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Pavey looks to extend British winning - Newsroom - 21-02-2011
Olympian Pavey Looks to Extend British Winning Streak to Three at NYC Half
Three-time Olympian Jo Pavey looks to extend a British winning streak to three consecutive years at the NYC Half on Sunday, March 20, when she makes her first career start in the United States, it was announced today by New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg.
Paula Radcliffe started the streak in 2009 with a winning time of 1 hour, 9 minutes, 45 seconds. Mara Yamauchicontinued it last year with a course-record 1:09:25. Radcliffe has not raced yet this year after the birth of her second child last fall, and Yamauchi is currently injured.
"The tradition of British women at the NYC Half has been so strong," said Wittenberg. "Jo has an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Paula and Mara, and we are very pleased that she'll join us in March."
Pavey, 37, one of the top female British track and field athletes of all time, has transitioned to the road racing scene in recent years. She is the national indoor record-holder at 3000 meters (8:31.50) and two miles (9:32.00), and she is the country's second-fastest performer at 5000 meters (14:39.96), behind Radcliffe. Her half-marathon personal best of 1:08:53 makes her fourth all-time among British women behind Radcliffe, Liz McColgan and Yamauchi.
"I'm really excited about the prospect of racing in New York City," said Pavey. "I'm returning from a four-month period of injury and illness, so now that training has gone well, I'm really keen to get out and race again. It's a great lineup and will provide me with a fantastic opportunity to be in a really competitive race."
Pavey had her first child in 2009, and after returning to competition in 2010, she was sidelined with a toe injury. She will use the NYC Half as a tune-up for her marathon debut at London in April.
The NYC Half-Marathon, which has a $100,000 prize purse (the largest for any United States half-marathon), has previously announced a strong lineup of USA competitors: Kara Goucher, Ryan Hall, Meb Keflezighi, Abdi Abdirahman, Patrick Smyth and Serena Burla.
On a course designed to celebrate New York City, the NYC Half-Marathon will take more than 9,000 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.