NYC bound EXTREME: Martin Lel OUT!

Well, this surely DOES change things considerably.

We were among many "pundits," if you will, who thought that as loaded as the New York City men's field was, Lel, the two-time New York City and three-time London Marathon champion, still had to rate as the favorite if he was healthy. He's not; despite his recent 59:32 victory in the Great North Run, the esteemed English half marathon, Lel still has a persistent leg injury and has had to withdraw from Sunday's marathon. "The good result of the half marathon made us believe it (the injury) could be over but in the last day this problem came out again and he was forced to make this painful decision,” says Lel's manager, Federico Rosa. Lel's absence now opens up the marathon to a slew of possible contenders - James Kwambai, Robert K. Cheruiyot, Patrick Makau, Marilson Gomes dos Santos, Jaouad Gharib, Hendrick Ramaala, and yes, Americans Ryan Hall and Meb Keflezighi. There are a couple of less well-known runners on the entry list who do have formidable personal bests - Jackson Kotut Kipkoech of Kenya (2:08:07) and Chala Dechase of Ethiopia (2:08:31). New York's women's race has seen the withdrawal of Russia's Tatyana Petrova, the 2009 Los Angeles Marathon winner. She's not to be confused with 2000 New York City champ Ludmila Petrova, who set a masters record of 2:25:43 with a second place in New York last year and is back again.

get all news about martin lel's cancellation HERE