The 2007 USA Track & Field Award Winners

HONOLULU - At the 29th Annual USA Track & Field Convention this past week, a plethora of honors and awards were distributed. Below are the top honorees:

JESSE OWENS AWARD
Allyson Felix, sprints
Tyson Gay, sprints

HALL OF FAME
Calvin Smith, sprints
Jane Frederick, pentathlon/heptathlon
Glenn Morris, decathlon
George Woods, shot put
Elvin C. "Ducky" Drake, coach

GIEGENGACK AWARD
Dee Jensen, Wahpeton, ND

PRESIDENT'S AWARDS
In an annual tradition, USATF President Bill Roe recognized 12 USATF contributors with President's Awards during Thursday night's 2007 Annual Meeting Opening Session. Below are the honorees.

* Frank Zarnowski, combined events statistician, announcer and spokesperson
* Lauryn Williams, elite athlete, USATF budget committee member and 2006 Visa Humanitarian Athlete of the Year
* Ron and Maryanne Daniel, race walk administrators, volunteers and officials
* Don DeNoon, race director and organizer of the NACAC Cross Country Championships
* Rex Harvey, IAAF Masters Committee delegate
* Juli Henner, coach of collegiate and professional runners and a former athlete
* Mary Watters, youth coach of the Springfield Striders (Illinois Association)
* Allen Johnson, USATF Board of Directors member, PAA Chair and elite athlete
* Bill and Alma Jan Price, Potomac Valley Association volunteers and officials
* Diane Wholey, collegiate coach and Team USA pool manager
* The Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Half Marathon
* Dick Courtney, Organizational Services Committee

OTHER AWARDS
Visa Humanitarian Athlete-of-the-Year
Dathan Ritzenhein, Eugene, OR

Nike Coach-of-the-Year
James Li, Tucson, AZ

Youth Athlete-of-the-Year
William Wynne, Kennesaw, GA

Masters Athlete-of-the-Year
Lois Ann Gilmore, Janesville, WI

At the annual Awards Breakfast on Saturday, December 1, USATF's distance running committees also distributed the following 2007 awards:

USATF Distance Running Awards
MEN'S LDR
Glenn Cunningham Award
(Outstanding Male Athlete in events of 800 meters and longer)
Bernard Lagat, Tucson, AZ

Robert E. DeCelle, Jr., Memorial Award
(Outstanding Male Long Distance Runner)
Ryan Hall, Mammoth Lakes, CA

Scott Hamilton Award
(Tribute to a leader in the LDR association program)
Tyler Abbott (Pacific)

H. Browning Ross Merit Award
(For contribution and service)
Don Kardong, Spokane, WA

WOMEN'S LDR
Runner-of-the-Year
Jenny Crain, Milwaukee, WI

Marja Bakker Contributor-of-the-Year
Pat Goodwin, Minneapolis, MN

MOUNTAIN / ULTRA / TRAIL
Ted Corbitt Ultra Distance Runner-of-the-Year Award
Greg Crowthe, Seattle, WA

Ruth Anderson Ultra Distance Running Athlete-of-the-Year
Nikki Kimball, Bozeman, MT

Masters Ultrarunner-of-the-Year Award
Roy Pirrung, 59, Sheboygan, WI
Beverly Anderson-Abbs, 43, Red Bluff, CA

Mountain Runner-of-the-Year
OPEN: Christine Lundy, Sausalito, CA; Rickey Gates, Boulder, CO
MASTERS: Anita Ortiz, 43, Eagle, CO; Simon Gutierrez, 41, Alamosa, CO

MUT Council Contributor-of-the-Year
White Mountain Milers Running Club

CROSS COUNTRY
Athletes-of-the-Year
MASTERS: Kathryn Martin, Northport, NY; Peter Magill, South Pasadena, CA

MASTERS LDR Outstanding Athletes of 2007
40-44
Mbarak Hussein, Albuquerque, NM
Sylvia Mosqueda, Los Angeles, CA
45-49
Dennis Simonaitis, Draper, UT
Doreen McCoubrie, Malvern, PA
50-54
Dave Walters, Lisle, IL
Joan Samuelson, Freeport, ME
55-59
Gary Romesser, Indianapolis, IN
Kathryn Martin, Northport, NY
60-64
Larry Olsen, Milford, MA
Nancy Rollins, Evanston, IL
65-69
Doug Goodhue, Milford, MI
Sharon Dolan, Westphalia, MI
70-74
Bill Riley, Centerville, MA
Yoshiko Takahashi, New York, NY
75-79
Joe Fernandez, Fairhaven, MA
Lois Gilmore, Janesville, WI
80-84
John Keston, Sunriver, OR
Joy Johnson, San Jose, CA
85-89
Bill Tribou, Granby, CT
Margaret Davis, Azusa, CA
90-94
Raymond Zaragoza, Azusa, CA
Margaret Weeks, Billings, MT
95-99
Kathryn West, Cape Porpoise, ME

Paul Spangler Athlete-of-the-Year (top oldest masters age group)
Edmund Devine, Ann Arbor MI
Kathryn West, Cape Porpoise, ME

Otto Essig Award: Meritorious Service to Masters LDR
Don Lein & Marian Lein, Pittsboro, NC

For a complete listing of the other USATF award winners and more USATF Convention news, go to: USATF.org

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Avia Orange County Marathon Website Has Training Route Feature
New online features help runners/walkers plot training runs and communicate with other runners

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. - With training for the Avia Orange County Marathon Presented by Nutrilite in full swing, a new online feature at OCMarathon.com can help runners and walkers better prepare for the Sunday, January 6, 2008 event. The OC Marathon has introduced a route planning feature to help individuals plan and track their training runs.

Similar to the popular "Mapquest" when plotting driving directions, the route planner allows runners and walkers to click and develop their routes using an easy to access map. After creating an account, individuals can start accessing area maps based on inputting a zip code and creating a starting point on the map. The remainder of the feature allows people to navigate through that map, creating the course desired.

Created by realbuzz.com, a UK-based lifestyle and community networking site focused on running, health and fitness, along with travel and entertainment, the route planning feature will record the distance of the run, while also providing street names and landmarks. In addition to the route planning feature, runners and walkers can also post their own blogs and create discussion groups on the marathon's website, allowing people to exchange race advice, training tips and course information. An online diary, which can be shared or kept private, can also be created to track a person's training regimen.

The 2008 Avia Orange County Marathon Presented by Nutrilite
The fourth annual event, which starts at Newport Center, adjacent to Fashion Island in Newport Beach and finishes in the Greater Irvine Spectrum in Irvine, is scheduled for Sunday, January 6. In addition to the 26.2-mile marathon, a Half-Marathon, a 5K and Kids Run will also be conducted, along with a two-day Health Expo (January 4-5) at the Hyatt Regency Irvine. Last year, 12,000 runners participated in the combined events. In the first three years of the event, more than $1.7 million has been generated for charity.

For more information and to register, log onto: OCMarathon.com

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Report Reaffirms Brooks® as a Frontrunner in Specialty Running
Running Company Earns #1 in Dealer Confidence Ratings by Independent Survey

BOTHELL, Wash. - According to the recently released Sports Marketing Surveys USA's Running Specialty Store Sales Survey, performance running company Brooks Sports, Inc. sets the pace with a first-place Dealer Confidence standing in the specialty running industry. Additionally, the fall 2007 survey reports Brooks moved ahead of the pack in Brand Ratings, taking home gold in five of 11 company and product performance categories.

To determine these rankings, Sports Marketing Surveys conducted in-depth phone interviews with 75 specialty running store owners and managers throughout the U.S. Panelists rated their suppliers on various quantitative and qualitative attributes.

The current survey reveals the following about Brooks:

* For the second season in a row, Brooks takes top billing in the survey's Dealer Confidence Index, which measures retailers' overall impressions of each brand and the company it represents.

* For the tenth consecutive season, Brooks leads the pack with #1 Brand Ratings for in-house customer service and product delivery. Brooks also ranks #1 in profit to dealer, sales rep support and segmentation.

* Brooks ranks #2 in the survey's respected Market Strength Forecast, which formulates each brand's predicted strength as reported by all running specialty stores that participate in the panel, regardless of whether they carry the brand in question.

"At Brooks, our goal is to offer our specialty running accounts a positive experience with our brand by providing top-notch service and quality running products they can trust," said Brooks Vice President of Sales Rick Wilhelm. "We appreciate the recognition our dealers gave us with these brand momentum ratings. They show that Brooks is continuing in the right direction."

In addition to this survey, Sports Marketing Survey USA's Running Specialty Store Retail Audit Report for third-quarter 2007 reveals Brooks earned a 1.9 percentage point increase in market share since second-quarter 2007. Brooks' market share has grown nearly 4 percentage points since first-quarter 2005 according to this monthly industry report.

Brooks sells nearly 80 percent of its gear in the specialty running retail environment-a strategic focus that has driven 15 consecutive quarters of double digit growth for the brand in this channel. Brooks' current sales figures also reflect its specialty channel strength reported in this survey:

* While the specialty running marketing has grown 8.8 percent year-to-date through August 2007, Brooks outpaced it with 13.9 percent growth for the same time period.

* Brooks' 2007 third-quarter sales and units sold were up 22 percent and 19 percent respectively, relative to the same time period in 2006.

* Brooks' spring 2008 footwear bookings are up 15 percent relative to same season bookings in 2007.

Brooks' products have also received rave reviews from industry influencers. In its Fall 2007 Shoe Review, Runner's World granted the Trance™ 7 its coveted Editor's Choice award. The Trance™ 7 also received the award for Best Motion Stabilizing Shoe from Running Network in its 2007 Fall Shoe Guide.

Visit BrooksRunning.com for more information.

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