Team USA Minnesota's Jason Lehmkuhle and Josh Moen will be among the competitors at the USA Men's Marathon Championship hosted by the ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 1. The two will be part of a deep American field contesting the national marathon along with some of the world's best international marathoners who will be in the mix for the open prize purse and overall title. Between the open division for men and women and the USA Championship division and other awards, the prize money purse totals $800,000 for the 40th running of the New York City Marathon.Lehmkuhle's credentials include a fifth place finish at the U.S. Men's Olympic Marathon Trials held in New York's Central Park in November 2007 followed by an eighth place finish at the ING New York City Marathon in 2008. He has a best in the distance of 2:12:54. This fall, Lehmkuhle placed third at the USA 20k Championships on Labor Day in a personal best time of 59:04, placed second at the Cow Harbor 10k in 29:18, and was fourth at the USA Men's 10 Mile Championship in a personal best of 47:16.
"I've run three races this fall and they have all gone very well with new PRs at 20k and 10 miles," said Lehmkuhle. "These fast races are certainly a positive indicator, but, in my experience, good races at shorter distances are certainly no guarantee of marathon success. My training has been very good during this buildup. Generally, the marathon-specific workouts have been on par with my best ever.
"This year's ING New York City Marathon is probably the deepest American field since the 2007 Olympic Marathon Trials and definitely the most competitive marathon field top to bottom that I have ever run in. It's exciting to be part of. I think I can run in the 2:11 to 2:12 range in New York and I'm going to focus on that. The goal for me in a marathon this top-heavy is to run a smart race, finish well over the last four miles and, in the process, maybe run down a few guys who should beat me on paper."
Moen will be running in his second marathon at the New York Championship, having run his first at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon in 2008 in a race that was marked by heavy rain and wind. His time was 2:23:16. During 2009, Moen has continually improved, setting personal bests in the 5000 and 10,000 meters on the track of 13:35.73 and 28:26.26 respectively. On the roads, he was sixth at the USA 7 Mile Championships in July and second at the USA Men's 10 Mile Championship on Oct. 4 in a personal best time of 46:38. In addition, this fall Moen won the Victory 10k and the Run for Oromia 5k, both in Minneapolis.
"My training this year for the marathon has been different in that I've done more racing and actually done less work than in the past," said Moen, who joined Team USA Minnesota in August 2008. "This has made my legs feel fresher and given me more of a pop in my stride. Jason and I have been doing the harder workouts together.
"I think New York will go very well. I'm not sure how well but it's going to be good. I want to run competitively to the end in the U.S. Championship. Jason has given me some insights from his experience at New York. I'm expecting Manhattan to be the point where I need to relax and not be fueled too much by the crowds as there will still be nine miles to go."
NBC Sports will televise the 40th running of the ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 1 at 2 p.m. (Eastern) in a two-hour tape delay coverage. The women's professional field starts at 9:10 a.m., the men's championship and open field begins at 9:40, followed by a wave of runners at 10:00 and at 10:20. A record field of more than 40,000 runners from around the globe will take to the streets of New York. The 26.2-mile race will be seen by 2.5 million spectators lined along the route as runners pace through New York City's five boroughs -Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan, and finish at Tavern on the Green in Central Park.
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