8th Annual B.A.A. Half Marathon Just One Month Away

5,000 runners preparing for October 12th event

Boston, Mass. – The eighth annual B.A.A. Half Marathon presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund, will be held October 12, 2008 at 8 a.m. The event will feature 5,000 runners and sold out in record time this year, with the field filling in just eight days.

The B.A.A. Half Marathon starts and finishes at Roberto Clemente Field, in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. The 13.1-mile route shows off Boston's Emerald Necklace park system, starting in the Fenway area, and covering the Riverway, Jamaicaway, and Arborway on the out-and-back route to Franklin Park and the Franklin Park Zoo.

A total of $30,000 in prize money will be awarded to the top overall, masters and wheelchair finishers. Past participants have included John Kagwe (two-time New York City Marathon champion), Timothy Cherigat (2004 Boston Marathon champion), Lornah Kiplagat (20K world record holder), Valentina Yegorova (Olympic marathon gold medalist), Jen Rhines (two-time U.S. Olympian), and Peter Gilmore (three-time top-10 finisher in the Boston Marathon). A new men's course record of 1:02:20 was set by Tom Nyariki (KEN) last year, while the women's mark of 1:10:57 was set by Marie Davenport (IRL) in 2003.

B.A.A. Half Marathon Participation & Past Champions

Year / Men / Women / Entrants
2001 Wayne Levy (1:10:57); Sarah Nixon (1:21:16); 3,375

2002 David Hinga (1:09:47); Sarah Nixon (1:22:34); 4,072

2003 Laban Kipkemboi (1:03:04); Marie Davenport (1:10:57*); 4,095

2004 Luke Metto (1:02:57); Lornah Kiplagat (1:12:05); 4,309

2005 Celedonio Rodriguez (1:04:09); Nataliya Berkut (1:12:21); 4,457

2006 Samuel Ndereba (1:03:03); Marie Davenport (1:12:10); 4,642

2007 Tom Nyariki (1:02:20*); Edna Kiplagat (1:13:36); 4,917

2008 TBD on October 12; TBD on October 12; 5,012*
* = B.A.A. Half Marathon Record

For the sixth consecutive year, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund are the presenting sponsors of the B.A.A. Half Marathon. Several hundred Dana-Farber Runners will be fundraising for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund.

Additionally, a portion of the entry fees will be donated to the Emerald Necklace Conservancy to benefit the 1,000 acres of greenspace, waterways and parkways so important to our Commonwealth's quality of life and health of its citizens. It took civic visionary Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. (1822-1903) almost twenty years (1878-1896) to create the six parks now known as the Emerald Necklace. The Back Bay Fens, Riverway, Olmsted Park, Jamaica Park, Arnold Arboretum and Franklin Park stretch five miles from the Charles River to Dorchester and make up over 1,000 acres of parkland. Today, the Necklace comprises half of the City of Boston's park acreage, parkland in the Town of Brookline, and parkways and park edges under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. More than 300,000 people live within its watershed area.