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King, Anderson Win Inaugural XTERRA Trail Running World Championship
Off-road half-marathon "Xduro" features challenging course and $10,000

KA'A'AWA, Hawaii - (December 7, 2008) - Max King, 28, from Bend, Ore. and Cynthia Anderson, 25, from Kailua, Hawaii won the inaugural XTERRA Trail Running World Championship half-marathon at Kualoa Ranch on Oahu on Sunday morning. More than 800 runners from 32 states and eight countries participated in the 5K, 10K and 13.1 mile events.

Near perfect running conditions with cool breezes, cloud cover and temperatures in the mid-70s greeted runners for the half-marathon championship race that featured 3,000 feet of elevation gain while weaving up-and-down the verdant cliff faces in Ka'a'awa Valley and into the dense rainforest of Hakipu`u Valley at Kualoa Ranch.

King, a member of the Team USA cross country squad and the reigning XTERRA Trail Running USA Champ, led from start-to-finish and was the only runner to post sub 6-minute miles for a winning time of 1 hour, 18 seconds, 24 seconds. Ben Bruce of Eugene, Ore. finished more than three minutes back in second place at 1:21:56, and Thomas Taylor of Phoenix, Ariz. placed third in 1:29:34. Honolulu's Matt Stevens was the top local finisher just 17 seconds later.

"Ben (Bruce) is as good a runner as I am, and I am always afraid of him," said King. "This race was a lot tougher than Nationals. The last 5 kilometers were definitely the most challenging. I just didn't want to do anymore hills. This was an awesome event."

His first time in Hawaii, Bruce said this terrain, and the course's elevation gain was quite different than what he is used to. "There was more climbing in the first two miles of this race than the entire Nationals race combined."

In the women's race, Anderson, a former cross country and track stand-out at the University of Rhode Island, was in a tight duel with Canadian Danelle Kabush the entire way. Kabush, the race favorite, had the lead until about mile seven when Anderson passed on a steep uphill. Kabush stayed close the rest of the way and was right on Anderson's heel for much of the final six miles but ultimately finished 33 seconds back with a time of 1:40:11. Anderson's winning time was 1:39:38.

"Danelle and I were together most of the race especially when we were skating down the large ridge. She really kept me in the race," said Anderson, a research assistant for the University of Hawaii.

"Cynthia is tough," said Kabush after the race. "She was a great runner and the course was beautiful. I just wish I had been able to focus on the scenery more while I was running."

"The trails were nuts" according to Richard Burgunder of Astoria, N.Y. "I took a bad spill out there, but the course was even more amazing that I expected, especially the upper ridge section. I loved it, but it was really challenging."

Winner of the men's 55-59 division Francisco Rodriguez, of Bayonne, N.J., has a running resume that includes completing 157 marathons, at least one in every state. He is now working on a half-marathon in every state and chose the XTERRA Trail Run Worlds as his stop for Hawaii. "I obviously run a lot, but this was my first trail run. It was a tough course, but I definitely want to come back next year."

At just 12-years-old, Dakota Grossman of Pukalani, Hawaii finished the half-marathon test of endurance in just 2:01:06. The 5K winner at the XTERRA Makena Beach Trail Run back in October said, "The course was a lot different from Maui. I had a lot of fun."

Ages for the half-marathon race spanned from 11-year old Mililani local Jakob DeWald to 74-year-old George Taylor of Kelowna, British Columbia who said winning his age group "really made his day."

In the 10K race, it was Leo Rosenberg, 19, of Manhattan, Kan. who was crowned the men's winner in 47:09, just 38 seconds ahead of Honolulu's Kevin Weng. Jenny Selan, 27, made her hometown of Honolulu proud winning the women's race in 50:46, over 2 minutes ahead of Pearl City's Liz Ford.

A nurse at Kapiolani Medical Center, Selan is usually on the triathlon circuit but decided to come out today and run with a friend. "Hawaii has some pretty steep hills, and they made the course great."

Pierce Murphy, 15, of Hanalei, Hawaii and Brigid O'Connell, 26, of Honolulu took home the gold medals in the men's and women's 5K division with their times of 19:19 and 29:23 respectively.

Not even knowing she won at first, Brigid said this was her very first running competition. "I had a lot of fun. I am used to running on the road, so this was very cool and different for me."

The XTERRA Trail Running World Championship was a benefit for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation - Hawaii Chapter. $10 from every entry went directly to the JDRF to help with their goal of finding a cure for type-1 diabetes. The organization helps tons of kids like 14-year old Devin Rettke, who must check his insulin level several times a day. After competing in the 10K event today, Devin said "The course was really fun, but that first hill was really tough. I usually do multi-sport events, but after this I am definitely going to start doing more trail running."

Today's event would not have been possible without the help of Kualoa Ranch and its President, John Morgan, who even competed in the 5K event. "The event turned out very well, and everyone had a great time. We were glad to be a part of it."

The race was filmed for a segment in the nationally syndicated XTERRA Adventures TV show and featured a $10,000 prize purse paid down to the top seven men and women. Highlights will be up soon at XTERRA.tv. The XTERRA Trail Running World Championship was the final stop on the World Tour - a national and international series of 50+ trail races held in New Zealand, Italy, France, Switzerland, Japan and the U.S.

Inaugural XTERRA Trail Run World Championship: Half-Marathon
Kualoa Ranch, Oahu, HI, Sunday, December 7, 2008

MEN
1) Max King (OR), 1:18:24, $2000
2) Ben Bruce (OR), 1:21:56, $1000
3) Thomas Taylor (AZ), 1:29:34, $750
4) Matt Stevens (HI), 1:29:51, $500
5) Jimmy David (HI), 1:31:54, $300
6) Mark Speck (HI), 1:34:29, $250
7) Mark Mench (HI), 1:37:20, $200

WOMEN
1) Cynthia Anderson (HI), 1:39:38, $2000
2) Danelle Kabush (CAN), 1:40:11, $1000
3) Christina Castelanelli (CA), 1:47:17, $750
4) Heather Albert (HI), 1:51:31, $500
5) Jessica Tranchina (HI), 1:53:04, $300
6) Shannon Cutting, 44, HI, 1:53:36, $250
7) Mary Castelanelli (CA), 1:55:30, $200

Complete results at: www.xterratrailrun.com and race photos at: xterraphotos.com

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Defending Champions Muindi, Biktimirova Lead Honolulu Marathon Field
$150,000 guaranteed prize purse with $40,000 to each race champion

HONOLULU - (December 11, 2008) - Defending champions Jimmy Muindi of Kenya and Alevtina Biktimirova of Russia lead the professional field for Sunday's 36th Honolulu Marathon.

Muindi, 35, who has run the Honolulu race every year since 1994, will seek his sixth victory. He finished second last year, but was awarded the title after defending champion Ambesse Tolossa of Ethiopia was disqualified after testing positive for a banned substance. Muindi finished 4th in the 1994 run and hasn't placed lower than third since then. He set the course record of 2 hours, 11 minutes, 12 seconds in 2004.

Muindi's chief rival is expected to be his brother-in-law, Patrick Ivuti of Kenya, who won the 2005 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in a swift 2:07:46. The field also includes Hailu Negussie of Ethiopia, the 2005 winner at Boston.

Muindi hasn't been running well for the past year or so, and hasn't had a good race for a while, said co-race director Jon Cross. But his familiarity with the course will make him hard to beat, Cross said. And Muindi says his training has been going well, and he believes he can earn victory number seven.

Biktimirova, 26, is favored to repeat as the women's race winner. She has run well this year, with close runner-up finishes in Boston and Chicago. She finished in 2:33:06 last year, her second Honolulu run. She is expected to be chased by Kiyoko Shimahara of Japan, who was third in Chicago in October, a minute or so behind Biktimirova.

Veteran marathon observers say Alice Timbilili of Kenya has looked strong recently and could challenge for first place. Cross also says three-time Honolulu winner Lyubov Morgunova of Russia can't be counted out. The field includes 2005 winner Olesya Nurgalieva of Russia and her twin sister, Elena.

Lyubov Denisova of Russia set the women's record of 2:27:19 in 2006.

The guaranteed prize purse equals $150,000 with $40,000 for each race champion. There are also time incentives plus $15,000 for a new course record.

About 23,000 runners are expected to register for the 36th Honolulu race, which begins amid fireworks at 5:30am. The course begins along the Honolulu waterfront and continues through the downtown area, Waikiki, and East Honolulu to the Hawaii Kai turn-around and back to Kapiolani Park in Waikiki.

For more information, visit: HonoluluMarathon.org

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2008 Olympians Ritzenhein and Lewy Boulet to Run Houston
Carney, O'Neill to defend USA titles at Aramco Houston Half Marathon; prize purse exceeds $59,000 with $12,000 to each national champion

HOUSTON - (Dec. 9, 2008) - A pair of Olympians headline deep fields set for the 8th Aramco Houston Half Marathon on Sunday, January 18, 2009. Dathan Ritzenhein (Eugene, Ore.), ninth in the 2008 Olympic Marathon, will run the national championship for the first time and will do so as the race's #2 seed.

The 25-year-old Ritzenhein set several state and national records while running for Rockford High School in Michigan and was part of the sensational prep class of 2001, which also produced U.S. mile record holder Alan Webb and 2008 USA Olympic Marathon Trials winner Ryan Hall.

"Ritz" was second to Hall at the 2008 Trials in 2:11:07 and was the first American across the line at Beijing in 2:11:59. Earlier in 2008, he won the USA Cross Country Championships. Ritzenhein will head a field of the country's top runners vying for the 2009 USA Half Marathon Championship, which is being hosted in Houston for the fifth consecutive year.

Returning to defend his title is top-seeded James Carney (Lafayette, Colo.) who took the 2008 national crown in 1:02:21. Jason Lehmkuhle (Minneapolis, Minn.), 11 seconds behind Carney in the '08 race, also will return. That pair will be joined by 2004 Olympian and 2005 USA Half Marathon champ Dan Browne (Beaverton, Ore.), Andrew Carlson (Flagstaff, Ariz.), Peter Gilmore (San Mateo, Calif.) and Max King (Bend, Ore.), among many other elite Americans.

The women's field for the Aramco Houston Half Marathon, host of the women's USA Half Marathon Championship for the third year in a row, will include 2008 Olympian Magdalena Lewy Boulet. The 35-year-old Lewy Boulet (Oakland, Calif.) finished second at the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in a PR of 2:30:19, but she was forced to drop out of the Olympic Marathon in Beijing due to a knee injury.

Lewy Boulet, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Poland, will be joined on the starting line in Houston by defending champion Kate O'Neill (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.). O'Neill won the national half-marathon title in 2008 in 1:11:57, after finishing runner-up to Elva Dryer in Houston in 2007.

Desiree Davila (Rochester Hills, Mich.), runner-up to O'Neill at the '08 half championship, will return to Houston, along with four-time Olympian Colleen De Reuck (Boulder, Colo.), 2008 USA 8K champion Sara Slattery (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) and twins Tara and Kara Storage (Beavercreek, Ohio).

"We have tremendous fields assembled for both championship races," said Brant Kotch, race director. "With his American Record here in 2007, Ryan Hall showed that the Houston half-marathon course can help runners produce record-setting times, and we are looking forward to a pair of fast and competitive races in January."

More than $59,000 in prize money will be at stake in the two USA Championship races, with $12,000 awaiting the winners of each.

A record 18,000 runners have registered to run in the 2009 Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon, and an additional 8,000 hopefuls have signed up on the waiting list since the two races sold out on July 7, 2008.

The Chevron Houston Marathon, a Running USA Founding Member, is the nation's premier winter marathon, annually attracting participants from nearly all 50 U.S. states and more than 20 foreign countries. In 2008, more than 20,000 runners participated in four marathon weekend events (marathon, half marathon, 5K run and children's run). The Houston Marathon has been ranked among the top five marathons in the nation by the Ultimate Guide to Marathons for fastest course, organization and crowd support. More than 5,000 volunteers organize the race, which is Houston's largest single-day sporting event.

For more information, visit: ChevronHoustonMarathon.com or call (713) 957-3453.

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Rose Bowl Half Marathon Takes on Pasadena

PASADENA, Calif. - (December 9, 2008) - Only in its second year, the Rose Bowl Half Marathon, 5K and 1 Mile Kid's Run has already gained national and international respect. In addition to representation from 22 different states, this year's race will include runners from Canada, American Samoa, Uganda and Germany. With an 8:00am start time on Saturday, December 13, the half-marathon will start and finish at the historic Rose Bowl, winding its way through the streets of Pasadena and along the trails of the Arroyo Canyon.

A challenging race for any runner, the half-marathon and 5K equals its difficulty with its beauty, using the spectacular hills of Pasadena as a backdrop. 5K runners can keep their eyes on the Rose Bowl as they travel around Brookside Golf Course, while half-marathoners will find themselves taking on one of the most stunning trail runs in the country.

Also included in the Rose Bowl Half Marathon is a post-race festival, hosted in the Rose Bowl Court of Champions. The stadium will be open for viewing while athletes enjoy a refreshing drink from the Michelob Ultra beer garden. Participants and their supporters will be treated to food, fun and music from the Andrew Jed Band as a reward for all of the morning's hard work.

President Jack Caress says of the event, "The Rose Bowl Half Marathon is one of our favorite events. The historic setting, the holiday season and the gorgeous Pasadena surroundings provide the perfect race-day atmosphere."

For more information or to enter, visit: PacificSportsLLC.com or call (714) 978-1528.

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