by Larry Eder|
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Two-Time World Marathon Majors Series Champion Liliya Shobukhova Gears Up for Olympics with Back-to-Back Races in WMM Cities
Shobukhova Opens Her 2012 Season Next Month at the NYC Half and
Chicago’s Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K
Liliya Shobukhova, 2011 NYRR Mini, photo by PhotoRun.net
NEW
YORK/CHICAGO, February 22, 2012 – Two-time World Marathon Majors series
champion and three-time Bank of America Chicago Marathon winner Liliya
Shobukhova of Russia will open her 2012 season
at the NYC Half on Sunday, March 18, followed with a run at the Bank of
America Shamrock Shuffle 8K in Chicago on Sunday, March 25, it was
jointly announced today by NYRR president and CEO Mary Wittenberg and
Bank of America Chicago Marathon and Shamrock Shuffle
8K Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski.
Shobukhova,
34, an early favorite for the Olympic Games Marathon in London this
summer said of her spring trip to the U.S., “This Olympic year will be
the most important of my career, so I
am choosing all of my competitions carefully. The NYC Half will allow
me to test my fitness and compete against some of the same runners I
will face in the Olympic Marathon, while going to Chicago for the Bank
of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K will allow me
to connect with all of the great fans and runners there on a
course that feels like home to me in the city where I have had so much
success. It’s the perfect trip.”
Shobukhova
will make her third start at an NYRR event having last raced at the
NYRR Mini 10K in 2011. Last fall, Shobukhova cemented her legacy in
Chicago by winning her third consecutive Bank
of America Chicago Marathon, becoming the first runner to do so in the
event’s 34-year history.
“Consistency
is a sign of greatness and nobody has been more consistent than Liliya
at the marathon distance the last few years,” said Wittenberg. “We
welcome her back to NY for her first steps
on the road to the London Olympics.”
Shobukhova
will join other Olympic contenders Kara Goucher and Desiree Davila of
the U.S. in the NYC Half. NYRR’s flagship half-marathon, in its seventh
edition, will feature a record field
of 15,000 runners, a $100,000 prize purse and a new course traversing
through Manhattan beginning in Central Park, going through Times Square
and all the way downtown to the scenic South Street Seaport finish.
The
Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K marks Chicago’s annual kick-off to
the running season. Shobukhova will be joined by U.S. Olympic Marathon
team member Abdi Abdirahman as they lead the
way for 40,000 runners at the 33rd annual race through
downtown Chicago. The flat and fast course mirrors the start and finish
of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in Grant Park, where Shobukhova
made history last fall.
“Liliya
has performed at the highest level on the streets of Chicago and we’re
excited that her road to the Olympics will once again run through our
city,” said Pinkowski. “The Shamrock Shuffle
is an opportunity for Liliya to celebrate the start of a new season
alongside the local fans who have supported her and will be rooting for
her as one of their own at the Olympic Games.”
There
is precedent for a Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K winner to go on
to win the gold medal in the Olympic Marathon. Constantina Dita of
Romania, the 2006 Shamrock Shuffle champion (and
2004 Chicago Marathon champion) struck gold at the 2008 Olympic
Marathon in Beijing.
About NYRR
New
York Road Runners was founded in 1958 when a small group of passionate
runners vowed to bring running to the people. Over the past 53 years,
NYRR has grown from a local running club to
the world’s premier community running organization. NYRR’s mission is
to empower everyone, of all ages and abilities–beginners and competitive
athletes, the young and the elderly, adult professionals and
underserved schoolchildren–to improve their health and
well-being through the power of running and fitness.
NYRR’s
races, community events, instruction and training resources, and youth
programs give hundreds of thousands of people each year the motivation,
know-how, and opportunity to start running
and keep running for life. NYRR’s premier event, the famed ING New York
City Marathon, attracts the world’s top pro runners and committed
amateurs alike while also raising millions of dollars annually for
charity and driving economic impact for the City. But
NYRR is equally committed to the runners of tomorrow, passionately
providing youth fitness programs that educate and inspire more than
100,000 kids in underserved communities in New York City, all 50 states,
and around the world.
Headquartered
in New York City, NYRR implements a unique nonprofit model that teams
contributed and earned income to make all its efforts possible. To learn
more, please visit
www.nyrr.org.
About the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K
Long recognized as an annual rite of spring and the kick-off to the outdoor running season in Chicago, the 33rd
annual Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K takes runners on a scenic
tour of downtown Chicago, starting and finishing in Grant Park. The
race will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 25, and will conclude
with live music by “Mike and Joe” at the traditional Post-Race Party in
Grant Park. In advance of the event, the two-day Bank of America
Shamrock Shuffle 8K Health & Fitness Expo will take
place at Navy Pier on Friday, March 23, and Saturday, March 24,
featuring more than 80 industry-related exhibitors. The Health &
Fitness Expo is free and open to the public. For more information about
the event and how to get involved, go to
www.shamrockshuffle.com.
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Liliya Shobukhova is one of the few athletes who has a real chance of taking an Olympic medal in the women’s marathon, which will be contested in London, England in August 2012. Her tremendous third victory at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon last October just cemented her global reputation as one of the key players in the women’s marathon. Nice to see her racing in the US this spring!
