Posted: March 31, 2006

Athletics: Alemu Withdraws From Boston Marathon

From David Monti

© 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

John Hancock Financial Services, the insurance and finance giant which funds the professional race of the BAA Boston Marathon, announced today that Elfenesh Alemu, the Ethiopian who was twice second at Boston to Catherine Ndereba of Kenya, had withdrawn from this year's race. The 2:24:29 marathoner, who has broken 2:25:00 an impressive seven times, is suffering from a knee injury.

The women's field remains strong, led by reigning ING New York City Marathon champion, Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia, Japanese speedster Reiko Tosa (2:22:26 PB), and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia amongst others.

Hancock also announced that Kazuo Ietani of Japan, a 2:12:37 marathoner, had been added to the men's field.

The 110th BAA Boston Marathon will be held on Monday, April 17 and will be the first event in which athletes can score points in the World Marathon Majors, a two-year series in which the top male and female point scorers will be awarded $500,000 each.

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