| Wire 57 - July 10,
2001
In this edition of the
Running USA wire:
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Team USA Minnesota Reception July 12
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National Distance Running Hall of Fame Inducts 2001 Class
-
USA Championship Finalists at Minnesota Distance Classic
-
Crazy 8's 8K Preview
Copyright (c) 2001 Running USA
UPCOMING
EVENTS:
TEAM
USA MINNESOTA RECEPTION SET FOR JULY 12
Olympian Steve Holman, Guest Speaker
The Twin Cities Marathon and the Minnesota Distance Running Association
will host a reception for Team USA Minnesota on July 12 from 6-8 p.m.
at the Calhoun Beach Club in Minneapolis. In addition to introducing the
Team USA Minnesota athletes and coaches, the event will feature Steve
Holman - 1992 Olympian who grew up in the Twin Cities - as a guest speaker.
The reception is also a fundraiser for the Team USA Minnesota Distance
Training Center. Supporters may purchase a $25 ticket to be eligible for
a drawing of several prizes. For more information about the event, call
(952) 924-1081.
Team USA Minnesota is the fourth training center of Team USA Distance
Running, a joint program by Running USA and USA Track & Field. The
program, launched at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento, is dedicated
to developing and promoting U.S. distance runners by providing coaching,
structured group training, athlete support and media services. For more
information on Team USA Distance Running, go to: www.runningusa.org.
For Team USA Minnesota information, visit: www.teamusaminnesota.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
National Distance Running Hall of Fame Inducts 2001 Class
UTICA, NY - (July 7, 2001) - Outstanding athletes and running elite joined
the National Distance Running Hall of Fame Saturday as it inducted its
fourth class of distinguished runners. The 2001 class is Craig Virgin,
Bill Dellinger, Fred Lebow and Lynn Jennings.
Focusing on the past and future of distance running, the induction ceremony
was attended by both Dellinger and Virgin. "It is an honor I will treasure
for the rest of my life," Virgin said in an eloquent and heartfelt acceptance
speech. He thanked his parents and family for their constant assistance.
"I would've never gotten here without their support," he said. The three-time
10,000m Olympic team qualifier is a two-time World Cross-Country champion
(1980-81) and the first and last American male winner. Virgin, the 1975
NCAA Cross-Country Champion, won nine Big 10 titles.
Alberto Salazar, a 2000 Hall class inductee who was formerly coached by
Dellinger, introduced Dellinger and presented him with his Hall of Fame
plaque. Dellinger honored his wife for her unending support before and
after his recent stroke in a statement read by Salazar. In a moving thank
you, Dellinger told an absorbed audience that he hoped to see them all
again next year at the 2002 ceremony. Dellinger, who was coached by the
late Bill Bowerman, was not only an accomplished runner (1964 Olympic
5000m bronze medalist), but also served as the assistant track distance
coach with Bowerman at the University of Oregon, later becoming head coach
in 1973. His coaching was an undeniably important influence on running
greats and current Hall-of-Famers Steve Prefontaine and Salazar.
Lebow, former president of the New York Road Runners Club, was honored
by Hall of Famer Grete Waitz and Allan Steinfeld, CEO of the New York
Road Runners Club (NYRRC) and race director of the New York City Marathon.
Lebow is recognized as a being responsible for making the NYRRC the largest
organization of its kind. He is admired as a man who has helped to raise
distance running to its current position as a highly-respected and competitive
sport. "What Fred left behind is a difference...a difference that has
changed people's lives," Waitz said. Lebow died of brain cancer in 1994.
An impressive and formidable distance running competitor, Lynn Jennings
holds a record collection of 39 national titles in track, road and cross-country
in distances ranging from 1500 meters to 10,000 meters. She is heralded
as a role model for all runners, especially women in the sport. Jennings
is a three-time Olympian and a nine-time National Cross-Country Champion.
Overall, Jennings has set 10 American records and is a three-time World
Cross-Country Champion (1990-92). She was honored at the ceremony by Henley
Gabeau, Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) official and founder of the
RRCA's Women's Distance Festivals.
Famous special guests who joined in the ceremony with Hall of Famers included
Khalid Khannouchi, world record holder for the marathon and Alan Webb,
national high school record holder for the indoor and outdoor mile. Hall
of Famers Ted Corbitt, Nina Kuscsik, Bill Rodgers, Alberto Salazar, Frank
Shorter, Kathrine Switzer and Grete Waitz attended the ceremony honoring
the new class.
Running coach Jeff Johnson was awarded the Bill Bowerman Coaching Award,
established by the Hall of Fame and Nike. The award is given annually
to a U.S. distance running coach who believes he is more teacher than
coach, constantly nurturing athletes to find the best within their mind
and body. Geoff Hollister, one of the pioneers of Nike who was coached
by the late Bill Bowerman, presented the award to Johnson. Johnson created
the Farm Team - a post-collegiate running club for distance runners -
in northern California. "This is a breathtaking honor," Johnson said when
accepting the award during the Hall ceremony.
Dick Patrick of USA Today Sports was awarded the George Sheehan Award
at the Ceremony. The George Sheehan Award is bestowed on an individual
each year who contributes to the sport of distance running through the
power of the written word. Patrick has covered running, from grass roots
to world class levels for his 26 years as a sports reporter. He has been
with USA Today since 1986, covering the Olympics, major road races and
marathons and world championships in cross-country and track.
The Hall of Fame held the 2001 Induction Ceremony in Utica, NY, the evening
before the Boilermaker 15K Road Race, the largest 15K in the nation. John
Petrone, co-director of the Hall of Fame, praised this year's class as
highly worthy and representative of the achievements many in the distance
running community admire. "This class reminds us of the hard work and
dedication that it has taken for this sport to be recognized worldwide,
and the people who have contributed to that recognition," Petrone said.
The inductees were voted on by the Hall of Fame voting committee, a group
of national leaders in the running community as well as members of each
induction class. Current Hall-of-Famers include: Ted Corbitt, Bill Rodgers,
Joan Benoit Samuelson, Frank Shorter, Kathrine Switzer, John A. Kelley,
Nina Kuscsik, Billy Mills, Francie Larrieu Smith, Clarence DeMar, Steve
Prefontaine, Alberto Salazar and Grete Waitz.
The Hall, located in Utica, NY, was established four years ago to commemorate
and honor the accomplishments of distance runners, preserve and promote
the sport of distance running and to educate the many visitors on the
rich history of distance running in the United States. Individuals can
visit the Hall online at www.distancerunning.com.
For more information, contact Vicki Wilson at (315) 853-3941 ext. 30 or
vwilson@romanelli.com.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
USA Championship Finalists at Minnesota Distance Classic
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - (July 9, 2001) - The Second Annual Minnesota Distance
Classic, scheduled for the evening of July 14 at the University of Minnesota's
Bierman Track, will feature competition from 800 to 10,000 meters. The
fields in the men's and women's 5000 meter runs, the men's mile and the
women's 1500 meter run will be especially strong with each race containing
at least three runners who were finalists in the recent USA Championships
in Eugene.
The best seed times in the men's 5000 belong to Andre Williams, Alexandria,
Va., and Chad Johnson, Rochester, Mich. Williams was eighth in the USATF
5000 in 13:41.17, two spots and 0.81 seconds ahead of Johnson, who set
a personal record and had placed 10th in the 10,000m the evening before.
Johnson, a member of Hansons Running Shop Team USA Michigan, is a 2000
graduate of the University of Minnesota and a native of Chetek, Wisc.
He is also the 2001 USA 25K road champion.
The women's 5000 features four runners who placed in the 10,000 at the
USA Championship: Sara Day, Winston-Salem, N.C., who was 10th in that
race; Janelle Kraus, New York, N.Y., 11th; Katie McGregor, Edina, 12th;
and Turena Johnson-Lane, Statesboro, Ga., 16th. McGregor is one of several
members of the new training group Team USA Minnesota who will participate
in the Minnesota Distance Classic. Johnson-Lane is a native of Brainerd,
Minn., who won the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship while
at Luther College.
The winners of both 5000 meter runs will win $500, with $300 and $200
going to the next two placers. The winner of the men's mile run will take
home $500 if he can do it under four minutes. If so, it will be just the
second sub-4:00 in Minnesota history, the only previous such performance
being the 3:59.2 run by Ken Popejoy, Michigan State, at the 1973 Big Ten
Championships. Best bets to break four minutes at the Minnesota Distance
Classic are Charlie Gruber, University of Kansas, who placed 11th in the
1500 meter final at the 2001 USA Championship and Scott Anderson, Washington,
D.C., the fastest non-qualifier for that final. Also in the hunt will
be Andy Tate, better known as a steeplechaser, who wound up his career
at the University of Kansas by taking fourth in that event at the NCAA
Division I Championships this spring. He was the 1996 1600m state champion
while at Stillwater Area High School. Robert Gary, Columbus, Ohio, who
competed in the steeplechase for the United States in the 1996 Olympic
Games and 1999 World Championships, will also run the mile.
The women's 1500 meter run has also attracted an outstanding field. Jenelle
Detherage, Madison, Wisc., placed seventh in the USA Championship final
with Kim McGreevy, State College, Penn., three places behind. They will
be joined by Jenny Crain, who finished ninth in the 10,000 in Eugene and
Kristin Nicolini, another member of Team USA Minnesota.
The Minnesota Distance Classic, presented by USA Track & Field Minnesota
and sponsored by Steve Hoag's Marathon Sports, the University of Minnesota
and Nike, gets under way at 6:00 p.m. on July 14 with a Meet of Miles
open to all comers. The seeded events (800, 1500, 5000, and 10,000 meters
and a 3000 meter steeplechase) start at 7:30 p.m. under the lights.
Complete meet information is at www.raceberryjam.com.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Speeding Will Be Allowed at Indian Path Medical Center & SunTrust
Bank Crazy 8's
Hank Brown, Event Director
423-245-9559; hankelope@hotmail.com
www.crazy8s.org
KINGSPORT, Tenn. - (July 9, 2001) - On Saturday night, July 14, speeding
will be allowed in Kingsport. Several more Kenyan men and women, who travel
at high velocities, have committed to run the Indian Path Medical Center
& SunTrust Bank Crazy 8's 8k Run. They will snub the speed limit signs
along the candle-lit, figure-8 course with all eyes on the 8k world record
(22:03 for the men, 24:46 for the women) and the Regional Eye Center $10,008
World Record Bonus.
For the men, recent commitments include Kenyan stars Amos Gitagama, Sammy
Ng'eno, Enock Mitei, Stephen Ondieki and Isaac Kariuki. The women's starting
line will include Kenyans Irene Kwambai, Edna Kiplagat, Jackline Torori,
and Grace Momanyi.
The above men will join previous commitments and fellow countrymen Reuben
Cheruiyot, Peter Githuka, David Makori, John Kariuki, Julius Nderitu and
John Itati, along with Ethiopian Alene Emere. The women will join Kenyans
Naomi Wangui and Martha Komu, in addition to American Kris Ihle-Helledy.
According to race director Hank Brown, all have a chance to win. "It's
a matter of who has the best night. I'm very excited about the elite field
this year. Both the men's and women's races will be very deep. I don't
think you'll see anyone running away with it."
"The Kenyans have been very good to Crazy 8's," continued Brown. "They
are always welcome here. After Githuka broke the world record in 1996,
word got around that this was a fast course and a good race, so now they
all want to come here. I always get a lot of calls from the great Kenyan
athletes."
If there is a favorite among the men, and if anyone can break up the Kenyan
running supremacy at Crazy 8's, it is probably 20-year-old Ethiopian sensation
Emere. After winning the 2000 edition of the prestigious Peachtree 10K
in Atlanta, he returned to defend his crown on July 4th, only to lose
it over confusion with the location of the finish line. He threw up his
hands in assumed victory and stopped, only to realize that he was still
a few hundred meters short of the finish line. This gave Kenyan John Korir
just enough reprieve to overtake him and win the chaotic sprint to the
finish.
"That has to be a tough way to lose a race," says Brown. "But at least
that tells me Emere is in top shape. He had the race under control until
his confusion over the finish line."
Behind Emere, Crazy 8's enrollees Cheruiyot (5th), Makori (7th), Ng'eno
(9th) and Itati (10th) all finished in the coveted top 10 at Peachtree.
"Peachtree is a good indicator for me," says Brown. "It's such a high
quality race. The best road runners in the world are there, so when I
see many of our runners finishing high at Peachtree, that tells me we
have a strong field."
Look for complete Crazy 8's results of every finisher the following day
(July 15th) in the Sunday morning Kingsport Times-News. For more information
about Crazy 8's or to register on-line, go to www.crazy8s.org
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