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Abdirahman Announced For Bank Of America Shamrock Shuffle - RRW

Published by
RunnerSpace.com/RoadRacing   Feb 16th 2012, 2:08pm
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ABDIRAHMAN ANNOUNCED FOR BANK OF AMERICA SHAMROCK SHUFFLE
By Chris Lotsbom
(c) 2012 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

(16-Feb) -- Yesterday, organizers of the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8-K announced that three-time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman will be running the event’s 33rd edition, to be held on March 25, in Chicago. The event will be the first for Abdirahman since he finished third at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in January, when the 35 year-old earned a spot on the starting line for the Olympic Marathon in London.

"The Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8-K will be my first competitive race since the Olympic Trials, and I can't wait to put my racing flats back on and get my season started along with 40,000 other runners in Chicago," said Abdirahman through a prepared statement.

The race will also mark Abdirahman’s return to the same city in which he set his current personal best in the marathon, a 2:08:56 clocking at the 2006 Bank of American Chicago Marathon.

"I definitely feel the enthusiasm and support of the Chicago running community and that is something I am going to soak up at the Shamrock Shuffle and take with me all the way to the Olympic Games,” he said.

Joining Abdirahman will be two-time race champion Tera Moody, who is originally from St. Charles, Ill. Moody was a member of Team USA at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea last year, where she finished 17th in the marathon.

Though the race features elites like Abdirahman and Moody, the general focus for the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8-K will be to celebrate the arrival of warmer weather, although the race has been held in wintry conditions in the past when Mother Nature was less than cooperative.

"The Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8-K is first and foremost a tradition for Chicagoans to put on their running shoes after a long winter and celebrate the arrival of spring, but we're also proud of the event's legacy of elite level racing, which continues with the addition of Abdi to this year's field," said executive race Director Carey Pinkowski in a statement. "It will be fun to watch him put his leg speed to the test on our flat and fast 8-K course."

James Kariuki of Kenya holds the men's course record at 22:35, while American Deena Kastor has the fastest women's time, 24:36. Last year's event had 32,405 total finishers.

PHOTO: Abdi Abdirahman after the 2007 NYC Half (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

ENDS



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