Professional Women's Field
Joan Benoit SamuelsonUnited States
Age: 52
Benoit Samuelson set a women's world record (2:22:43) in the 1983 Boston Marathon and won the inaugural women's Olympic Marathon in 1984. Her 2:21:21 winning time at the 1985 Chicago Marathon stood as the American record for 18 years. Last year, at age 50, she ran the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon and broke the U.S. women's 50+ record with her 2:49:08.
Christelle Daunay
France
Age: 34
Daunay broke her own French marathon record by more than two and a half minutes when she finished third in the Paris Marathon this year, after running 2:31:48 to take 20th place in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Marathon. She has won the French national championship at 10,000 meters for the past two years and is a frequent podium finisher on the European track and road circuits.
Buzunesh Deba
Ethiopia
Age: 21
The rapidly improving Deba is a frequent race winner throughout the Northeast. In both 2008 and 2009, she won both the 5K and the 10K at the Fred d'Elia Ridgewood Run. This year, she won a pair of 5Ks in identical times of 15:58. She ran a personal-best 1:13:13 in the 3M Half-Marathon in Austin, TX. Deba won her first marathon in 2:44:22 this year; look for that time to drop in New York.
Katarina JanosikovaSlovakia
Age: 29
A competitive duathlete in her native Slovakia, Janosikova moved to New York City in 2004. In her marathon debut in the ING New York City Marathon last year, she surprised herself by leading all local finishers with her 2:42:57. She set a half-marathon PR of 1:16:14 on October 3. Janosikova is coached by 2004 New Zealand Olympian John Henwood.
Yuri KanoJapan
Age: 31
A graduate of Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Kano ran 2:24:43 in her 2007 marathon debut in Osaka. She won the 2008 Sapporo Half-Marathon in a personal-best 1:08:57. Kano finished fourth in the NYC Half-Marathon in 2007 and third in 2008, and she has run 31:53.07 for 10,000 meters. Her ING New York debut has historic potential: No Japanese man or woman has ever won the race, and Kano is a contender this year.
Salina KosgeiKenya
Age: 32
Kosgei won one of the closest finishes in marathon history when she outleaned defending champion Dire Tune to win this year's Boston Marathon. She ran 2:06.86 for 800 meters at age 15 and is a formidable kicker; she won a mass sprint at the 2008 RAK Half-Marathon, with four women less than two seconds behind her. A proven big-race performer, Kosgei took 10th place in the Beijing Olympic Marathon. She'll aim to improve on her 2005 fourth-place finish in New York.
Magdalena Lewy BouletUnited States
Age: 36
Lewy Boulet ran a personal-best 2:30:19 to take second place at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Women's Marathon in Boston. In the Beijing Olympic Marathon, she was forced to drop out with a badly bruised knee. She set a personal record of 32:20.45 for 10,000 meters at the 2009 USA Outdoor Championships. A native of Poland, Lewy Boulet moved with her family to Germany in 1988 and then settled in Long Beach, CA, in 1991. She is married to Richie Boulet, one of America's best milers during the 1990s.
Hirut MandefroEthiopia
Age: 24
A frequent podium finisher on the Northeast road-racing scene, Mandefro made a breakthrough this year at the Naples Daily News Half-Marathon in Florida when she took third place in 1:13:36 -- more than five minutes faster than her fourth-place time from the previous year. The Ethiopian native, who lives in Silver Spring, MD, placed third in the 2009 NYRR New York Mini 10K against a world-class field.
Ludmila PetrovaRussia
Age: 41
Petrova, the 2000 New York City Marathon champion, set the world masters (age 40 and over) record last year with her second-place 2:25:43. She has finished on the podium three times at the London Marathon, including a pair of second-place finishes and a personal best and Russian national record (2:21:29) in 2006. Earlier in her career, she took seven years off to raise her two daughters, Inna and Sasha. This will be Petrova's eighth run in New York, where she has never finished lower than eighth place.
Tatyana PetrovaRussia
Age: 26
Primarily a steeplechaser, Petrova finished fourth in that event at the Beijing Olympic Games after taking the silver medal at the 2007 IAAF World Championships. She made an impressive jump to the marathon this year, winning in Los Angeles in 2:25:59 and taking fourth in Dubai in 2:25:53. She is not related to ING New York City Marathon 2008 second-place finisher Ludmila Petrova.
Paula RadcliffeDefending Champion
Great Britain
Age: 35
Radcliffe is the defending ING New York City Marathon champion and the greatest female marathoner in history. She has won eight of the 10 marathons that she has started, the only exceptions being the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Marathons, before both of which she was injured. Her world record of 2:15:25 is more than three minutes faster than any other woman has ever run; she also holds the world bests at nine other distances. Radcliffe won the first two of her three New York victories with sprint finishes; last year she dropped her last challenger at 23 miles and won by nearly two minutes. Her daughter, Isla, was born in January 2007.
Derartu TuluEthiopia
Age: 37
One of history's all-time great distance runners, Tulu has excelled in track, road racing, and cross country. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist at 10,000 meters (1992 and 2000), and she won the 2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championship. She finished fifth in her debut marathon (Boston, 1997) and set her personal record of 2:23:30 when she finished fourth at the 2005 IAAF World Championships Marathon in Helsinki. Tulu is making a comeback; she finished fourth in 1:10:33 at the ING Philadelphia Distance Run half-marathon this September.
Heidi WestoverUnited States
Age: 28
A frequent race winner in the Northeast, Westover won two marathons in 2008 and set a personal best of 2:41:09 in a third, the Boston Marathon. She obliterated that time this year with her victorious 2:35:02 at the KeyBank Vermont City Marathon in Burlington. Her win at the New Bedford Half-Marathon, in another personal best (1:11:35), makes Westover look ready to take on the international stars in New York.
Additional Professional Entrants:
Serkalem Biset Abrha, Ethiopia
Sopanga Eap, USA
Kim Fawke, Great Britain
Desiree Ficker, USA
Victoria Ganushina, Ukraine
Christine Glockenmeier, USA
Megan Guiney, USA
Muliye Gurma, Ethiopia
Meseret Kotu, Ethiopia
Hirut Legesse, Ethiopia
Michelle Ross-Cope, USA
Belinda Schipp, Australia
Nathalie Vasseur, France
Catherine Wilding, Great Britain
Jolene Williams, Ireland
