Top Field Expected at 34th Steamboat Classic 4 Mile on June 16

PEORIA, Ill. - (June 13, 2007) - The thirty-fourth edition of the Steamboat Classic 4 Mile race in downtown Peoria on Saturday morning, June 16 promises some high-powered international road racing, with top athletes vying for a potential prize purse of $40,000 with $4000 for each race champion and overall bragging rights to the Midwest summer tradition. Below are the expected contenders:

MEN
Returning - last year's Steamboat champion and runner-up John Korir (Kenya) and Josh Moen (USA / IA) who will be strongly challenged by 2007 BolderBOULDER 10K champion Ridouane Harroufi from Morocco and former LaSalle Bank Chicago and Flora London Marathon champion Evans Rutto from Kenya, plus the USA's Matt Gonzales (NM), Jeff Gaudette (MI) and Ryan Sheehan (MI), Mexico's Mario Macias, England's Jon Brown (4th in the last two Olympic Games marathons) and three other top Kenyans in Richard Kiplagat, Tom Nyariki and Haron Lagat.

WOMEN
Last year's runner-up at Steamboat and 2004 World Cross Country champion Benita Johnson of Australia - fresh off a victory at Freihofer's - will be challenged by British Olympian Kathy Butler, Romania's Luminita Talpos, Rehima Kedir from Ethiopia, Kiyoko Shimahara from Japan who is part of the Japanese team at the World championships this August in Osaka and her countrywoman Kayoko Obata.

The Peoria weather forecast for Saturday's race calls for partly cloudy skies and race temperatures in the 70s.

The race, known as the world's fastest 4 mile and with good reason, is home to the world and U.S. road records.

World
17:24 Josphat Machuka (KEN), Steamboat Classic 1995
19:28 Delillah Asiago (KEN), Steamboat Classic 1995

U.S.
17:39 Gerard Donakowski (MI), Steamboat Classic 1986
19:59 Colleen De Reuck (CO), Steamboat Classic 2002

For more information, visit the race website at: SteamboatClassic.org

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20th Cranmore Hill Climb Hosts USA Mountain Running Championship June 24
Nine members of U.S. Mountain Running Team to compete along with Anna Pichrtova, 5-time winner at Mt. Washington

NORTH CONWAY, N.H. - June 2007 is a busy month for mountain running in the Mt. Washington Valley. After the Mount Washington Road Race on June 16, the 20th Cranmore Hill Climb at Cranmore Mountain Resort on Sunday, June 24 will host the USA Mountain Running Championship with some of the best mountain runners from across the country coming to compete. Nine past members of the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team are expected at the race.

The race also serves as a qualifying race for the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team, with the top 2 male runners and top female runners in the U.S. Mountain Championships getting automatic spots on the Mountain Team. Team members must be USATF members and U.S. citizens. The Mountain Team will be competing against the world's best at the World Mountain Trophy Race this September in Sauillon, Switzerland.

The race at Cranmore will feature three 4.3 K laps up and down the mountain for men and two 4.3K laps up and down the mountain for women. Junior men will run two laps and Junior women will run one lap. This year's course has been set up to mimic the WMRT course in Switzerland. It features a 3K ascent with an extremely fast and steep 1.3K descent.

This year's Hill Climb features $1000 for the USA Mountain Championships and additional prizes provided by sponsors Inov-8 trail shoes, Julbo sunglasses and FuelBelt. The race is also sponsored by Windermere Real Estate of Teton Valley, WY. Windermere and Fuel Belt are also sponsors of the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team.

On the men's side, the field includes:

Paul Low, 33, Belchertown, MA is a seven-time Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team member and a three-time USATF Mountain Runner of the year. Paul is coming off of two strong wins at the Mt. Wachusett and Pack Monadnock race, the first two in the USATF-NE Mountain Circuit.

Kevin Tilton, 25, Conway, NH is a two-time member of the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team and has finished as high as 5th at the Mount Washington Road Race. Kevin won the Cranmore race the last time it served as an uphill-only race in 2004.

Josh Ferenc, 25, South Acworth, NH, a member of the 2004 Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team, was a two-time All-American runner at Keene State. The top New Hampshire finisher at the 2004 Mt. Washington Road Race most recently won the USATF-NE 10K Grand Prix race in a time of 31:32.

Dmitry Drozdov, 34, Waltham, MA, a mountain, road and adventure racer, won the 1996 NCAA steeplechase title for Iowa State and beat out Paul Low to take first place at the 2006 Northfield Mountain race in Northfield, MA.

Joe Dare, 21, Souderton, PA, is new to mountain running but is coming off a strong senior year at LaSalle University in Philadelphia where he ran a 29:25 10,000m at the Penn Relays.

Sylvester Coons, 34, Verdi, NV finished 7th at World Snowshoe Championships in Austria in 2007.

On the women's side, five-time Mt. Washington Road Race winner Anna Pichrtova of the Czech Republic, who just finished 8th at the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, will be competing against a strong field of U.S. women. They include:

Nicole Hunt, 37, Deer Lodge, MT was the top U.S. finisher (9th overall) at last year's World Trophy and led the USA to its first team gold medal. Her most recent races include a win at the Great Aloha Run in Honolulu this past February and fifth place at the World's Richest Mountain Race (Mt. Obudu in Nigeria) last November. Nicole is also running at the Mount Washington Road Race, where she was the top U.S. finisher in 2006.

Chris Lundy, 36, Sausalito, CA is a two-time member of the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team. She was on the gold medal squad at last year's World Trophy finishing 15th overall and was 18th overall, second American, at the World Mountain Trophy Race in Wellington, New Zealand in 2005. Chris recently finished as the 5th American at the 2007 Boston Marathon.

Anita Ortiz, 43, Eagle, CO is a four-time member of the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team and a member of the 2004 U.S. women's team who won a bronze medal at the World Trophy race in Italy. Ortiz is coming off of a stellar snowshoe racing season, where she won almost every race she entered, setting 4 course records along the way and winning the Colorado Snowshoe Championships. In April 2007, she also won the Spring Desert Ultra Trail Race 25 miler in Fruita, CO and most recently won the TEVA Mountain Games 10K Cytomax Trail Championships in Vail, Colorado. She set course records at both of these races as well.

Kelli Lusk, 37, Belchertown, MA, a three-time member of the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team, is coming off a recent win at the Pack Monadnock 10 Mile mountain race that is part of the USATF-NE Mountain Running Circuit. She was the 7th overall finisher at the 2006 Mt. Washington Road Race and is a past U.S. snowshoe national champion and past winner of the Barr Mountain Trail Race in Colorado.

Julie Bryan, 39, Jackson Hole, WY, a four-time member of the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team, has two top 10 finishes at Mt. Washington and is a versatile mountain runner with numerous victories on her home turf in Jackson Hole and also wins in Colorado including the Barr Trail Mountain Race.

Keri Nelson, 25, Grand Junction, CO, is a competitive cyclist, triathlete, snowshoe racer and mountain and ultra runner. In 2007, she was 1st at the North American Snowshoe Championships and 2nd at the U.S. Snowshoe National Championships. She was also first at the U.S. Winter Triathlon Nationals in Breckenridge, CO and in 2006 was 3rd at the Pikes Peak Marathon and 3rd at the Mt. Evans Ascent in Colorado.

Although there will be a strong field of top runners, the Hill Climb is still open to runners of all ages and abilities. Registration is still available. Cost is $15 before June 18 and $20 from June 18 through the day of the race. Online registration is available at WhiteMountainMilers.com

For more information about the Cranmore race, contact race director Paul Kirsch at pkirsch@roadrunner.com or call (603) 367-8676.

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2007 Maggie Valley Moonlight Race Building Momentum
Evening event to host USATF North Carolina 8K State Championship

MAGGIE VALLEY, N.C. - (June 12, 2007) - The 29th Maggie Valley Moonlight Race - set for Saturday, August 18 - is expected to draw top runners and health and fitness enthusiasts from the Western North Carolina region and around the Southeast. The 2006 edition of the event demonstrated the enthusiasm and spirit of the event in the '80s and '90s when Runner's World magazine named it #5 on its Top 20 Races in the country list. Runner's World will once again feature the event in the August issue as the Race of the Month. The issue will be mailed to 630,000 subscribers the first week in July.

"We are happy to announce that due to the success of the 2006 race, the event weekend is now owned and supported by a new not-for-profit group, Maggie Valley Moonlight Race, Inc.," said Sue Knapko, owner of Creek 'N Woods Vacation Rentals" and chairman of the new organization. "We have recruited an outstanding board of directors including Brenda O'Keefe (Joey's Pancake House), Reimar Steffen (one of the original driving forces behind the race), Peggy Melville (Senior Vice President - Home Trust Bank), Debbie Wilson (community leader and philanthropist), Scott McLeod (Owner and Publisher of the Smokey Mountain News), Lynn Collins (Executive Director of the Maggie Valley Area Visitors Bureau), Will Harlan (Editor of Blue Ridge Outdoors) and Wendy and Al Johnson, Principles - Motion Sports Management (MSM). The goal of the organization will be to produce a first quality event weekend that will encourage health and fitness in the region as well as promote tourism in Haywood County. Proceeds from the event will go to support local youth health and fitness initiatives to address the mounting issues of childhood obesity."

The Maggie Valley Moonlight Race is made possible through an alliance of MSM, the Town of Maggie Valley and the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority.

"It is a real treat for us to have another great destination event in addition to the St. Pete Beach Classic, Bay to Bay and the Tampa Bay Lightning Reindeer Run," said Wendy Johnson, President of MSM. "We are very excited that the momentum is building toward the 30th running in 2008. We will also be hosting the USA Track & Field North Carolina 8K State Championship with top state runners vying for a $2500 prize purse. North Carolina is home to some of the best professional distance runners in the country with ZAP Fitness in Boone and the adidas Raleigh Track Club. Our goal continues to be to raise sponsorship revenue to support another large prize purse event that will draw top U.S. runners in 2008."

The 8K will also host the Road Runner's Club of America 8K Regional Championship, the Running Journal Grand Prix and the Asheville Track Club Grand Prix. Top amateur runners compete in the various series' races for points and regional or club rankings. Events are included because of a commitment to quality and competition.

The weekend event gets underway with the free Health, Fitness & Outdoor Expo on Friday, August 17 from Noon to 6:00pm and Saturday from Noon until 8:00pm at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds. Both days will feature various health, nutrition and outdoor vendors and products. Free health screenings will be available as well.

The Moonlight race is part of the Blue Ridge Outdoors, (BRO), Go Outside & Play Road Show for the entire event weekend. The mission of the tour is to encourage event participants to become more involved with their local outdoor community and to inspire them to be more active in the outdoors. Event participants will have a chance to win free outdoor gear. Furthermore, the race is part of BRO's Blue Ridge Cup Race Series. The Southeast's largest race series covers five race categories and includes over 100 events from Baltimore to Atlanta.

On Saturday evening, August 18, the race schedule will include a competitive 8K, 5K Run and Walk, a one mile Fun Run and Kids Dash. The post-race party begins immediately following the first race and is free to all participants and volunteers.

For more information, go to: MaggieValleyMoonlightRace.org or call (800) 624-4431.

Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232
Ryan@RunningUSA.org | www.RunningUSA.org