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Running USA Youth Fitness Report 2007: Part II Kids Runs Provide Focal Point for Training
Participants and Photographers The proliferation of youth training programs in the last 3 or 4 years has helped build interest in youth running events around the country and in turn the events provide a very important component of successful training - a goal. Event organizers are also recognizing the value of increased media and sponsor interest that well-planned youth events can bring. Ten years ago, kids races were often an afterthought - a way to get children of runners involved on race day. And what seemed like a good idea for the enthusiastic novice joggers often ended in tears or disappointment because of the lack of preparation or understanding of concepts like pacing. Now the events with training not only have more successful youth finishers but new potential adult participants are being brought to events by their kids rather than the other way around. The top 30 youth runs which can be found in the Statistics area of RunningUSA.org included a number of events that increased by more than 20% from 2005 to 2006: Nike Cinco de Mile (Los Angeles), Marathon Kids 800m: Dallas, Kids Challenge 5K (Pasadena), Union-Tribune Kids Magic Mile (San Diego), Spirit of St. Louis Read, Right and Run Mile, Texas Children's Hospital Kids Fun Run 3K (Houston), Junior Carlsbad Mile and Kids Runs (CA), adidas Junior River Run Mile (Jacksonville, FL), Great Pumpkin Run Cross Country Mile (Lincoln, NE), Keebler Kids Marathon Mile (Carlsbad, CA) and Marine Corps Marathon Healthy Kids Mile (DC). And not included in the overall 5% increase for the same events for both years (2005 and 2006) were several new events: Marathon Kids 800m: Houston, Scheels Fargo Kids Mile (ND) and the ING Run for Something Better Mile: Miami. ING and Nike Provide Corporate Support for Youth
Running In Miami, the school based running program is available free to middle schools in Miami-Dade County. More than 3,000 students participated in 2006. "Linked to ING's marathon sponsorship, we created ING Run for Something Better to help make it easier to introduce kids to the benefits of sport, a habit of physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle that prevents conditions such as childhood obesity," said Toby Hoden, chief marketing officer, ING U.S. Financial Services. ING has committed $2 million so far to this effort and they are also encouraging donations from individuals in exchange for orange shoe laces. See www.ingrfsb.com for details. Nike has also made a substantial commitment to promoting youth running and fitness through the Nike 5K for Kids Series. The 2007-08 schedule includes events in Honolulu (8th annual event on Sept. 23), Las Vegas (Nov. 10) and Miami (Nov. 17) as well as Atlanta, Denver, Seattle, Boston and Portland (dates TBD later in the year). Each event features several family training runs before the event, teacher appreciation night, teacher training manuals, kids training logs and 100% of entry fees going back to the PE program at the school of the entrant's choice. The oldest of the series, Niketown 5K for Kids in Honolulu raised $120,000 in donations that was distributed to 249 schools in 2006. Entrants can choose the Niketown 5K or NikeGo 1 Mile Run/Walk. According to the website, Nike5KforKids.com, the mission is to: "Get kids moving and give them the means to do it. We know that active kids are happier, healthier and more likely to make positive life choices." Kids Running Sessions at 2008 Running USA Conference,
La Jolla Conference registration information can be found on RunningUSA.org. For other information, contact Linda Honikman at: rric@runningusa.org |
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Return to top / Return to main page Contact: Sara Hunninghake, (212) 423-2258 | shunninghake@nyrr.org Ndereba, Dryer, Hladyr and Tomescu-Dita
Join Women's Field at the ING New York City Marathon 2007 NEW YORK - (September 6, 2007) - Newly crowned IAAF World Marathon champion Catherine Ndereba of Kenya and two-time U.S. Olympian Elva Dryer joined a professional field of "leading ladies" to compete at the ING New York City Marathon 2007 on Sunday, November 4, it was announced by New York Road Runners president and CEO and race director Mary Wittenberg. Ukrainian national record holder Tatiana Hladyr, who finished second in New York in 2006, will return, while Olympian Constantina Tomescu-Dita of Romania will make her ING New York City Marathon debut. These athletes join the previously announced two-time defending champion Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia in a dazzling women's field for the 38th running of the famed five-borough race that will also serve as the culminating race in the inaugural World Marathon Majors series. "With the top three finishers from last year back in Jelena, Tatiana and Catherine, this year's race is one to watch," said Wittenberg. "The potent mix becomes even more intriguing with the addition of Constantina and Elva to the field." Ndereba, 35, reclaimed the World Championships crown she first won in 2003 last Sunday with a time of 2 hours, 30 minutes, 37 seconds. The victory sends Ndereba up the World Marathon Majors (WMM) leaderboard into a tie for fourth place and gives her a chance to catch the front-running Prokopcuka for the overall WMM women's title and $500,000 jackpot prize. Ndereba is a four-time champion of the Boston Marathon and a two-time winner of the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, with only a New York title missing from her glittering resume. "This is a very special year," said Ndereba, the runner-up in New York in 1999 and 2003. "I just won my gold medal in the World Championships and it feels wonderful to be heading back to New York. To win there means quite a lot. I have been running all those races in the U.S. and have won almost everything, but not New York. If I get it, I will have all of them in my bag." Dryer, 35, of Albuquerque, finished second at the USA 20K Championships in New Haven, CT, last Monday in a personal-best time of 1:07:18. After starting her 2007 season by winning the USA Half Marathon Championship in Houston in January with a debut of 1:11:42, Dryer will round out the season with her ING New York City Marathon debut. "I am really excited to be running my first ING New York City Marathon," said Dryer, a 2000 and 2004 Olympian. "It is a stepping stone to the U.S. Olympic Trials and hopefully a spot on the U.S. Olympic team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I am looking forward to the challenge of the ING New York City Marathon and I know it will be an experience to remember." In her second consecutive ING New York City Marathon appearance last year, Hladyr, 32, was the only competitor who could keep up with the pace set by eventual champion Prokopcuka into the 20th mile, and eventually finished exactly one minute behind the winner in 2:26:05. Tomescu-Dita, 37, who won the 2004 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, will be making her ING New York City Marathon debut after finishing third at the 2007 Flora London Marathon. Forced to withdraw from the IAAF World Championships Marathon in Osaka due to tendonitis in her right knee, Tomescu-Dita is not expected to miss much training time. Ndereba, Dryer, Hladyr and Tomescu-Dita join Prokopcuka, 2006 men's champion Marilson Gomes dos Santos and 2004 champion Hendrick Ramaala for the ING New York City Marathon 2007, one of five events in the World Marathon Majors series that showcases the sport's top athletes and awards an unprecedented $1 million champion's prize. The WMM also includes the Boston Marathon, Flora London Marathon, real,- Berlin-Marathon and LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. For more information, visit: INGNYCMarathon.org Return to top / Return to main page Aramco Houston Half Marathon to Host USA Half Marathon Championships through 2011 INDIANAPOLIS - (September 7, 2007) - The Aramco Houston Half Marathon has extended its commitment to host the USA Half Marathon Championships through 2011, USATF has announced. The event has previously hosted the USA Men's Half Marathon Championship (2005-06) and both the men's and women's championships in 2007. "Houston has traditionally been a great proving ground for new U.S. talent," said Bill Roe, USATF President. "The support that Houston and Aramco Services Company have put forth both in the race as well as in key funding for the USA Distance Project will continue to keep the momentum moving forward for USA long distance athletes." The 2008 USA Half Marathon Championships will be held in conjunction with the thirty-sixth running of the Chevron Houston Marathon on Sunday, January 13, and will be the first race on the 2008 USA Running Circuit (USARC). The USA Half Marathon Championship races have attracted some of America's top young runners. In 2007, that field included Ryan Hall of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., who clocked a U.S. record 59 minutes, 43 seconds over the 13.1-mile course, obliterating the previous record set by Mark Curp in 1985. Hall's time shaved 1:12 off the old record and made him the first American to break the 1 hour barrier at the half-marathon distance on a record standard course. "We are thrilled to have the USA Half Marathon Championships returning to Houston in 2008, and for the next three years after that," said Race Director Brant Kotch. "The caliber of runner that the Championships bring to Houston guarantees great competition for the runners and an exciting race for the crowds. Ryan Hall's stunning performance in January 2007 is a perfect example." In addition to records, the runners are also chasing a lucrative prize purse that again will total $62,500. The prize structure pays winnings to the top 10 male and top 10 female finishers, including $12,000 each to the first man and woman to cross the finish line. The race also pays cumulative bonus money to the first runner breaking existing race and / or U.S. records. The 2008 USA Half Marathon Championships will be the first race on the 2008 USA Running Circuit (USARC), a USA Track & Field road series, featuring USA Championships from 5K to the marathon and attracts the best U.S. distance runners, including Olympic medalists Deena Kastor and Meb Keflezighi. The mission of the USA Running Circuit is to showcase, support and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USARC and its races have provided over $6 million dollars to U.S. distance runners. Return to top / Return to main page Contact: Ian Monahan, Elite Racing, (800) 311-1255 Philadelphia Distance Run Welcomes 30-year
Runners PHILADELPHIA - (September 6, 2007) - A group of 36 men and women are prepared to complete 30 editions of the Philadelphia Distance Run on Sunday, September 16, 2007. In addition to running a total of 393 miles over the race's history, the honored participants of this year's race bring three decades of unique stories and memories to the start line. Havertown resident David Gobel, 58, ran the 2001 Philadelphia Distance Run five days after his best friend and running partner was killed in the World Trade Center on September 11. "Bill was registered to run the race with me that day," said Gobel. "I remember thinking during the race 'this is where Bill wanted to be today.' It made me appreciate being alive and being able to run." Gobel also recalls the strong patriotism of the other runners in red, white and blue T-shirts, carrying U.S. flags and singing the national anthem at the top of their lungs. Stan Cooper from Cherry Hill, N.J. recalls his most memorable moment, years ago, as after-hours bars were still in business. "The people would stumble out of the clubs half drunk and just stare at all of these strange people in their shorts and singlets," said Cooper. "The looks on their faces were priceless." Every year, Cooper, 58, is known for wearing his red 1983 Philadelphia Distance Run T-shirt on race day. "It has several holes in it, and is very light weight and breathable since it's so worn out," Cooper said. "You can see right through the material." A T-shirt connoisseur, Fred Fletcher from Devon, Pa., who turns 60 two days after this year's race, has managed to save all his race shirts from the Philadelphia Distance Run's past 29 years. "This is no small feat when one is married to a compulsive cleaner who hates old stuff," said Fletcher. "So far, she has not thrown me out either." A running veteran from Glenside, Pa., Al Worthington, 55, asks himself somewhere between miles 10 and 11 why he continues to run the Philadelphia Distance Run year after year. His answer is, quite simply, he has found inspiration in the sport. "Running has taught me the best things in life aren't things," said Worthington. "One of the very best things in life, for me, is being able to run the race and cross the Philadelphia Distance Run finish line every year. Frankly, I can't fathom not running the Philadelphia Distance Run, or perhaps, and more honestly, I don't want to." As one of four women in the 30-year group, Lorraine Cephus, 77, from Cherry Hill, has endured the pains many distance runners experience, including heel spurs, leg aches and in some cases, heart aches. Despite the periodic discomforts that come with her dedication to the sport, it is important to Cephus to keep moving. Cephus enjoys water aerobics, Tai Chi and spin classes when she is not out pounding the pavement. "My favorite memory was running in the rain," Cephus said of the 2004 Philadelphia Distance Run. "It was an experience to remember. Meeting new friends and networking for new training partners." For more information and to register for the Philadelphia Distance Run, visit: RunPhilly.com Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director |
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