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For Immediate Release

CONTACT
Willie Fowlkes, (936) 588-9966

PAST CHAMPIONS, FAST NEWCOMERS

CHASE TEXAS THIRD LARGEST MARATHON PRIZE PURSE
THE WOODLANDS, TX (February 26, 2016) For Fidelity Investments The
Woodlands Marathon elite athlete coordinator Chris Strait, constructing a quality elite
field each year is akin to putting together a puzzle with chess pieces.
Its always a challenge to put together the fastest field possible, says Strait,
who is producing his third consecutive field of elite athletes for the event. The main
objective, however, is to not only have a fast field, but to also have a deep field.
Money helps. And with the third largest marathon prize purse in Texas for the
2015-2016 marathon cycle, including a top prize of $3,000 for both male and female
marathon winners, next Saturdays race is once again drawing the same caliber of
athlete that produced the 25th fastest winning mens time in America last year.
Guaranteed money in the marathon and half marathon combined will total
$16,650 with an additional $6,900 available in marathon primes and race record
bonuses in both events.
We have supported elite athletes since the return of The Woodlands
Marathon, Strait said. The challenge from the foreign athletes perspective is
obtaining their athletic travel visas.
It is a process that takes a bit of back and forth between me, athletes and
agents as well as embassies in order to get the right documentation together.
Strait says sometimes it doesnt always come together, but it is why he also has
a deep contact list too.
We have had tremendous feedback year after year from our elites, and this is
why we have a good amount of returning athletes, he said. There are so many racing
options each year and my aim is to have these elites put us on their calendar every
year.
New for 2016 is IAAF-AIMS course certification only the fourth marathon in
Texas to obtain it, which allows competitors to use their times to meet their countrys
standard to qualify for this years summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and
drug testing per United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) standards.
Defending champion Philip Lagat Chirchir, 32, is set to return, but the likely
favorite is fellow Kenyan, 32-year-old Robert Gaitho Gititu.
While Lagat was busy winning The Woodlands and Des Moines in 2:19:19 and
2:21:02 last March and October, Gititu won the Wels (Upper Austria) Half Marathon in
mid-March in a personal best time of 1:04:59 two months before taking his marathon
best to 2:14:37 while winning the 16th annual Green Europe Marathon, which starts in
Lipica, Slovenia and finishes in Trieste, Italy.
The Woodlands Marathon Management -- The Woodlands, Texas

The duo will be pushed by two recent additions to the field also from Kenya
in Mark Kipkosgei Chepses and Geoffrey Birgen Liprotich.
Chepses is the four-time winner of the Little Rock Marathon (2010-2014) with
wins in Richmond (2010), Knoxville (2014), Birmingham (2014) and last year in
Tallahassee in 2:19:11. The 39-year-old kicked off 2016 with a 2:28:58 victory last
month in the Trinidad and Tobago International Marathon.
Meanwhile, Birgen, 33, has posted eight marathon times of 2:22 or better in the
last two years including wins in Chinese Taipei, Sri Lanka and most recently in Jakarta,
Indonesia last October where he recorded a personal best of 2:17:43.
Ethiopian Hirut Beyene Guangul is the odds-on favorite in the womens
marathon.
The 25-year-old earned over $23,000 in prize money last year, including five of
her nine career marathon wins. She won at the Buffalo Marathon (2:39:01) in late
May, Pikes Peak (Colorado) Marathon (4:29:09) in mid-August, Quad Cities (Moline,
IL) Marathon (2:39:10) in late September and a pair at the Atlantic City Marathon
(2:42:11) and the Anthem Richmond (VA) Marathon (2:42:13) in mid-October and
November, respectively.
Guanguls 2:34:03 PR is closely matched by fellow Ethiopian Demse
Alemtsehay Mesfin. The 30-year-old brings a 2:34:22 best and has been on the
podium in five of her last eight marathons, dating back to September 2013 where she
was second in 2:35:18 at the Baden Marathon in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Mesfin won $10,000 at the 2014 Jersualem International Marathon with a
2:47:24 effort and has a 2:49:37 victory to her credit at the Bangalore, India Bengaluru
Midnight Marathon in December 2014.
A late entry is 29-year-old Ethiopian Ayantu Dakebo Hailemaryam, who
sports a 2:33:59 best from her win at the 2014 Reims Marathon in France.
The battles for the titles of the newly-minted Houston Methodist The
Woodlands Half Marathon may come down to a select two or three.
Or make that a couple of Toos in the mens field 22-year-old Nicholas
Kipngetich Too and 36-year-old Hillary Too.
Both Kenyans and both had a busy and successful 2015.
The younger Too was 4th in the RRCA National Half Marathon championship in
Parkersburg, West Virginia in 1:05:36 and 14th (49:33) in a very deep Crim 10-Miler
field two weeks later in Michigan.
These races set the table for a pair of half marathons wins in Akron, Ohio
(1:03:58) and Wichita, Kansas (1:05:21) in September and October, respectively.
The older Too, who trains in the Research Triangle that includes Chapel Hill,
North Carolina, came to Texas and won the Cowtown Half Marathon in frigid
conditions early last March - in 1:06:02 followed two weeks later with another victory
in the Tobacco Road Half Marathon in 1:08:23 in Cary, North Carolina.
His personal best of 1:05:12 came one week later at the Anthem Half Marathon
in Richmond, Virginia where he was fourth and added 1:05:33 and 1:05:37 showings
at the distance in April and November.
Too was also second and first, respectively, in the Nationwide Childrens
Hospital Columbus Marathon and the Anthem Richmond Marathon in 2:19:03 and
2:18:48.
The Woodlands Marathon Management -- The Woodlands, Texas

Texas A&Ms first individual champion mens cross country -- in the SEC three
years ago, Henry Lelei, 26, winner of last Decembers BCS 2015 Half Marathon in
1:06:49, shaved a minute off of that time to run 1:05:45 at the Aramco Houston Half
Marathon this January, finishing 35th overall.
The womens half marathon race was expected to be a rematch between two
ladies 20-year-old Cynthia Jerop and 32-year-old Grace Kahura -- who went 1-2
here two years ago, but enter fellow Ethiopian Demse Tewabech Yemenu, whos also
20 like Jerop.
Jerop owns the second best time in the events fouryear history with her
1:15:37 win four minutes ahead of a distant Kahura two years ago and she won last
years Austin Marathon in 2:54:21 after catching fellow countrywoman Hyvon Ngetich
in the last quarter mile, who was widely remembered for crawling the last 100 yards
for a third-place finish.
With a 1:13:33 personal best, Jerop hopes to hold off Kahura who may be
primed to close the huge deficit from two years ago after a 1:14:24 PR and fourth-place
finish at the Philadelphia Half Marathon last November.
Yemenu sports a 1:14:31 PR, but most recently won the Pensacola Double
Bridge Run 15K in 52:16 13 seconds than Jerop had two years prior -- and followed it
up with a decisive 14-second 16:11 win at the Fort Myers (Fla.) Festival of Lights 5K..
For more information about the Fidelity Investments The Woodlands Marathon,
please visit www.thewoodlandsmarathon.com.
About The Woodlands Marathon Management

The Woodlands Marathon Management is an event production company that operates with a
primary goal of providing individuals the opportunity to participate in a running event that
promotes the advancement of running. The directors of The Woodlands Marathon
Management share a passion for The Woodlands community, the Houston region and the
active sport lifestyle. They have teamed up to produce this premier event that will provide
The Woodlands and surrounding communities options for living a healthy lifestyle with
purpose.

About The Woodlands

Located just 30 minutes north of Houston, Texas and minutes from George Bush
Intercontinental Airport, The Woodlands is an emerging destination for leisure guests,
individual business travelers and groups of all sizes. Visitors to The Woodlands enjoy more
than five million square feet of world-class shopping, dining and entertainment options; more
than 185 miles of hike-and-bike trails; the 1,700-acre Mitchell Preserve; the Cynthia Woods
Mitchell Pavilion, one of the top five outdoor amphitheatres in the world; kayaking on The
Woodlands Waterway and Lake Woodlands; and 115 parks. The Woodlands features worldclass golf and is home to more than 1,400 guestrooms in upscale and boutique properties,
select service, limited service, conference and convention centers and a resort. For more
information, go to www.visitthewoodlands.com.

-TWM-

The Woodlands Marathon Management -- The Woodlands, Texas