FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sara Hunninghake
Media Relations Department
New York Road Runners
212.860.4455 x344
Or
Lorraine DelliCarpini
212.642.7772
New York Road Runners Kicks Off ING New York City Marathon 2007
With Annual Lottery Drawing
New York, June 11, 2007—Two-time defending ING New York City Marathon
champion Jelena Prokopcuka selected Patricia Plasencia, 37, from Del Rio,
TX, this morning as the first U.S. lottery applicant to be accepted in the
ING New York City Marathon 2007. Plasencia's name was drawn on live
television at the annual lottery on WNBC's Today in New York. Michael
Scoleri, 33, from New York, NY, and Michael Cohen, 47, from Smithtown, NY,
were the second and third lottery entrants selected.
"Oh wow, this will be front page news here," said Monique Vernon, assistant
city manger of Del Rio, a town of about 37,000 best known for its bass
fishing in nearby Lake Amistad.
"Last year, I got close to breaking three hours, but didn't quite make it,"
said Scoleri, an accountant for Bristol-Myers Squibb, who ran his first
marathon in last year's ING New York City Marathon. "It's great to have
another opportunity to reach my goal. Now I have to think about actually
training."
"My family comes first, job second, and running third," said Cohen, who has
run nearly 25 marathons. "The past few years, I've run races with very
little training. But now I'm inspired to try to train and do more in
advance of the race so I'm ready."
The ING New York City Marathon, the premier event of New York Road Runners,
will be held on Sunday, November 4.
Joining Prokopcuka for the selections were New York Road Runners president
and CEO and ING New York City Marathon race director Mary Wittenberg and
ING's senior vice President for external communications Dana Ripley.
"Today's lottery drawing officially kicks off the 146-day countdown to the
'Greatest Weekend in Running' as these runners and thousands of others
around the world prepare for the 38th running of the ING New York City
Marathon," said Wittenberg.
The marathon received a record number of more than 98,000 applications this
year. Some applicants are guaranteed entry based on past performances or
other criteria. The balance of the field is selected via two lotteries—one
for international applicants and a second for U.S. applicants—and through
guaranteed entries allocated to charities and international tour operators.
The field of more than 38,000 runners will be approximately half American
and half international runners.
A complete list of accepted marathon entrants will be posted on the ING New
York City Marathon website, www.ingnycmarathon.org, at 12:00 p.m. EDT on
Tuesday, June 12.
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