8th Annual BAA Half Marathon on Oct. 12 Offering $30K

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.

 Established in 1887, the Boston Athletic
Association is a non-profit organization with a mission of managing athletic
events and promoting a healthy lifestyle through sports, especially running. The
B.A.A.’s Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon, and the
organization manages other local events and supports comprehensive charity,
youth, and year-round running programs.