Okayo, Petrova and Chepkemei Added to New York Marathon

Okayo, Petrova and Chepkemei Added to ING New York City Marathon 2005 Field
Two former champs and 2004 runner-up join chase for highest-ever marathon first-place prize

NEW YORK - Former champions Margaret Okayo and Ludmila Petrova, along with last year's runner-up, Susan Chepkemei, have been added to a strong women's field at the ING New York City Marathon 2005, it was announced by New York Road Runners president and CEO and race director Mary Wittenberg.

Through an added bonus from the ING Run for Something Better program, the cause-related cornerstone program of ING's title sponsorship, the women's champion will receive $130,000, the largest-ever guaranteed first-place prize in the history of marathoning. The men's champion will collect $100,000. The ING New York City Marathon 2005 will be run on Sunday, November 6.

Wittenberg made the announcement at a luncheon at the New York Athletic Club, where she was joined by Lornah Kiplagat, 31, of the Netherlands, who was previously announced as a top entrant in the race. Later in the day, Kiplagat visited schoolchildren at Public School 69 in the Bronx, one of the New York Road Runners Foundation's after-school programs that will directly benefit from money being donated by ING on behalf of the top women finishers as part of the ING Run for Something Better program.

"This is a historic year for women as they chase the largest first-place purse in the sport, and we have put together a formidable field of athletes who all know how to win," said Wittenberg. "It's anybody's race to take home the $130,000 champion's prize."

Chepkemei, 30, of Kenya, ran to an impressive second-place finish (2:23:13) last year behind marathon world record-holder Paula Radcliffe. In one of road racing's most exciting duels ever, Chepkemei held on until the final meters when Radcliffe managed a stunning finishing burst to take the title. Chepkemei returns this year having placed third at the Flora London Marathon in April (2:24:00).

Petrova, 36, of Russia, was the 2000 race champion (2:25:45) and returns to New York in 2005 for the seventh time. Though largely absent from competition since the death of her husband, Sergei, in a car accident earlier this year, her 2:26:29 finish at the 2005 Flora London Marathon earned her fifth place.

Okayo, 29, of Kenya, is a two-time ING New York City Marathon champion (2001, 2003) and holds the course record of 2:22:31. The 2002 BAA Boston Marathon and 2004 Flora London Marathon champion, Okayo is a consistent and formidable force. She placed fourth at the 2005 Flora London Marathon in 2:25:22.

Also entered in the 2005 race is Lyubov Denisova, 33, of Russia, who finished second in New York in 2002, fifth in 2003 and third last year in a personal-best time of 2:25:18. She won the 2002 and 2005 City of Los Angeles Marathon.

source RunningUSA