THE AMERICANS

Three United States Olympians will be among the thousands of runners racing the New York City Half-Marathon on Sunday, March 17. Bernard Lagat, Abdi Abdirahman, and Dathan Ritzenhein highlight the American men’s elite field.

Lagat will be making his 13.1-mile debut with the goal of running under 61 minutes. This indoor season, he reclaimed his American record in the two-mile race in 8:09.49 at the Millrose Games. He has not run over 5,000-meters competitively since his days at Washington State, when he raced cross-country.

A half marathon will not shift Lagat’s long-term focus. He is still determined to race the 5,000-meter run as a member of the United States’ team at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow.

As seen in Driven: Bernard Lagat, the five-time Olympic medalist maintains a low mileage training base. He told the New York Times his longest workout was once 14 miles and maxed out with 70 to 72 miles in a week.

Lagat only trains six days a week with Abdirahman and others like Stephen Sambu in Arizona.

The 36-year-old Abdirahman is no stranger to the New York City Half. In 2007, he finished second in 1:00:29 and set the third fastest half-marathon time in American history.

“The Black Cactus” was among the many athletes left without a race after Superstorm Sandy cancelled the 2012 New York City Marathon. Abdirahman made the United States Olympic team after a third place finish at the Olympic Trials, but he did not run in London due to a knee injury.

Ritzenhein is a bronze medalist in the half marathon from the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin. The Nike Oregon Project athlete is coming off a second place finish at the United States Cross-Country Championship.

This fall, he will return to the Chicago Marathon after setting a personal best in 2012 with his time of 2:07.47 as the first American to finish. With no spring marathon plans, he should be all in on Sunday.

Boulder Track Club’s Jason Hartmann was the first American to cross the finish line in the scotching heat of the 2012 Boston Marathon. Before the cancellation of the New York City Marathon last fall, Hartmann was a second place finisher at the 2012 Brooklyn Half Marathon.

He told reporters on Thursday that he would be treating this race as a “pretest” for his “final exam” on April 15th. He goes into the race with no set time or place goal, but just to run well. 

INTERNATIONAL STARS

Kenyan Wilson Kipsang could be the favorite to win it all on Sunday. The Olympic marathon bronze medalist holds a personal best of 58:59. He trains with marathon world record holder Geoffrey Mutai and will use the 13.1 miles as a tune up for Boston in April.

Kipsang has the fastest personal best in 58:59, yet Ethiopian Tesfaye Girma can not be counted out. Fellow Kenyan Julius Arile was shrugged off as a suggested challenger by Kipsang, while Lagat and Leonard Korir will be monitored in their debuts.

Guor Marial made headlines over the summer as the refugee runner competing under the Olympic flag in London. He trains alone in Flagstaff, Arizona and just recently signed with Sketchers. The New York City Half will be his first race since becoming an American citizen on February 22.

Mainly a steeplechaser, Bouabdallah Tahri of France will be making his half marathon debut. He hopes to move up to the marathon distance some day. In November, he finished seventh at the Nijmegen 15K in 43:49. Seeing his distance transition should be fun to watch. 

Flotrack will be on hand with live updates of the action from New York. It can be watched on WABC-TV from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m or a live stream can be found on ESPN3.