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Katie McGregor to run New York Marathon

First, Katie McGregor was state champion of Ohio in the 3,200-meter run as a high school freshman. Later, at the University of Michigan, she was NCAA champion, Big Ten Athlete of the Year, and was honored with the Honda Award, given to the nation?s top female cross country runner for running distances up to 5,000 meters. In her post-collegiate professional career, McGregor remained in Ann Arbor and began training for the 10,000 meter run.

Now, as the 2005 United States 10,000-meter champion, McGregor, 29, will make her marathon debut. As her first 26.2 mile course she chose the world`s largest and perhaps most famous competition. McGregor will run at the New York City Marathon, which will take place on November 5. McGregor will be one of about 35,000 runners, and will be joined by Deena Kastor of the United States, the 2004 Olympic marathon bronze medalist, Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia, the defending champion, and Catherine Ndereba of Kenya, the 2004 Olympic marathon silver medalist.

Thus McGregor is living up to her reputation around track and field athletes as a "well rounded and consistent" runner. Asked which type of event and venue she prefers, McGregor said: "I think the thing I like the most about running distance is you have options, you can change it up. I think that?s what makes the sport so exciting."