Local Runners Show World-Class Credentials at NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE
New York, Sunday, July 27—A quartet of athletes based in the New York area broke into the top 10 at today’s NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE, while scores of other NYRR-member finishers notched impressive performances at the third annual edition of this iconic race through the heart of New York City.The four top-placing athletes all represent the Westchester Track Club. Three of them—women’s seventh-place finisher Aziza Aliyu and ninth-place and 10th-place men’s finishers Worku Beyi and Demesse Tefera—have established a tradition of strong showings in this race. The fourth, Girma Tola, achieved a head-turning fifth-place finish (1:02:58) in his first NYC Half-Marathon outing. (The race’s top five male and female NYRR-member finishers received prize money totaling $6,000.)
Aliyu, who was seventh here in 2006 and ninth in 2007 recognized her 1:12:27 this year—a personal best—as a breakout performance. “I am very happy,” she said, beaming. “This is a good year for me.” That’s a modest understatement: Aliyu, a 22-year-old resident of the Bronx, has won seven NYRR races since April 2007, including the 2008 Healthy Kidney 10K in a blazing 33:32, and she set a 10K PR of 32:43 with her victory at the Riker Danzig Newport 10,000 earlier this year.
Tola (who shares a surname with the race’s overall winner, Tadesse Tola, though the two are not related) is relatively new to the NYRR racing scene. A 32-year-old Manhattan resident, he won the Front Runners New York Lesbian and Gay Pride Run 5M in 23:09 on June 28. “I had a good result today,” said Tola. “It was not too hot for me.”
Other top locals begged to differ. “I just hit that long stretch on the West Side Highway and pfoof!” said Ann Davies, who topped her 60-64 age group with a 1:44:39 clocking. “I train here in the city all summer long but running 13 miles in high humidity—it’s never easy.”
For many local competitors, the NYC Half serves as an excellent early indicator of fitness for the ING New York City Marathon. “I’m getting ready for New York, and now I have a better idea of where I am,” said Manhattan’s Caroline Bierbaum, who ran a 1:17:30 PR. “This gives me confidence and a better sense of how much I can push it in the months ahead.”
Bierbaum and other New York-area NYC Half finishers embraced the opportunity to take part in a race that includes both the familiar territory of Central Park and something a bit different. “It was so cool coming through Times Square,” said Katarina Janosikova of Queens, who ran a 1:19:42 PR. “I felt like we were breaking free of Central Park.”
Other notable NYRR-member performers included WTC’s Genna Tufa, who ran 1:04:37 to place 13th overall; Jimmy Lynch, who topped the 40-44 age group in 1:10:44; Sam Skinner, who won the 65-69 race in 1:37:45; Al Finger, who topped the 70-74 division in 1:49:56; and Ginette Bedard, who at age 74 was the race’s oldest female finisher, topped her age division with a 1:58:27 clocking.
