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Ritzenhein final tuning at NYC Half-Marathon

The NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE once again takes center stage, this year for "an Olympic summit of running," as some of the top Olympic marathon prospects will take to the streets of New York City for the 13.1-mile race—their final competit

The NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE once again takes center stage, this year for "an Olympic summit of running," as some of the top Olympic marathon prospects will take to the streets of New York City for the 13.1-mile race—their final competition before the Beijing marathons—on Sunday, July 27.

American Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein headlines the men’s field in his return to Central Park, following his second-place finish at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon last November. He will face a challenge from half-marathon specialist Patrick Makau of Kenya and South African Olympian Hendrick Ramaala, the ING New York City Marathon champion in 2004. On the women’s side, a trio of international Olympians is expected to battle it out at the front of the pack, including Catherine Ndereba of Kenya, Madai Perez of Mexico, and Benita Johnson of Australia.

New York Road Runners breaks down the professional field:
WOMEN
•     Colleen De Reuck (USA) — At age 44, this four-time Olympian probably doesn’t have the wheels she once did, but she finished the Peachtree Road Race 10K on July 4 in Atlanta in 12th place overall (33:57), showing that she can still handle the heat and the hills, and the injury that kept her out of April’s U.S. Olympic marathon trials is a distant memory.
•     Zoila Gomez (USA) — Colorado’s Gomez missed the 2008 U.S. Olympic team by one heartbreaking place, but she consoled herself with a personal best by more than 90 seconds, demonstrating that she can handle the pressure when the stakes are high.
•     Benita Johnson (AUS) **2008 Olympian** In six career half-marathon races, Johnson has never finished lower than third, and even that placing earned her a World Championships medal. The NYC Half-Marathon will give Johnson a good indication of how the training has gone at her high-altitude base in St. Moritz, Switzerland…and offer a preview of her fitness heading into Beijing.
•     Yuri Kano (JPN) — Kano knows the NYC Half course as well as anybody—she was fourth here in 2006 and 2007—and her new half-marathon personal best of 1:08:57 (set in winning the Sapporo Half-Marathon in Japan) should make the rest of the field take notice.
•     Catherine Ndereba (KEN) **2008 Olympian** The reigning Olympic marathon silver medalist looks to regain her NYC Half title after losing in the final meters in 2007. In 2006, the inaugural year of this race, she edged Benita Johnson by three-tenths of a second for the victory. In 22 career half-marathon races, she’s got 15 wins. No wonder they call her "the Great."
•     Alice Timbilili (KEN) — Last September, this World Cross Country Championships medalist and two-time Olympian ran the fifth-fastest half-marathon ever on U.S. soil. Can she improve upon that on July 27?

MEN
•     Fasil Bizuneh (USA) — "Biz" is one of America’s up-and-coming road racers and isn’t afraid of anybody. He got to know Central Park very well in the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in November, and he demonstrated excellent fitness this past spring, twice running under 28 minutes for 10,000 meters.
•     Fernando Cabada (USA) — His performances have been inconsistent, but when he’s "on" the results can be spectacular. He should soon be reaping the benefits from his recent move to Colorado to train under former New York City Marathon winner Steve Jones.
•     James Carney (USA) — He won the USA Half-Marathon Championships in January in his debut at the distance. At the Olympic Trials earlier this month, he made a strong bid for the team during the second half of the 10,000-meter race, eventually finishing sixth.
•     William Kipsang (KEN) — On a drag-strip course very similar to the final 10K of the NYC Half-Marathon, Kipsang became the eighth-fastest marathoner in history at the Fortis Rotterdam Marathon back in April (2:05:49). If he can survive the Central Park hills, watch out.
•     Felix Limo (KEN) — With marathon wins in Rotterdam, Berlin, Chicago, and London, Limo has the 26.2-mile distance figured out. He hasn’t been quite as dominant in the half-marathon, but beware of his withering final kick.
•     Patrick Makau (KEN) — Makau has a silver medal from last fall’s IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships, and he is one of only three men to ever run faster than 59 minutes for the distance. Just recently, Makau won the Healthy Kidney 10K in Central Park. He’s the favorite entering this race, and if he gets beat it’s his first loss in five consecutive half-marathon races…and a major upset.
•     Hendrick Ramaala (RSA) ** 2008 Olympian** Before he won the ING New York City Marathon 2004, Ramaala was known primarily for his exploits at the half-marathon distance, including a 59:20 personal best and two silver medals from the IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships. Although he finished second at the South African Half-Marathon Championships in early July—only his second loss in a South African championship race in eight years—he announced after the race that his preparations for the NYC Half-Marathon and the Beijing Olympic Games marathon are going perfectly. Coming from a guy with credentials like his, that should make his competitors a little nervous.
•    Dathan Ritzenhein (USA) **2008 Olympian** There is arguably no single stretch of roadway that has been as good to "Ritz" as the Central Park loop: He won the 2007 Healthy Kidney 10K there in a Central Park record, and made his second Olympic Team there at the Olympic Trials last November. Will it hold the same magic for him in his final tune-up for Beijing?
•     Tadesse Tola (ETH) — If race day dawns hot and humid—and a betting man would wager it will—Tola won’t mind. In a race that saw both temperatures and humidity in the upper 90s, Tola finished seventh in last year’s IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa, Kenya. Even his teammate—Greatest of All Time Keninisa Bekele—couldn’t handle the conditions.

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