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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race to Host 2009 USA Men's 10K Championship
$30,000 national championship prize purse with $10,000 for national champion

ATLANTA - (February 16, 2009) - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race will once again host the USA Men's 10K Championship on Saturday, July 4, 2009. The AJC Peachtree Road Race last hosted the USA Men's 10K Championship in 2007 when Olympian Abdi Abdirahman of Tucson, Ariz. took home the U.S. title in 28 minutes, 11 seconds. The national championship is part of the USA Running Circuit (USARC), a USA Track & Field road series featuring USA Championships from one mile to the marathon.

"The USA Running Circuit does a great job showcasing and promoting U.S. running talent, and we are excited to host the top American men's distance runners this Fourth of July at the AJC Peachtree Road Race," commented Tracey Russell, Executive Director of the Atlanta Track Club.

The USA Men's 10K Championship features a $30,000 prize purse ($10,000 to the national champion) bringing the total Peachtree purse to more than $110,000. In addition, as part of the USARC, the first 10 U.S. runners earn points towards the final Grand Pix prize purse of $12,500 for the top three overall male and female GP point scorers.

"The AJC Peachtree Road Race has long been one of the nation's top road races, and USA Track & Field is extremely pleased that it will host our national 10K championships," said USATF CEO Doug Logan. "By partnering with one of the most popular and historic road races in the U.S., we are able to provide the highest level of competition to the elite athletes of the USA Running Circuit, while also connecting with the true base of our sport."

This year marks the 40th running of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race which takes place every year on the Fourth of July in Atlanta, Georgia. The AJC Peachtree Road Race, first held in 1970, is the nation's largest running event capping at 55,000 runners. The Atlanta summer tradition is perhaps most famous for the coveted Peachtree t-shirt, which is handed out to all the event finishers. For more information, visit: AtlantaTrackClub.org

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Team USA to Compete at Yokohama International Women's Ekiden

INDIANAPOLIS - (February 18, 2009) - Team USA will compete Sunday, February 22 in Yokohama, Japan at the Yokohama International Women's Ekiden. In addition to Team USA, the marathon road relay will feature teams from six nations including Japan, China, Kenya, Romania, Russia and Finland.

This marks the final year for the event that features team members running six alternating legs totaling 42.195K or 26.2 miles as follows: 1st leg: 5K; 2nd leg: 10K; 3rd leg: 6K; 4th leg: 6K; 5th leg: 10K and 6th leg: 5.195K.

Leading the team will be 2008 Chiba Ekiden squad members Carrie Messner Vickers (Vail, Colo.) and Allison Grace (Blowing Rock, N.C.) along with the Hansons-Brooks duo of Desiree Davila and Melissa White (Rochester Hills, Mich.). Joining them will be recent U.S. Cross Country squad qualifier Samia Akbar (Herndon, Va.) and masters star Stephanie Herbst-Lucke (Atlanta, Ga.).

At the event, the best Team USA finish has been second in 1986 and 2007. The 2007 U.S. team led by 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Deena Kastor produced the fastest U.S. women's marathon relay time with their 2:16:04.

For more information on the 2009 Yokohama International Women's Ekiden, visit: USATF.org

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Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year: Reed Connor
Texas standout named nation's top high school performer

HOUSTON - (February 4, 2009) - In its third decade of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in partnership with ESPN RISE Magazine, has announced senior distance runner Reed Connor of The Woodlands High School (The Woodlands, Texas) as its 2008-09 Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year.

Connor is the fourth student-athlete from the greater Houston area to win Gatorade National Player of the Year honors in any sport, joining current Stanford basketball standout Nneka Ogwumike (2007-08, Cy-Fair High School, Cypress), U.S. Olympian Cat Osterman (2000-01, Cypress Falls High School, Cypress) and track & field world record holder Kerron Clement (2002-03, La Porte High School, LaPorte).

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the racecourse, distinguishes Connor as the nation's best high school boys cross country runner. A national advisory board comprised of sportswriters and sport-specific experts from around the country helped to select Connor from more than 221,000 high school boys cross country runners nationwide. Connor is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade Male High School Athlete of the Year Award, to be presented at a special afternoon ceremony prior to The ESPY Awards in July.

The 6-foot-1 senior won the Nike Cross Nationals Final this past season, breaking the tape in a course-record time of 15:13.6 and leading the Highlanders to a fourth place finish as a team. Connor clocked the second-fastest time in the history of the Texas state meet at Old Settler's Park to win the 2008 Class 5A state title, and broke course records with his wins at the Andy Wells Invitational and the Aldine Invitational. Connor also won the Chile Pepper Festival in Arkansas, becoming the third prep runner to ever run sub-15:00 at the meet. At the Nike Cross Nationals South Regional Final, Connor set a course record with a time of 14:56.8 while qualifying for the national final.

Connor has maintained a 3.70 GPA in the classroom. An Eagle Scout with the Boy Scouts of America and a member of his school's Principal's Leadership Council, he has volunteered as a student-ministry usher and as part of multiple service-mission trips and retreats for his Christ Church United Methodist community. He has also donated his time at area youth road races and track camps.

"He showed all the qualities of a true champion this past season," said Marc Bloom, Publisher of The Harrier's High School Cross Country Report. "He ran fast times and broke records. He's a great team leader on a great team. He ran a courageous race to beat an expanded and deeper-than-ever field at the Nike Cross Nationals Final. Many of the best runners in the country were from Texas this year and he won the state title. If you look at the people he beat over the course of the season and those who were peaking for the national final, it's a pretty impressive list."

Connor, who joins 2007-08 Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year Chris Derrick as the only other male to win the honor, remains undecided upon a collegiate destination.

"Without question, Reed is deserving of recognition as the nation's best high school boys cross country runner based on his performance and the tremendous ability he's demonstrated," said Gatorade Senior Vice President of Sports Marketing Jeff Urban. "But he is also a shining example to peers and aspiring young players of what a leader and a student-athlete should be. He represents everything we hope for in a Gatorade Player of the Year recipient."

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by ESPN RISE Magazine, which works with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

Former notable Gatorade National Players of the Year include:
* U.S. record holder in the mile Alan Webb
* Reigning 200 meter world champion Allyson Felix
* 2007 Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Peyton Manning
*WNBA all-time leading scorer and rebounder Lisa Leslie

For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information and lists of past winners and future announcement dates, visit: Gatorade.com/playeroftheyear

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Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon Draws Committed Racers
Soldier in Kuwait is among participants for Sunday, March 1 race

NAPA, Calif. - (February 13, 2009) - When a sold-out crowd of 2,300 participants line up for the 31st Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon on Sunday, March 1, each runner will carry with them a personal story about why they are tackling the challenging 26.2-mile distance. Their stories are as varied as the backgrounds of the race entrants from 40 U.S. states and 11 foreign countries.

U.S. Army Major Tim Burgess will write home about a particularly unique marathon experience. Although he'd like to line up with his running friends at the starting line for his second Napa Valley Marathon, Burgess has a job that won't allow him to do that. The 37-year-old resident of Healdsburg, Calif. is an Electronic Warfare Officer based in northern Kuwait where he's stationed at Camp Virginia to support war operations in Iraq. So, Burgess will run the Napa Valley Marathon "remotely" and cover 26.2 miles by running multiple circuits of a five-mile-plus loop around his camp. When he does it on race morning (March 1) he will be the event's first finisher in 2009. The time in Kuwait is 11 hours ahead of California's.

Last year, Burgess ran the Napa Valley Marathon - his second marathon race ever - with three friends from work and finished in 4 hours, 31 minutes and 33 seconds. Then, he was recalled into the Army and returned to active duty last August.

"I love the Napa Valley Marathon race and I love the route, plus I live next door in Sonoma County, so I didn't want to miss it," Burgess said. "Plus, I do better if I'm working towards a goal. Training for the race helps me to structure my day and plan my routine."

Three Medics will support Burgess during his marathon race and provide refreshment at aid stations, plus several soldiers will run a lap or so with him. He hopes other soldiers will cheer him on. The morning temperatures at Camp Virginia have hovered in the 50s and 60s, but they'll rise to 100 degrees by mid-March. On race morning, the weather should be perfect for good running, according to Burgess, unless a sandstorm hits.

"I think I should be able to finish in 4:30," said Burgess. "I've had a little case of Achilles tendonitis, and I haven't been able to do as many long (training) runs as I did last year. So, I'll have to keep my pace a little slower than I'd like."

Dr. Janet Cain, 57, a clinical psychologist who lives in Sonoma, Calif. and has a professional office in Napa, will return to this year's Napa Valley Marathon following an excellent run last year. Cain expects to improve upon her age-group winning time of 3:31:57, which was among the top 15 U.S. performances in the 55-59 age group in 2008 according to the Running USA rankings on active.com. Cain says that training guidance from Dick Beardsley has enhanced her fitness and competitiveness. Beardsley, a world class marathoner in the 1980s, holds the men's Napa Valley Marathon record (2:16:20, 1987).

"For the past year, Dick has had me doing interval (speed work) training for the first time in my life," commented Cain, a running veteran of 33 years. "Also, I recently had a really good 24-mile training run on the marathon course, and came in at about 3:18. So, I'm really optimistic."

Cain won a marathon in Rome, Italy in 1985, in a personal best time of 2:50:00. She will run her 50th marathon in Boston this coming April.

"But Napa is my favorite marathon," Cain commented. "It's just beautiful."

Harry Cadelago, 61, is intimately familiar with the spectacular scenery along the marathon course, which stretches the length of the Napa Valley past world-famous vineyards, flowering fruit trees and colorful mustard fields. Cadelago lives two blocks from the finish line at Vintage High School in Napa. He has run every Napa Valley Marathon except for one since the inaugural race in 1979, and he has completed all 29 of them.

Until 1992, Cadelago ran the race with his father, Harry Cadelago, Senior. About two weeks before that year's marathon, Harry's dad passed away. Although he was heartbroken, Cadelago managed to finish, but barely.

"I was emotionally spent at about mile 22," recalled Cadelago, who is the Director of Instrumental Music at Napa High School. "I started walking, and asked myself 'what am I doing here?' But, I felt my dad's presence."

At that point, a fellow runner, who Cadelago speculated was about his father's age, offered him some lemon drops. The boost gave him the energy to finish.

"I think I run it more for him now," said Cadelago who carries a photo of his dad in his cap during the marathon. "I'm getting older myself, but it's a test of whether I can still do it."

Steve Radigan, 57, of Fremont, Calif. is also still doing it. He's run all 30 Napa Valley Marathons and is entered once more.

Jo Groner, 63, of Lake Oswego, Ore. has run over 120 marathons and has a personal best of 3:57. His son, Mark Groner, 37, of Centennial, Colo. has run almost as many. This year's Napa Valley Marathon will be the younger Groner's 100th. Father and son plan to run the race together.

"Neither of us has run the Napa Valley Marathon, but we'll put both of our passions - wine and marathoning - together for a very special day," said Mark Groner.

Jean Pommier, 45, of Cupertino, Calif. is also familiar with wine and long races. The Vice President of ILOG, a software company recently acquired by IBM, moved to the U.S. from France in 1999. He has never run the Marathon du Médoc, a marathon held in France's Médoc wine country, which is world famous for its wine tasting stands along the course.

In Napa's wine country, however, the dual citizen of France and the U.S. will contend for a specially etched bottle of Napa Valley wine. The wine bottles are awarded to the first place overall and masters (age 40 and over) runners to recognize the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) National Marathon Champions. (The Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon has again been selected as the RRCA National Marathon Championship, a designation it has received since 1998.)

Pommier will compete in his first Napa Valley Marathon on his 45th birthday, an occasion he hopes to commemorate with a 2:45:00 finish. Although he's run competitively for just ten years, and sports a fine 2:37:00 marathon personal best, for the past two years Pommier has earned a reputation as a talented ultra-distance runner. Pommier has placed among the top three in a number of ultrarunning events ranging from 50 kilometers to 100 miles. In fact, recently the prolific runner received the 2008 Ultrarunner of the Year Award bestowed by the Pacific Association of USA Track & Field.

"I'm just hoping to run under 2:45," Pommier said. "I'd like to think, and demonstrate, that (each year) I can keep running marathons under two hours and my age in minutes. A 2:45 will also give me a good qualifying time for the Boston and New York City marathons. But, the beginning of my season has been disrupted by shin splints, which impacted my training. So, I'll need a perfect race."

The 2009 Napa Valley Marathon has once again filled to its capacity of 2,300 runners.

"Amidst the difficult times and economy that we're all experiencing, the Napa Valley Marathon is very fortunate that 2,300 dedicated runners and their friends and families have elected to come to the Napa Valley for our 31st annual race," said Co-Race Director David Hill. "We aim to maintain our reputation for excellence and our unofficial title as the Biggest Little Marathon in the West."

The marathon starts on Sunday, March 1 at 7:00am sharp in Calistoga on the Silverado Trail near the intersection of Rosedale Road. The marathon's fast, USA Track & Field certified (for accurate distance) road course runs the length of the beautiful Silverado Trail and finishes at Vintage High School in Napa. Top runners are expected to reach the finish between 9:15am and 9:30am. Runners will receive official times up until 1:00pm when the course closes.

Entry slots are still available for the companion Kiwanis 5K Fun Run, which starts (8:00am) and finishes at Vintage High School on marathon morning.

Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon weekend includes a Sports and Fitness Expo, Saturday, February 28 from 9:00am to 6:00pm at the Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa. Also on Saturday's slate is the marathon's popular Marathon College, an innovative speaker / seminar program that includes a "faculty" composed of respected running authorities and celebrity runners.

Every Napa Valley Marathon participant assists important local causes. All proceeds from the Napa Valley Marathon (a non-profit organization) are donated to local charities and schools in the Napa Valley region. In addition, an economic assessment conducted by the marathon in 2004 estimated that the local economic impact of the marathon is between $593,000 and $1,465,000 annually in direct spending. The average marathon participant brings two additional people with them for the race.

For more information, visit: NapaValleyMarathon.org

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