NEW YORK (AP) — Two-time Olympic champion Haile (HAY-lee) Gebrselassie (Sell-ALL-see) will make his debut this fall in the New York City Marathon.
The New York Road Runners announced Wednesday that the marathon world record-holder will compete on Nov. 7. He will be running his first major marathon in the United States.
Gebrselassie joined 1,500 school children at Randall’s Island for the New York Road Runners Mighty Milers Fun Run as part of the second annual national running day celebration.
The Ethiopian says he wants to challenge the NYC marathon course record set by his friend Tesfaye Jifar.
Also joining the field was Arata Fujiwara of Japan, who won the Ottawa Marathon on Sunday.
