Posted: September 12, 2005

Athletics: World Record Holder Paul Tergat to Run the ING New York City Marathon 2005

MONTE CARLO, Monaco - (September 9, 2005) - The world's fastest marathon runner ever, Paul Tergat of Kenya, will join an already stellar field assembled to run the ING New York City Marathon 2005 on Sunday, November 6, it was announced on Friday by New York Road Runners president and CEO and ING New York City Marathon race director Mary Wittenberg.

Wittenberg was joined by Tergat to make the announcement at a press luncheon in his honor at the IAAF World Athletics Final in Monaco.

"There is only one world record-holder. And we have him," Wittenberg said of Tergat, who set the world record of 2:04:55 at the real Berlin Marathon in 2003. "A headliner among headliners, Paul's addition to our field gives us the best men's race we've had in more than a decade."

In Tergat's first appearance in New York, he will join defending ING New York City Marathon Champion Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa, 2004 Olympic silver medalist and last year's runner-up Meb Keflezighi of the United States and 2005 IAAF World Marathon champion Jaoud Gharib of Morocco, who have already been announced.

Tergat, 36, has been an international success since 1995 when he burst on to the scene winning the first of his five consecutive IAAF World Cross Country Championships. A two-time World Half-Marathon Champion (1999 and 2000), he was the Olympic silver medalist at 10,000 meters in 1996 and 2000 and finished 10th in the marathon at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. He has had four top 10 finishes at the Flora London Marathon, finishing eighth in 2005, and was second and fourth place respectively at the 2001 and 2002 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.

ING New York City Marathon
The premier event of New York Road Runners, the ING New York City Marathon is one of the world's great road races, drawing more than 85,000 applicants. The race attracts many world-class professional athletes, not only for the more than $500,000 in prize money, but also for the chance to excel in the media capital of the world before two million cheering spectators and 260 million worldwide television viewers. As any one of the 635,000 past participants will attest, crossing the finish line in Central Park is one of the great thrills of a lifetime. For more information, visit: INGNYCMarathon.org.

Source: Richard Finn, Media Relations Department, New York Road Runners