The lead men's group at the 2003 Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon. Martin Lel emerged to claim first place.
Read Rick Platt's story on the 2003 race.

Summer's Hottest Male Road Racer, Gilbert Okari, Will Also Compete
Kenyans Paul Kosgei and Martin Lel, the 2002 and 2003 World Half Marathon champions, will lead the men's elite invitational fields as they vie for an $80,000 prize purse at the fourth annual Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Sun., Sept. 5, 2004.

Lel, the defending Rock 'n' Roll men's champion, is coming off an impressive year in which he captured the '03 World Half Marathon title and followed that with a victory at the prestigious ING New York City Marathon. He knocked 22 seconds off the course record en route to his Rock 'n' Roll Half victory last year, winning in a time of 61:27, and enters this year with the fastest time in the field at 59:51.

Kosgei, the '02 World Half Marathon champion, and Gilbert Okari, winner of the recent Beach To Beacon 10K and Falmouth Road Race, will challenge Lel. Kosgei opened his 2004 racing season with a world record at the Berlin 25K, running a 1:12:45 in Germany. Even more impressive are Okari's recent performances. He smashed an eight-year-old course record by 28 seconds in his Falmouth victory back on Aug. 8 in Massachusetts. The performance came on the heels of his Beach To Beacon title where he ran a 27:35, the fastest road 10K in the world this year.

Also in the field are Joseph Ngolepus, winner of the 2004 Suzuki Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, Haron Toroitich, winner of the 2004 P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon and Christopher Cheboiboch, champion of the 2001 Country Music Marathon.

"This is a great field," exclaimed national television running commentator Toni Reavis, who witnessed Okari's recent victories. Anyone competing at the Olympics would be hard-pressed to run with those three men at Virginia Beach if they were here. That is the level of their talent. Okari is in stunning shape and is on fire right now. It's going to be anybody's race on Sept. 5."

"Obviously, any time you have back-to-back world champions in your race of that same distance, it's pretty special," added Mike Long, elite athlete recruiter for the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon. Then adding Gilbert Okari in there, with the way he is running right now, makes it all that much better."

The women's elite field features a unique highlight with the appearance of Hiromi and Takami Ominami, twin sisters from Japan who are known as the fastest marathoning siblings. At 28-years-old, both have registered impressive victories in their careers, with Hiromi winning the Sapporo Half Marathon this year and Takami winning the Nagoya Marathon last year. The pair leads a strong contingent of seven Japanese runners who will be appearing in Virginia Beach.

Kenyan Margaret Atodonyang will be seeking a victory this year after finishing second in 2003 and fourth in 2002. She has lowered her time each year, running 71:27 in her runner-up finish to Margaret Okayo last year. Countrywoman Salina Kosgei, the 2004 Paris Marathon champion, is in the field, as is Romania's Anuta Catuna, the 2004 Country Music Marathon champion.

The Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, which sells out each year with more than 16,000 runners and walkers, features 20 bands and 16 local high school cheer squads lining the scenic course that finishes along the boardwalk in Virginia Beach. National recording artists Sugar Ray and Collective Soul headline the post race concert on the beach that same evening.

The Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon will be televised to a national audience on Sat., Sept. 18 at 1 p.m. EST and Sun., Oct. 5 at 3 p.m. EST on Fox Sports Net. A local broadcast will also be shown on WAVY TV 10 and WVBT Fox 43 on Sun., Sept. 26 at 1 p.m. EST.

Photo: The Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon features a final stretch run on the boardwalk in Virginia Beach.

Elite Athlete Roster

Men


Name, age, country, personal best, highlight
1.  Martin Lel, 26, (KEN), 59:51, 1st '03 RNR Half, 1st '03 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships
2.  Paul Kosgei, 26, (KEN), 59:58, 1st '02 IAAF World Half Marathon,1st '04 Berlin 25K (WR 72:45)
3.  Haron Toroitich, 26, (KEN), 60:53, 1st '04 PF Chang's RNR Arizona Marathon, 7th '03 RNR Half
4.  Titus Munji, 24, (KEN), 60:27, 2:06:15,  3rd '03 Berlin Marathon
5.  Satoshi Watanabe, 27, (JPN), 61:35, 3rd '04 Nagano Marathon
6.  Kazuyuki Maeda, 24, (JPN), 61:49, 4th '03 Japanese Corporate Half Marathon Championships
7.  Yoshihiro Yamamoto, 21, (JPN), 62:03, Araco Corporate Team Member
8.  Joshua Chelanga, 31, (KEN), 61:02, 8th '02 Lisbon Half
9.  Laban Kipkemboi, 26, (KEN), 61:16, 1st '03 Philadelphia Distance Run
10. Kim Gillard, 34, (AUS), 62:48, 4th 03 Austin Half Marathon
11. Joseph Ngolepus, 30, (KEN), 2:07:57, 1st '04 Suzuki Rock 'n' Roll Marathon
12. Christopher Cheboibich, 27, (KEN), 60:33, 2nd '02, 5th '03 Boston Marathon
13. Gilbert Okari, 26, (KEN), 27:28, 1st '03 Beach To Beacon, 2nd '03 Crescent City
14. Japhet Kosgei, 36, (KEN) 60:01, 3rd '03 RNR Half, 7th '02 RNR Half
15. Michael Rotich, 21, (Ken)  61:30, 1st '03 Paris Marathon (2:06:33)
16. El Arbi Khattabi, 37, (MAR)  61:39, 2nd '03 Philadelphia Distance Run
17. David Makori, 20 (KEN), 61:39, 4th '03 Paris Half , 7th '03 RNRM


Masters
1.   Hiromi Taniguchi 44 (JPN)   1st 91 IAAF World Ch. Marathon



Women


Name, age, country, personal best, highlight
1.  Margaret Atodonyang, 25, (KEN), 69:12, 2nd '03 RNR Half, 2nd '04 Suzuki RNR Marathon
2.  Salina Kosgei, 27, (KEN), 71:26, 1st '04 Paris Marathon
3.  Hiromi Ominami, 28, (JPN), 68:45, (2:26:17), 1st '04 Sapporo Half, 2nd '03 Rotterdam
4.  Takami Ominami, 28, (JPN), 70:21, (2:23:43), 1st '03 Nagoya Marathon
5.  Anuta Catuna, 34 (ROM), 69:16, 1st 04 CMM, 2nd '04 PF Chang's RNR Arizona Marathon
6.  Kayoko Obata, 32 (JPN), 71:05, 5th '03 RNR Half
7.  Kiyoko Shimahara, 27, (JPN), 70:51, 3rd '03 Tokyo Women's Marathon
8.  Elena Orlova, 34, (RUS), 72:40, 5th '04 Country Music Marathon, 4th '03 Reims Half Marathon
9.  Nuta Olaru, 34, (ROM), 69:00, 3rd '02 RNR Half, 9th '03 Chicago Marathon
10.  Asami Obi, 28, (JPN), 70:04
11. Ai Yamamoto, 26, (JPN), 70:32, 1st '03 Torino Half, Oki Electric Team Member
12. Akane Taira, 21, (JPN), 72:04, Oki Electric Corp. Team Member
13. Miho Ichikawa, 31, (JPN), 72:34, ACOM Team

Southern Virginia's finest were at the 2003 Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon!