco) - 1:02:23
Daniele Meucci (Italy) - 1:02:30
Kento Otsu (Japan/Toyo Univ.) - 1:02:43
Ketema Nigusse (Ethiopia) - 1:02:59
Bado Worku (Ethiopia) - 1:02:59
Stephen Sambu (Kenya) - 1:03:02
Tesfaye Assefa (Ethiopia) - 1:03:13
Rob Watson (Canada) - 1:03:29
Jason Hartmann (U.S.A.) - 1:03:32
Odilon Cuahutle (Mexico) - 1:03:59
Guor Marial (U.S.A.) - 1:04:21
Bouabdellah Tahri (France) - 1:06:12
Leonard Korir (Kenya) - debut
Bernard Lagat (U.S.A.) - debut
source: Japan Running News
Clearly Kipsang seems to be the class of the field. I would bet AGAINST Ritz and Abdi coming close to their PRs
My calls:
Wilson 59:40 (Breaks the race wide open once they leave Central Park)
Chisma 59:55 (Will be fighting whatever moves Kipsang throws at him)
Bernie 1:00:20 (He will experience what road racing is really like as soon as the hammer is thrown down. Don't expect anything similar to Mo Farah's heroics with the former miler)
Chelenga 1:01:00 (from chase pack)
Korir 1:01:05
(If chase pack goes slower than 1:01:30, I could see Arile coming in 4th with an additional 15 seconds behind Lagat)
And among those on the American scene:
Lagat
Chelenga
Korir
Sambu
Ritzenhein (if he can't beat Chris Derrick, what makes you think he will beat Chelenga and Korir?)
Big Disappointments to come:
Tahri (this guy can't even back up his endurance on the track. what makes you think he will run a good half?)
Abdi (When has this guy raced most recently? It won't be pretty)
Girma (What has this guy done since 2006? rather than listing runners by their PRs, how about best times within the last 2 years?)