Manchester Road Race: Who's coming

By Lori Rile

In the tradition of Boston Marathon race director Dave McGillvray, who runs every Boston Marathon after he is finished directing the race, I ran the Manchester Road Race course Wednesday, the day before I have to cover the 73rd annual Thanksgiving Day race.
When people ask me if I've ever run the actual race, I always say that I will some day. It looks like a lot of fun.

But at least I have a little bit of feel of how long the Highland Street hill is (pretty long) and how the homestretch dips and then deceptively goes up again toward the finish.
I couldn't help but think Wednesday as I was turning the corner onto Porter Street (maybe halfway through the course) that the elite runners would be finishing right around that same time.
And who will they be?

Here's a list:

Martin Fagan, Ireland: Last year's defending champ and 2007 runnerup is back. Fagan, a Providence graduate, ran PRs in the 10,000 (27:58.48) and the half-marathon (1:00:57) this year.

Haron Lagat, Kenya: Last year's runner-up, a Texas Tech graduate. Ran a 3:58.48 mile last year.

Boaz Cheboiywo, Kenya: 2001 NCAA cross country champion and 2002 10,000 meter champ at Eastern Michigan. Has a 27:46.47 10,000 meter PR.

Aaron Aguayo, U.S.: Steeplechaser from Arizona, All-American at Arizona State

Russell Brown, U.S.: Ranked seventh in the U.S. in the 1,500 meters this year and has a 3:37.32 PR, All-American at Stanford.

Dave Jankowski, U.S.: All-American at Oklahoma State, member of Peter Rea's ZAP Fitness team in North Carolina.

David Nightingale, U.S.: Former West Hartford resident and Loomis Chaffee graduate, three-time All-American at Princeton. Finished 14th last year at the MRR. Ran a 13:42 5,000 this year.

Andrew Lemoncello, Scotland: Fifth last year at the MRR. Has a 27:57.23 best in the 10,000 meters and a 3:45.68 1,500 best.

Matt Gabrielson, U.S.: Second last year at the U.S. Marathon Championships. PRs: 13:30.68 in the 5,000 and 7:54.22 in the 3000.

Stephen Furst, U.S.: All-American at North Carolina State, won the Penn Relays 5,000 last year. Has a 13:36.42 PR in the 5,000.

Patrick Smyth, U.S.: Seventh in the USATF 10,000 championships and fifth in the Peachtree 10K this year. Had PRs of 13:39 in the 5,000 and 28:25 in the 10,000 this year.

Kyle Heath, U.S.: Steeplechaser from Syracuse, finalist in last year's Olympic trials.

Jonathon Riley, U.S.: 2004 Olympian in the 5,000. PRs: 3:38.54 (1,500), 13:19.92 (5000).



The women's field

Amy Rudolph, U.S.: Five-time champ and two-time Olympian is back for her last crack at elite racing, where it all started for her, in Manchester. Rudolph plans to retire from competitive running after tomorrow and will move to Alabama, where her husband Mark Carroll is coaching at Auburn.

Teyba Naser, Bahrain: Last year's winner (25:00). Won a half-marathon in Pittsburgh (1:10:21) and was third at the Cherry Blossom 10-miler (53:53).

Diane Nukuri Johnson, Burundi: Last year's third-place finisher, 2000 Olympian, won the Big 10 5,000 championship last year.

Hirut Mandefro, Ethiopia: Finished 12th last year at the MRR (27:02).

Katerina Stetsenko, Ukraine: Won the Dublin Marathon (2:32:45) and has a 34:15 10K PR.

Jessica Minty, U.S.: 11th place finisher at Manchester last year. Has run 15:56 in the 5,000 this year. ZAP Fitness team member.

Alissa McKaig, U.S.: Has a 33:48 PR (10,000) and a 1:14 half-marathon PR, another ZAP Fitness team member.

Kassi Anderson: BYU All-American who was fifth last year at Manchester (25:18).

Lindsey Scherf, U.S.: Harvard All-American, has a 15:42.81 5,000 PR.

Marisa Ryan, U.S.: Former Farmington resident who ran at Boston University and is now attending medical school there. Finished ninth at the USATF 10,000 meter championships (33:36) this year.