Dathan Ritzenhein Will Return to Action at the Healthy Kidney 10K
Gomes dos Santos and Makau will challenge defending champion and Central Park record-holder
[Race Info]
Dathan Ritzenhein had two of his best-ever races in Central Park in 2007. On May 19, he staged an upset victory—in course-record time—at the Healthy Kidney 10K, defeating two-time defending champion Craig Mottram of Australia. And on November 3, he placed second at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon, securing a spot on Team USA for the 2008 men’s Olympic marathon in Beijing.
On May 17, Ritzenhein will return to Central Park to defend his Healthy Kidney 10K title against a strong international field that includes ING New York City Marathon 2006 champion Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil and 2007 IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships silver medalist Patrick Makau of Kenya.
A prize purse of $23,500 will be on the line—$7,500 for the champion—plus a $20,000 bonus for breaking Ritzenhein’s Central Park 10K record of 28:08.
“Dathan owns the Central Park 10K loop,” said New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg. “He won in dominating fashion last year over a stellar field, taking down a long-standing record. We expect no less of him this year.”
Ritzenhein, 25, of Eugene, OR, won the USA Cross Country Championships in February. He had planned to compete in the Central Park Challenge on March 15, but a lingering soreness in his foot forced him to scratch from the race. He has fully recovered.
“When I had to pull out [of the Central Park Challenge] with the injury, I was trying to look to the rest of the year and be smart for the upcoming Olympics,” Ritzenhein said. “I’m very excited to come back to New York City for the Healthy Kidney 10K. This race is becoming one of the best 10K road races in the country, and I look forward to defending my title this year.” Ritzenhein donated his 2007 champion’s check of $7,500 to the NKF.
Gomes dos Santos, 30, the only South American ever to win the ING New York City Marathon, is also a Pan American Games medalist and the South American record-holder at 5000 and 10,000 meters. Makau, 23, who will be making his United States racing debut, owns the third-fastest half-marathon time in history (58:56). He captured the silver medal at the 2007 World Half-Marathon Championships and has already won four half-marathon races in 2008.
“Marilson has an ownership stake in Central Park himself as an ING New York City Marathon champion,” Wittenberg said. “He is always a fighter, and we know he’ll be in the game. And Patrick Makau comes into New York on fire with a banner season thus far. He appears to be the most race-sharp of them all.”
A strong group of American men will return to test their Olympic-year fitness in Central Park. Andrew Carlson, 26, of Bloomington, MN, won the 2008 USA 15K Championships and was the runner-up at the Central Park Challenge. Jason Hartmann, 27, of Eugene, OR, captured third place in the Central Park Challenge and 10th place in the Olympic Trials marathon. Josh Moen, 26, of Readlyn, IA, took fourth in the USA 10K Championships in April and was eighth in the Central Park Challenge.
Now in its fourth year, the Healthy Kidney 10K is sponsored by the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates to benefit the National Kidney Foundation, in appreciation of American medical excellence in the kidney transplant field. The late UAE president Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan benefited from American expertise, knowledge, and research when he received a kidney transplant in 2000, and this race aims to spread awareness about kidney diseases and the success of kidney transplants.
Dathan Ritzenhein set a new Central Park record of 28:08 at the Healthy Kidney 10K in 2007.
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