Race will serve as USA Men's 8K Championship; New York Road Runners announces inaugural Women's Invitational; $70,000 prize purse

NEW YORK - (February 4, 2008) - American mile record-holder Alan Webb will make a rare appearance on the roads, opening his Olympic-year campaign at the Central Park Challenge on Saturday, March 15, it was announced by New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg at the New York Track Writers weekly luncheon on Monday. The race will serve as the USA Men's 8K Championship.

Webb, a 2004 Olympian and U.S. World Championships team member in 2005 and 2007, is the first professional athlete named to a men's field that will feature a host of America's best distance runners from the mile to the marathon, and will serve as an early preview of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field this summer.

New for this year, New York Road Runners will add a Women's Invitational race, which will feature an exclusive field of top U.S. and international stars. Both races will be contested over the 8K (4.97-mile) distance on a fan-friendly criterium-style course. The event will have a total prize-money purse of $70,000.