| Running USA Wire 41, May 25, 2004 |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Elite Racing, Inc., (858) 450-6510 Champions Set to Defend Titles at 2004 Suzuki Rock 'n' Roll Marathon SAN DIEGO, Calif. - (May 24, 2004) - Now in its seventh year and still recognized as the fastest marathon west of the Mississippi, the Suzuki Rock 'n' Roll Marathon once again presents an impressive elite invitational field. The race hits the streets of San Diego on Sunday, June 6, 2004 and will welcome back both the men's and women's defending champions from last year. Expect an exciting battle on the men's side as 2003 winner Ondoro Osoro returns in defense of his title. Last year saw Osoro use a wild sprint to the finish as he crossed the line just two seconds ahead of countryman Peter Chebet and posted the third fastest time in race history, 2:09:38. Joining him this year will be Ethiopian star Belay Wolasha, winner of the 2000 Suzuki race, along with another musical marathon standout, 23-year-old Kenyan Jomo Kororia, champion of the 2003 Country Music Marathon and runner-up at the 2004 P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon. Also highlighting the field will be 1996 Olympic marathon champion Josia Thugwane of South Africa. His winning effort made him the first black South African to win a medal at the Games. The fastest time in the field belongs to Osoro, who ran a 2:06:54 when he won the 1998 Chicago Marathon in his debut. There will be no shortage of fierce competition on the women's side as the champion, third and fourth place finishers from 2003 return. Irina Bogacheva, from Kyrgyzstan, is a regular visitor to the Suzuki Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and will be vying for her third title after winning in 1999 and 2003. She finished second in '98, third in '02 and fourth in '01 and enters with a personal best of 2:26:27. Svetlana Demidenko of Russia was third last year at 2:30:34 and Kenya's Anatasia Ndereba was right behind at 2:30:53. Ndereba hails from a strong running family as her older sister, Catherine, won the 2004 Boston Marathon in April. The fastest time in the field, 2:24:46, belongs to Russian Madina Biktagirova who finished fifth in the marathon at the 2000 Olympic Games. "It's exciting to have the champions return from last year, along with so many other familiar faces," said Mike Long, elite athlete coordinator for the marathon. "We've had such competitive fields over the last six years and it's always gratifying when the runners return for another shot at the title." All runners' eyes will be on the grand prize as a valuable purse is on the line with the men's and women's winners each earning $10,000 and a Suzuki product package valued at $60,000. Course record bonuses are also offered, as $5,000 will be awarded to the first male and female to lower the current mark. Kenya's Philip Tarus owns the men's course record as he clocked a 2:08:33 in 1999. Recent New York City Marathon winner Margaret Okayo has the women's time at 2:25:05, set in 2001. Following the elites will be over 20,000 participants running and walking along a scenic course lined with more than 40 live bands, 40 spirited high school cheerleading squads, 5,000 volunteers and thousands of encouraging spectators. The course starts in historic Balboa Park, runs through the Gaslamp Quarter and downtown districts, loops around Mission Bay and Sea World and completes its course at a finish line festival in the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Point Loma. For more information on the Suzuki Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, contact Elite Racing, Inc., 5452 Oberlin Drive, San Diego, CA 92121, visit www.RnRmarathon.com or call (858) 450-6510. 2004 Suzuki Rock 'n' Roll
Marathon Elite Field MEN Pacemakers: Godfrey Kiprotich, Joseph Kariuki, Peter Chebet WOMEN Pacemaker: Victoria Klimina, 28, (RUS), 2:28:30, 9th '03 Osaka Ladies Marathon
Return to top / Return to main page FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Freihofer's Run for Women 5K
Promises Intense USA Masters Competition ALBANY - (May 24, 2004) - When more than 20,000 spectators roar on finishers at this year's Freihofer's Run for Women 5K on Saturday, June 5 in downtown Albany, New York, not all the wild cheers will be reserved for women taking part in the event's Open division. Competitors in this year's master's (over 40) field will also receive an extremely noisy reception as they sprint down the long, steep Madison Avenue hill towards the finish line. This year's master's division, which will double as the USA Women's Master's Championships for the 12th consecutive year, promises to be an extremely hard fought contest that will go down to the wire, as a pack of seasoned long distance veterans battle it out for $2,000 in prize money and the bragging rights that come with being crowned the nation's over-40 champion at 3.1 miles. Without a doubt Colleen De Reuck (Boulder, CO), who turned 40 in April and will wear the yellow master's bib for the first time at Freihofer's, will be the odds-on favorite. The South African native, who became a U.S. citizen in 2000, is in red-hot form having recently earned a berth on the U.S. Olympic Marathon Team bound for Athens. De Reuck's present form, combined with her back-to-back second place finishes at Freihofer's in 2002 and 2003, make her a strong contender to "double-dip" by picking up the $750 check awarded to the master's division winner, as well as the $10,000 Open field winner's check. "Given her superb shape and past results in Albany, I fully expect Colleen to shatter the master's world record of 16:07 established here at Freihofer's by Ruth Wysocki," said Event Director George Regan. "Doing so would be quite an accomplishment, since that record has stood since 1997." DeReuck isn't the only master with a set of speedy wheels coming to Upstate New York. Carmen Ayala-Troncoso, 45, (Austin, TX), a three-time Run for Women masters champion (1999, 2000 and 2003), will take part in her 13th Freihofer's. Her recent races include a 2nd place finish in the Masters Bun Run 5K, 16:57 (45-49 American Record) and 1st place in the Statesman Capital 10K, 36:11. Other top FRW master's include: Also set to answer the starting gun will be women's long distance running icon Joan Benoit Samuelson - winner of the first women's Olympic marathon at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and a two-time Boston Marathon champion. Samuelson, 47, (Freeport, Maine), who still holds five of the country's top 10 all-time best road performances, was the 5th place overall master at Freihofer's in 2003 and the 1st place finisher in the 45-49 age group in a time of 17:37. Samuelson will give the keynote presentation and sign autographs at the CapitalCare Health & Fitness Expo on Friday, June 4 from 6:30-7:00 p.m. in meeting room two on the Concourse level of the Empire State Plaza. She will then sign autographs at the CapitalCare Expo Booth from 7-7:30 p.m. To register for the 2004 Freihofer's Run for Women, a founding member of Running USA, pick up a registration form at any Price Chopper Supermarket, or go to freihofersrun.com. As a national championship, Freihofer's also is part of the 2004 Women's USA Running Circuit, a USA Track & Field road series. The 2004 USARC offers a record of $818,700 in guaranteed prize money with a final $12,500 grand prix purse ($6000, $4000 and $2500) for the top three men and women point scorers overall. At each national road championship, the top 10 U.S. runners earn USARC points. For more information, visit usatf.org. Event sponsors include the Charles Freihofer
Baking Company (A Division of George Weston Bakeries Inc.), Price Chopper
Supermarkets, B95.5 fm, NewsChannel 13 and the Albany Quality Inn. Return to top / Return to main page FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Bolder Boulder's Boldest - 25 Years of Racing Memories BOULDER, Colo. - (May 22, 2004) - 83 participants will run, jog and walk the Bolder Boulder for the 26th time this year. Known as Bolder Boulder's Boldest, or the BBB's, they have participated in every running of the Bolder Boulder since its inception in 1979. The BBB's were founded at the 10th running of the Bolder Boulder in 1988 with 101 participants. Most are Colorado residents with the exception of seven BBB's who travel from Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Nebraska and California. Each BBB has a different reason for loving the race and each has a special memory. BBB Terry Aragon recalls the 1988 race when he decided to run in homemade bee costume with big antennae. "As I tired during the race I had to kick it into a different gear because so many children would scream out 'look mom there's a bee running,'" explained Aragon. "I couldn't disappoint, I'd wave back and keep on trucking". Aragon has not worn a costume to the race since. "It caused me to really keep up a pace that just wore me down, but the kids on the sideline enjoyed it so much," said Aragon. For Lane Earnest it was the 1991 Bolder Boulder. "My daughter went into labor with our first grandchild the night before the 1991 race. We wanted to stay for the birth, but it kept getting later and later," Earnest said. "After hours of anticipation the baby was finally born at 4:44 a.m., my wife and I ran home after the birth, got ready and ran the race." Earnest even created a sign that year stating he was the Bolder Boulder's newest grandfather. Gary Heerdt's favorite memory was the 21st race when his daughter, who had just turned 7, had decided to run her first Bolder Boulder. They were going to "run" it together. When the race finally started Gary and his daughter ran together the whole first mile...all the time Heerdt was thinking what a good little runner she was!! Then it happened...someone from the crowd gave her a big lollipop! They proceeded to walk the next 5.2 miles while she licked her big lollipop the whole way! They had so much fun that first year, they have been running together ever since. Drew Clark remembers running the first race when race officials were only able to close off major intersections on the racecourse. "Frustrated drivers found their own way through the course and at certain points cars and racers met," Clark stated. "No one was hurt and it was just a growing pain of a great race." Stephanie McKay's favorite memory happened at the 2001 race. She hurt her hip a couple of months before the race. Thinking she would be well by race time, she decided not to change her time and wave. Unfortunately, a couple of days before the race, her doctor advised her not to run. It was too late to change waves, so she decided to walk with her 80-year-old mother in her mother's wave, which started an hour after Stephanie's scheduled start time. They walked together in 1 hour and 45 minutes, and since Stephanie started a full hour after her scheduled wave, her recorded race time ended up being around 2 hours and 45 minutes! She was the slowest person in her age group. The next year McKay ran the race in just under 1 hour, so she figures she had "most improved time" for 2002! Greg Fickbohm remembers the "crunch" getting into Recht Field in the second Bolder Boulder, "As we approached the entrance to the track it was obvious the size of the opening wasn't going to accommodate the number of people trying to get in, so we all had to slow down and eventually come to a stop. I jogged in place for probably 15 seconds waiting for an opportunity to enter. Moving to Folsom stadium the next year was a great improvement!" Although their numbers have dwindled, the 2004 BBB's have remained a hearty group of runners and have a strong competitive spirit. "The 83 remaining BBB's are a great group of Bolder Boulder fans," said Nanette Schunk, Bolder Boulder Assistant Race Director and BBB coordinator. "Regardless of age or ability, they each have their own personal reasons why this race has become such a tradition. Their enthusiasm is contagious." About Bolder Boulder The 26th Bolder Boulder will be held on Memorial
Day, May 31, 2004. Visit the race website at: www.bolderboulder.com Return to top / Return to main page FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Franca Gargiulo, Director Media Relations(415) 922-2870; franca.gargiulo@att.net Wednesday Night Laundry Runners Club, Big Sur Marathon Award Scholarships MONTEREY, Calif. - (May 24, 2004) - The Monterey Bay Wednesday Night Laundry Runners Club (WNLR) has selected three outstanding Monterey County High School Senior Distance Runners for their college scholarship awards in 2004. Omar Mendoza of Salinas High School, Athena Pierre of Monterey High School and Jose Garcia of North Monterey County High School, will be this year's recipients. Each student will receive $1,425, which was donated by The Monterey Bay Wednesday Night Laundry Runners Club members, including $500 from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Monterey County and a $1,500 donation from the Big Sur International Marathon organization. Runners were selected based on their running success in High School, academic achievement, leadership, love of running and extracurricular activities. Each year, the scholarship fund has increased, and over the past 4 years, approximately $11,000 has been provided to local high school distance runners. The scholarship awards will be presented on May 29th at the annual WNLR Barbeque. Olympic Trials qualifying runners from Team USA Monterey Bay will participate in the presentation. With over 200 members, the Monterey Bay Wednesday Night Laundry Runners is the largest adult running club in Monterey County. This year, the WNLR Club, the Big Sur International Marathon, Team USA Monterey Bay and CSUMB are partnering to actively promote many programs involving Health and Fitness for Monterey County youth. For more information about the scholarship fund or any other WNLR activities, contact Mike Dove at mnjdove@aol.com, or Sally Smith at the Big Sur International Marathon Office at sally@bsim.org or call the marathon office at (831) 625-6226 or visit www.bsim.org Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Services Director (805) 696-6232, fax (805) 967-5958 |