FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Elite Racing, Inc.
Audra Fleming/Susan Reid
858/450-6510
World Champion and Three-time Olympian Joins Women's Elite Field at
Coca-Cola Zero™ Rock 'n' Roll Marathon®
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (May 27, 2005) -- Veteran distance runner Gete Wami, a
three-time Olympic medalist and three-time World Cross Country champion, is
a new addition to an already stellar elite field assembled for the
Coca-Cola Zero Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, Sunday, June 5, 2005.
Ethiopia's national record holder in the marathon, Wami, 30, owns a
personal best of 2:22:19, set in Amsterdam in 2002. She won a bronze medal
in the 10,000-meters at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and was a double
medalist on the track at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, capturing the silver
medal in the 10,000-meters and a bronze medal in the 5,000-meters. She
claimed her World XC Championship titles in 1996, '99 and '01 and also won
a World Championship on the track, in the 10,000-meters in 1999.
Wami joins a marathon field that includes five former Rock 'n' Roll
champions, headlined by the defending men's and women's winners from 2004;
Kenyan Joseph Ngolepus and Russian Tatiana Titova. They will battle a field
that includes event record holder Philip Tarus and 2000 Olympic bronze
medalist Joyce Chepchumba.
The elite runners will all be vying for a prize purse that awards $20,000
and a new vehicle to both the men's and women's champions. Each second
place finisher earns $20,000 and all told, the total prize purse is valued
at nearly $200,000.
The invitational field will be the first to traverse the newly designed
course that will welcome more than 20,000 runners and walkers on June 5. To
learn more about the marathon or to registration, visit www.rnrmarathon.com
or call 800/311-1255.
-- Elite Roster Follows --
Coca-Cola Zero™ Rock 'n' Roll Marathon®
Sunday, June 5, 2005
(As of May 27, 2005)
2005 Men's Elite Open Field
NAME AGE COUNTRY BEST FACT/COMMENT
Joseph Ngolepus 30 KEN 2:07:57 1st '04 Rock 'n' Roll Marathon,
3rd '03 London Marathon
Ondoro Osoro 37 KEN 2:06:54 1st '03 Rock 'n' Roll Marathon,
1st '98 Chicago Marathon
Belay Wolasha 34 ETH 2:10:57 1st '00 Rock 'n' Roll Marathon
Michael Rotich 22 KEN 2:06:33 2nd '04 Rotterdam Marathon,
8th '03 World Champ, Marathon
Tekeste Kebede 25 ETH 2:11:48 3rd '04 Rock 'n' Roll Marathon,
3rd '05 Xiamen Marathon
Christopher
Cheboibich 28 KEN 2:08:17 2nd '02 & 5th '03 Boston
Marathon
Richard Maiyo 28 KEN 2:09:47 1st '05 Brescia Marathon
Philip Tanui 29 KEN 2:09:56 1st '05 Maratona d’Europa
Stephen Kiogora 30 KEN 2:09:21 4th '04 Boston Marathon
David Mutua 28 KEN 2:12:11 6th '03 Rock 'n' Roll Marathon
Philip Tarus 30 KEN 2:08:33 4th '05 P.F. Chang's RNRM,
1st '98 & '99 RNR
Dereje Tamirat 25 ETH 2:23:10 8th '04 Abebe Bikila Marathon
(Alt)
Mark Saina 34 KEN 2:09:00 1st '05 Los Angeles Marathon
Simon Bor 36 KEN 2:07:55 4th '05 Los Angeles Marathon
Joseph Nguran 30 KEN 2:13:31 1st '04 Reims Marathon
Laban Chege 35 KEN DEBUT N/A
Tomokazu
Sakamoto 28 JPN 2:16:55 N/A
Mitsunori
Hirayama 29 JPN 2:12:25 N/A
Pacesetters
Joseph Kariuki 35 KEN
Michael Aish 28 NZL
Benson Cherono 21 KEN
2005 Women's Elite Open Field
NAME AGE COUNTRY BEST FACT/COMMENT
Tatiana Titova 39 RUS 2:29:36 1st '04 Rock 'n' Roll Marathon(PR)
Gete Wami 31 ETH 2:22:19 3x Olympic medalist, 4x World
Champion
Kerryn McCann 38 AUS 2:25:59 1st '02 Commonwealth Games Marathon
Joyce Chepchumba 34 KEN 2:23:22 2000 Olympic Marathon bronze
medalist
Hellen Kimutai 27 KEN 2:25:52 3rd '05 Los Angeles Marathon
Elena Burykina 33 RUS 2:28:09 3rd '04 Rotterdam Marathon
Margaret
Atodonyang 25 KEN 2:29:19 2nd '04 Rock 'n' Roll Marathon
Anne Jelegat 36 KEN 2:29:23 1st '04 Carpi (ITA) Marathon
Malgorzata
Sobanska 36 POL 2:26:08 2nd '05 Hamburg Marathon
Abebe Tola 28 ETH 2:29:54 4th '05 Rome Marathon
Lina Usmanova 23 RUS 2:33:01 2nd '04 Russian Nat'l Marathon
Champs
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