Four-time Boston Marathon winner Robert Cheruiyot and reigning Boston women's champion Salina Kosgei were announced Wednesday as entrants for the New York Marathon.But the race also lost another big name as 2005 New York winner Paul Tergat of Kenya dropped out, joining two-time winner Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia and Irishman Martin Fagan in skipping the November 1 race.
Cheruiyot, 31, has not run in New York since a fourth-place showing in 2005. The 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Boston Marathon champion set a personal best in setting Boston's course record of 2hrs 7mins 14secs.
Cheruiyot dropped out in Boston this year after 35 km due to back pain but was fifth in the World Championships marathon at Berlin in August.
Kosgei, 32, made her lone New York start in 2005 when she was fourth in 2:25:30. In April, she won the closest Boston Marathon women's race in history by crossing line in 2:32:16 to beat Dire Tune by a second. Kosgei was fourth at the 2008 London Marathon and 10th in the Beijing Olympic marathon.
Tergat is suffering from a leg injury that forced him to withdraw from the Lisbon Half-Marathon earlier this month. Three-time Olympian Prokopcuka is pregnant and Fagan has an injured Achilles tendon.
Slight changes have been made in the course due to road construction but none of the minor tweaks involve the final five miles of the winding trail through the city.
ShareThis