Here are a few news items from the ING New York City Marathon, scheduled for the 40th running on Sunday, Nov. 1:NEW MEDICAL DIRECTOR NAMED: Stuart Weiss, MD, FAAP, FACEP, CBCP has joined the ING New York City Marathon as the event's new medical director, replacing Louis Maharam, M.D., who resigned late last month. The New York Road Runners announced today that Dr. Weiss will lead a diverse team of volunteer, multi-disciplinary medical professionals from healthcare systems and hospitals across the region to provide immediate, high-quality medical services for the more than 40,000 runners. The NYRR also announced that for the first time, the American Red Cross of Greater New York will partner with New York Road Runners to provide more than 250 Red Cross volunteers and staff trained in first aid, who will support the activities of NYRR medical professionals at various sites along the marathon route. "Nothing is more important than the safety of our runners, and we strive to provide world-class medical services for a world-class event," commented NYRR president and CEO Mary Wittenberg through a media release.
NATIONAL NETWORK TELEVISION COVERAGE EXPANDED TO TWO HOURS: NBC Sports will devote two hours to their same-day, tape-delayed coverage of the race, double last year's coverage, New York Road Runners officials said today. The broadcast will begin at 2:00 p.m. EST, anchored by NBC Sports commentator Al Trautwig, who will be joined in the broadcast booth by veteran race journalist Toni Reavis. NBC Sports' Jimmy Roberts will host the show. NBC's coverage will follow live local free-to-air coverage on WNBC, as well as live streaming on UniversalSports.com.
TULU, CHERUIYOT ADDED TO FIELDS: Veterans Derartu Tulu and Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot were added to the race's elite fields, officials announced. Tulu, a three-time Olympic medalist at 10,000m (two gold) had been ramping up her training and felt ready to run a high quality marathon after running a solid 1:10:33 at the ING Philadelphia Distance Run half-marathon last month. Cheruiyot, a four-time Boston Marathon champion, was added to the field when his longtime friend Paul Tergat was forced to withdraw with a leg injury. Both Tulu, 37, and Cheruiyot, 31, have run the ING New York City Marathon before, both in 2005; Tulu was third in 2:25:21 and Cheruiyot was fourth in 2:11:01.
RACE TO BE THE LARGEST-EVER MARATHON IN HISTORY: This year's ING New York City Marathon will have over 40,000 runners on the starting line, the largest-ever marathon in history. While there are other marathons with over 40,000 entrants, only about 75% of them actually get to the race and thus cannot be counted as having participated. The largest-ever marathon in history was the 2007 ING New York City Marathon with 39,265 starters and 38,607 finishers.
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