10k course record under threat in New York – The Healthy Kidney 10K has a total prize-money purse of $23,500 and a $20,000 Zayed Bonus

New York, USA – 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships silver medalist Patrick Makau Musyoki of Kenya and ING New York City Marathon 2006 champion Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil head the field for the fourth annual Healthy Kidney 10K on Saturday 17 May.

The Central Park course record of 28:08 was established last year by Dathan Ritzenhein, and could well be broken despite the defending champion having pulled out of the race last week due to a persistent foot injury.

As well as Patrick Makau Musyoki and Marilson Gomes dos Santos, other top entrants are Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco, one of the world’s top marathon runners; USA 15K champion Andrew Carlson; 2008 USA 8K third-place finisher Jason Hartmann; Kenyan road running aces Linus Maiyo and Richard Kiplagat; and dominant Northeast road racer Demesse Tefera of Ethiopia.

The Healthy Kidney 10K has a total prize-money purse of $23,500 and a $20,000 Zayed Bonus, courtesy of race sponsor the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), awarded to the first man to break Ritzenhein’s Central Park record. The notoriously hilly 6.2-mile loop course is very challenging; it took a decade to surpass Kenyan Paul Koech’s record (28:10, 1997).

Gomes appeared eager at a news conference held yesterday, despite the difficult course. “I am in good shape and I am going to be the winner on Saturday,” he declared.

The 23-year-old Makau has won four half-marathons this year including a sizzling 59:35 finish at the Ras al Khaimah Half-Marathon and countered, “I am in good shape and have fully recovered from my half marathon in Madrid and am ready for the race,” he said. “I think the course record isn’t that hard, and I think my colleagues will help push the pace.”

The fourth-annual race is sponsored by the UAE to benefit the National Kidney Foundation, in appreciation of American medical excellence in the kidney transplant field. The late UAE president Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan benefited from American expertise, knowledge, and research when he received a kidney transplant in 2000, and this race aims to spread awareness about kidney diseases and the success of kidney transplants.

Sara Hunninghake – NYRR