Yamauchi to Run the ING New York City Marathon 2006

Second-fastest British marathoner of all-time set to make her New York debut

NEW YORK - (August 7, 2006) - Mara Yamauchi, owner of Britain's second-fastest female marathon time, has announced her plans to run the ING New York City Marathon 2006. The announcement was made by Yamauchi on the day she was scheduled to run the 10,000 meters at the 2006 European Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden. It will be Yamauchi's first time competing in the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 5.

"Mara adds more firepower to our red-hot women's field," said ING New York City Marathon race director and New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg. "Right off the bat, in her New York City debut, she is among the group of contenders to win it. Her consistent and steady rise during the past four years has been noteworthy and makes her one to watch. We are excited to welcome Mara to New York."

Yamauchi, 32, will get the chance to race against two runners atop the World Marathon Majors leaderboard. Defending New York champion Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia and American marathon record-holder Deena Kastor already announced they will run in New York this fall. Yamauchi was sixth at the Flora London Marathon on April 23, when she became the second-fastest British woman in marathon history with a personal-best time of 2:25:13. Kastor won London with a time of 2:19:36.

"The 2006 ING New York City Marathon will be my first race in New York," said Yamauchi. "I am delighted to be racing in what I hear is a great city, and am really excited about competing in the marathon for the first time. I know the course is tough, and there will be world-class competition. But I am really looking forward to the challenge and hope it will spur me on to a strong performance."

Born Mara Myers, Yamauchi married a Japanese national, Shigetoshi Yamauchi, when she was stationed in Tokyo as a Foreign Office diplomat between 1998 and 2003. For most of that time she ran only recreationally, recording no elite results from 1999 through 2002. Yamauchi made her marathon debut in a time of 2:39:16 to finish 17th at the 2004 Flora London Marathon. She returned to London in 2005 and placed 10th with a time of 2:31:52. That mark qualified her for the IAAF World Championships, where she ran, at that time, another personal best (2:31:26) to finish 18th overall.

Last fall, Yamauchi moved back to Japan to begin training full-time. She lowered her half-marathon time to 1:09:51 at the BUPA Great North Run Half-Marathon and captured fifth place in the Tokyo International Ladies Marathon with a time of 2:27:38.

This year has been Yamauchi's finest by far. She lowered her half-marathon personal best to 1:09:24 when she finished third at the Marugame Half-Marathon in Japan last February (behind only Japanese 5000 meter / 10,000 meter champion Kayoko Fukushi and Olympic marathon gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi). At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Yamauchi was the bronze medalist in the 10,000 meters in a personal-best 31:49.40, passing medal favorite Benita Johnson on the 24th lap of the 25-lap race.

source RunningUSA