POWERFUL ELITE FIELD FOR MINI 10-K UNDERSCORES NYRR COMMITMENT TO COMPETITIVE RUNNING
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2021 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - Used with permission.

NEW YORK (24-May) -- For nearly 19 months, New York Road Runners (NYRR) has not staged a road race with an elite field.  Since the abrupt cancellation of the United Airlines NYC Half in March, 2020, the world's largest not-for-profit running race organizer has only been able to stage small test events because of the pandemic, and none of them have featured an elite field.

But that's about to change in a big way on Saturday, June 12, when the Mastercard New York Mini 10-K will be held for the 49th time with a blockbuster field of Olympians, Paralympians, and world and national champions at the front.

"We're back baby!" tweeted Sam Grotewold, NYRR's longtime director of professional athletes.

A field of 30 elite runners from seven different countries were announced for the race today led by former Mini champions Edna Kiplagat of Kenya (2012), Molly Huddle of Providence, R.I. (2014), and Sara Hall of Flagstaff, Ariz. (2019).  In addition, Olympians Molly Seidel of Flagstaff, Des Linden of Charlevoix, Mich., Lanni Marchant of Canada, Viola Cheptoo of Kenya, Beverly Ramos of Puerto Rico, Diane Nukuri of Flagstaff, and Maor Tiyouri of Israel will also be competing.  Since Huddle and Kiplagat are also Olympians, that brings the total to nine.

"I am excited to return to the Mini 10-K for the fifth time," Kiplagat said through a statement.  "It is a special feeling to stand on that starting line and feel the support of not only the women running with you, but all of the women who came before you. It is a very special race and I'm happy to be going back to New York City."

Seidel, who finished second at the 2020 USA Olympic Team Trials Marathon, will be running the Mini for the first time.  The event was started in 1972 and was the first-ever road race for women.

"Although it's my first time running the Mini, I'm well-aware of the race's significance as the first-ever road race just for women," Seidel said through a media release.  "I'm excited that this is another step forward in returning to mass-participation and elite running, especially in a place as important to road racing as New York City.  Personally, this race is a great opportunity to come down from the mountains of Flagstaff, Arizona, and test my legs as I prepare for the Olympic Games marathon in August."

The event will also feature a professional wheelchair division for the third time, making it the only all-women professional wheelchair race in the world. U.S. Paralympian Susannah Scaroni is the two-time defending champion in the wheelchair division, having raced world-best 10-K times in both of her victories, including a 22:22 in 2019.  Scaroni will once again line up against five-time New York City Marathon champion and 17-time Paralympic medalist Tatyana McFadden, who is in search of her first Mini 10-K title.

"The Mini 10-K always means so much to me because the feeling of being on that line surrounded by so many women reminds me of how big of a celebration road racing is for the human spirit," Scaroni said. "This year raises even more emotions, the opportunity to again unite with one another highlights the beauty of road racing and its ability to continuously bring us together through adversity."

To mitigate the risk of spread of COVID-19, the professional athletes taking part will be in a controlled environment. The field will be required to provide proof of a full vaccination series or a negative COVID-19 test before traveling to New York. Athletes will undergo daily COVID-19 testing and tracing while in New York for the race. There will be a separation of the pro field and general field at the start, no guests will be allowed to accompany the athletes, and they will be required to wear masks at the start and finish areas. Additionally, there will be an elimination of touchpoints, including no large gatherings or in-person meetings until race morning.  The general field will have about 3000 runners.

The full fields are below with track and road 10-kilometer personal best times:

Runners:
Aileen Barry, 39, USA, 33:56.49, 35:04
Emma Bates, 28, USA, 32:04.59, 32:36
Cat Beck, 35, USA, N/A, 36:10
Mekides Bekele, 34, ETH, N/A, 34:26
Nuhamin Bogale, 27, ETH, N/A, 33:41
Andrea Bradshaw, 33, USA, N/A, 36:09
Viola Cheptoo, 32, KEN, 31:11.09 , 30:55
Emily Durgin, 25, USA, 32:22.56, 33:38
Lindsay Flanagan, 28, USA, 32:04.39, 33:25
Kira Garry, 28, USA, N/A, 36:10
Bose Gemeda, 26, ETH, N/A, 35:05
Sara Hall, 36, USA, 31:21.90, 32:14
Molly Huddle, 36, USA, 30:13.17, 31:21
Ana Johnson, 38, USA, 35:49.92, 35:59
Grace Kahura, 28, KEN, N/A, 34:02
Weini Kelati, 24, ERI, 31:10.08, N/A
Allie Kieffer, 33, USA, 32:09.89, 32:52
Edna Kiplagat, 41, KEN, 33:27.0, 31:06
Des Linden, 37, USA, 31:37.14, 32:57
Lanni Marchant, 37, CAN, 31:46.94, 31:49
Maggie Montoya, 26, USA, 32:06.87, 33:19
Monicah Ngige, 27, KEN, N/A, 31:37
Diane Nukuri, 36, USA, 31:28.69, 31:49
Beverly Ramos, 33, PUR, 32:36.03, 33:17
Bethany Sachtleben, 29, USA, 32:50.70, 32:39
Molly Seidel, 26, USA, 32:24.78, 32:52
Joanna Thompson, 28, USA, 33:07.27, 34:20
Laura Thweatt, 30, USA, 31:52.94, 32:20
Maor Tiyouri, 30, ISR, 33:43.16, 33:45
Bria Wetsch, 33, USA, 33:26.12, 36:00

Wheelchair Racers:
Jenna Fesemyer, 24, USA, 25:52
Yen Hoang, 24, USA, 27:53
Tatyana McFadden, 32, USA, 22:53
Susannah Scaroni, 29, USA, 22:22
Michelle Wheeler, 34, USA, 26:12


PHOTO: The start of the 2019 Mastercard New York Mini 10-K (photo by David Monti for Race Results Weekly)