Championship Fields Set for This Weekend’s B.A.A. Half Marathon

Boston Champions Set to Square Off at 

Sunday’s 19th annual B.A.A. Half Marathon 

Photo: Part of the 7,000 runner field leaving Franklin Park at the outset of the 2018 B.A.A. Half Marathon. Photo by FitzFoto/NERunner

BOSTON – The Boston Athletic Association today announced the elite field for the 19th annual B.A.A. Half Marathon, presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund. Headlining the men’s field is 2012 Boston Marathon champion Wesley Korir, who will toe the line against three-time B.A.A. Half Marathon champion and fellow Kenyan Daniel Salel. Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase and Kenya’s Monicah Ngige, both podium finishers a year ago, lead the women’s field. The B.A.A. Half Marathon will be run this Sunday, October 13 at 8:00 a.m., beginning and finishing in Boston’s Franklin Park. 

Korir, a former Member of Parliament in Kenya, returns to Boston with hopes of adding to his collection of trophies, having won the 2012 Boston Marathon in 2:12:40. Only three athletes have won both the Boston Marathon and B.A.A. Half Marathon during their career, a list Korir looks to join on Sunday. He’ll face stiff competition with Salel, a three-time champion (2015 through 2017) and winner of the 2015 B.A.A. Distance Medley. 

David Bett, also from Kenya, returns following a one-second victory at the B.A.A. 10K in June. Another past podium finisher is Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay, third at last year’s B.A.A. Half Marathon. Geay has won high profile road races in New York, Washington, and California this year. 

Massachusetts native Tim Ritchie is the top American entered. From Worcester, Ritchie competed at Boston College and won the 2017 USA National Marathon Championship. He is now the head cross country coach at UMass, Amherst. 

Gotytom Gebreslase and Monicah Ngige each have experience on the B.A.A. Half Marathon’s undulating course, and will look to use that to their advantage. Gebreslase was just five seconds behind last year’s champion Joan Chelimo, and placed third at the B.A.A. 5K this spring. Winning the B.A.A. 5K was Ngige, who has shown tremendous range in events from the 5K to half marathon. Ngige has extra incentive to finish as champion, for a $20,000 bonus is at stake if she can win two of the three B.A.A. Distance Medley events in 2019. 

Fastest in the women’s field is Brillian Kipkoech of Kenya, who owns a lifetime best of 1:07:12 for the half marathon. Kenya’s Gladys Yator, Vicoty Chepngeno, and Sheila Jepkosgei are all contenders as well. 

In the Wheelchair Division, Tony Nogueira of New Jersey will go for his 13th victory. Last year Nogueira won in 53:57; this year he’ll take on rising star Miguel Jimenez-Vergara from Arizona. Former Acton-Boxboro standout and 2014 B.A.A. Half Marathon champion Katrina Gerhard leads the women’s wheelchair field, which also includes five-time victor Carla Trodella. Gerhard finished sixth at this year’s Boston Marathon. 

Since first being run in 2001, the B.A.A. Half Marathon has seen winners from eight different countries. In 2018, a total of 6,478 finishers completed the B.A.A. Half Marathon, presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund. This year’s field has 9,000 participants. 

MEN’S TOP CONTENDERS 

Course Record: 1:00:34, Lelisa Desisa (Ethiopia), 2013 NAME	AGE	COUNTRY	HALF PERSONAL BEST
Gabriel Geay	23	Tanzania	1:00:26
Daniel Salel	28	Kenya	1:00:41
Sammy Rotich	32	Kenya	1:01:16
Wesley Korir	36	Kenya	1:01:19
Tim Ritchie	32	USA/MA	1:01:23
Edwin Kibichiy	27	Kenya	1:01:46
David Bett	26	Kenya	1:03:37