ING NEW YORK CITY MARATHON

New York, November 1, 2008—Today’s Continental Airlines® International Friendship Run united more than 15,000 runners from around the world in a celebration of the power of sport. Flags representing scores of countries fluttered in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza near the United Nations, where the 2.5-mile fun run began. For most of the participants, it was a relaxed warm-up to tomorrow’s ING New York City Marathon.

The runners waved their countries’ colors, dressed in international costumes, and jogged side by side with other athletes from near and far. More than half of the marathon’s entrants are international runners, and like New York City itself, the race has always welcomed them with open arms. Today’s event included Australian runners hoisting a large plastic kangaroo, Japanese participants with mock sushi platters on their heads, and Spanish marathoners impersonating matadors. The run ended in Central Park just steps from the marathon finish line.

Before the run, Jeff Jones, the manager of sponsorship marketing for Continental Airlines, addressed the crowd. His welcome was followed by remarks from United Nations officials, and then the stirring introduction of several dozen flag-bearers. Each individual acknowledged the crowd’s cheers by lifting his country’s flag toward a brilliant morning sky. The spangling array of colors and the echo of cheering in the cool canyons of Midtown Manhattan were nothing short of breathtaking.

Mary Wittenberg, the president and CEO of NYRR and the marathon’s race director, welcomed the crowd with a reminder of the power of sport to unite people from diverse backgrounds. “New York City is where the world comes to run,” she said. “We celebrate you this year more than ever. Celebrate each other!”

Wittenberg then presented the Abebe Bikila Award to Lornah Kiplagat of the Netherlands. The award is given annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the sport of distance running, and is named for Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia, a two-time Olympic marathon champion (1960, 1964). Past winners of the award include Ted Corbitt, Paula Radcliffe, Grete Waitz, Bill Rodgers, Alberto Salazar, Tegla Loroupe, and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Kiplagat, who was born in Kenya and became a Dutch citizen in 2003, has been a major force in distance running for more than a decade. She has set world records on the road at 5K, 10 miles, 20K, and the half-marathon, and she has won two gold medals and two silver medals in IAAF World Championships events—including a gold in the half-marathon. She is a four-time winner of the NYRR New York Mini 10K, and she won both the Peachtree Road Race 10K and the Falmouth Road Race three years running (2000-2002).

In 1999, Kiplagat opened a training center in Kenya for girls and young women who aspire to run at the world-class level. Last year she established the Lornah Kiplagat Foundation, to increase public consciousness about the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS in Kenya. She is raising funds to build a sports academy and boarding school that will provide educational opportunities and training in Olympic sports for 250 Kenyan girls. She also helped raised $400,000 toward her goal of $15 million to build a children’s hospital in Kenya. Kiplagat was third in the ING New York City Marathon 2003; she is not running this year, but she hopes to return in 2009 for the race’s 40th running.

“Let’s be proud of all of us,” said Kiplagat as she accepted the award. “We are doing good for the sport and for the marathon.”

And with a rousing cheer and the fluttering of flags from around the world, the crowd of runners followed Kiplagat on their short but meaningful journey to the finish.