Kenya’s Daniel Wanjiru has been added to the 48th edition of the New York City Marathon that will be held on Sunday (4) November in New York, United States.
The 2017 London Marathon champion has been added to star-studded field that includes five-time world champion Bernard Lagat of the United States who will also be making make his highly anticipated marathon debut.
Lagat retired from track racing after placing fifth in the Rio Olympic 5000m, where he was briefly a bronze medalist before two disqualifications were overturned. Lagat previously earned Olympic 1500m silver and bronze competing for Kenya in 2000 and 2004.
If Lagat continues racing marathons through 2020, he could try to tie Angolan João N’Tyamba‘s record for Olympic participation’s by a male runner at six and become the fourth-oldest Olympic male runner.
“My mind isn’t going that far yet,” Lagat said, according to SI.com. “I’m just going to take this one at a time. My training partners have asked me, ‘If you are successful in New York, will you run the marathon for 2020?’ and I say, ‘I don’t know.’
“I want to get ready for New York City first, and whatever happens there will determine 2020.”
Lagat finished 31st in the world half marathon championships on March 24.
Wanjiru goes to the race with a personal best of 2:05.21 that he got at the 2016 Amsterdam Marathon, will face defending champion Geoffrey Kamworor, Ethhiopia’s 2013 and 2015 Boston Marathon champion Lelisa Desisa, 2018 London Marathon runner-up Shura Kitata and four-time U.S. Olympian Abdi Abdirahman.
Others on the start list include Mexico’s two-time Olympian Juan Luis Barrios, Rio 2016 Olympian Jared Ward and 2018 Boston Marathon third-place finisher Shadrack Biwott.
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