Adam Goucher Returns to Action at the NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE

NEW YORK – (July 21, 2008) – Quickly returning to action after the U.S. Olympic Trials earlier this month, Adam Goucher will make a rare road racing appearance at the NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE on Sunday, July 27, it was announced by New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg.

"Adam adds firepower to any race. He's always a fighter, and he'll be in the hunt," Wittenberg said. "We are so pleased we've finally convinced him to hit the roads of New York City."

A standout on the track and in cross country for the last 10 years, Goucher will be running only the fifth road race of his career. His most recent road race was last October when he finished sixth at the BUPA Great North Run, a half-marathon in England, in 1:03:17.

"I definitely see [the NYC Half-Marathon Presented by Nike] as exploring a new direction in my career," said Goucher. "For years I've focused on the shorter, faster stuff, but I always knew I would eventually move up to the 10K, the half-marathon and the marathon."

Throughout his career, Goucher, 33, of Portland, OR, has been one of America's finest distance runners. In cross country, he was the only man to win both the short-course (4K) and long-course (12K) races at the national championships, a feat he accomplished in 2000. In 2006 in New York City's Van Cortlandt Park, he won the short-course crown, and his sixth place finish in 11:02 at that year's IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, was one of the best results by an American male in recent history.

On the track, Goucher was a 2000 Olympian, finishing 13th in the 5000 meters. Last year, he placed 11th in that event at the IAAF World Championships.

At the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field in Eugene, OR, earlier this month, Goucher suffered a bitter disappointment when he dropped out of the 5000 meters and finished seventh in the 10,000 meters.

Goucher joins an international field at the NYC Half that includes Olympians Dathan Ritzenhein of the United States, Kenya's Catherine Ndereba, Madaí Pérez of Mexico, Australian Benita Johnson and Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa for the 13.1-mile race through the heart of Manhattan. Athletes will be vying for a prize purse of more than $70,000, with the male and female winners each receiving $10,000.

Citing fatigue, James Carney of Boulder, CO, has withdrawn. He finished sixth at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 10,000 meters.

On a course designed to celebrate New York City, the NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE will take runners on a loop through Central Park, down Seventh Avenue through Times Square, across 42nd Street, and along the expansive West Side Highway to Battery Park in the heart of the city's financial district, finishing with a view of the Statue of Liberty.

For more information, visit: NYRR.org