Deena Kastor breaks USA record in London Marathon (© Getty Images)
New York, USADeena Kastor, the American marathon record-holder and the 2004 Olympic marathon bronze medallist will run the ING New York City Marathon 2006 on Sunday, 5 November.
“The New York and Chicago Marathons are two of the world’s greatest marathons and part of the five World Marathon Majors,” said Kastor, 33. “It was a very difficult decision for me to choose which marathon to run this coming fall. My decision to run the ING New York City Marathon got down to the basic fact that I have already won the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon and I want to win in New York!”
The announcement comes after much discussion about where Kastor would follow up her record setting win at the 2006 Flora London Marathon. Kastor’s victory in 2:19:36, an American record, made her the eighth woman in history to break the 2:20 barrier in a marathon and the fourth fastest female marathoner ever. Kastor had opened her 2006 season three weeks earlier at the Vattenfall Berlin Half Marathon, where she broke her own American record in a time of 1:07:34. In 2005, Kastor won the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in 2:21:25.
“Deena comes into the race as a top favorite and could be the first American woman to win since Miki Gorman in 1977,” commented Mary Wittenberg, the race director, and president and CEO of New York Road Runners who organize the race.
Currently Kastor stands in first-place in the World Marathon Majors, a two-year series that awards an unprecedented $1 million champion’s prize. The WMM also includes the Boston Marathon, the Flora London Marathon, the real,- Berlin-Marathon, and the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.
