Running USA wire 74, September 10, 2009

Wurth-Thomas, Tegenkamp, Lomong also have entered the famed mile road race on September 26; 15 Olympians to challenge for titles

NEW YORK - (September 10, 2009) - Defending champion Lisa Dobriskey of Great Britain and American Olympic 1500 meter stars Bernard Lagat and Shannon Rowbury, both of whom finished second in last year's event, will close out their 2009 seasons on the world's most famous street in the Continental Airlines® Fifth Avenue Mile on Saturday, September 26, it was announced by New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg.

The race's 29th running will include a deep professional field of 15 Olympians, including Americans Christin Wurth-Thomas, Matt Tegenkamp and Lopez Lomong.

"Speed will rule and stars will shine on Fifth Avenue on September 26," said Wittenberg. "We look forward to the stars of the summer battling for the right to run the final victory lap on the streets of New York"

Dobriskey, 24, recently captured the 1500 meter silver medal at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin. After a fourth place finish in the 1500 meters at the 2008 Olympic Games, Dobriskey made her New York debut at the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile and finished just ahead of Rowbury to win in 4:18.6, the second-fastest time in the history of the race. She became the first British women's champion at the event since Paula Radcliffe won in 1997.

Rowbury, 25 of San Francisco, CA, has had an impressive season, taking the bronze medal in the 1500 meters at the World Championships after capturing the USA Outdoor Championships 1500 meter title for the second year in a row. In 2008, Rowbury (left, PhotoRun) had a breakout season, running 4:20.34 to become America's second-fastest female miler ever, behind Mary Decker Slaney's 4:16.71.

Lagat, 34, of Tucson, AZ, has a distinguished career that includes two Olympic medals, seven World Championship titles and seven wins in New York's renowned Wanamaker Mile. Lagat will aim to become only the second man in history to win both the Fifth Avenue and Wanamaker miles in the same year; Isaac Viciosa of Spain captured both titles in 1997. A five-time USA champion in the 1500 and 5000 meter distances, Lagat has a personal best time of 3:47.28 for the mile.

Wurth-Thomas, 29, of Fayetteville, AR, recently clocked a 3:59.98 in the 1500 meters at the Golden Gala in Rome to become only the fourth American woman to run a sub-4:00 time in the event. The 2008 USA indoor 1500 meter champion, Wurth-Thomas recently won the 1500 meters at the Stockholm Grand Prix and finished fifth in the same event at the World Championships.

Tegenkamp, 27, of Portland, OR, became the third-fastest American in history at 5000 meters when he ran 12:58.56 earlier this month at the Golden League meet in Brussels. A two-time USA indoor 3000 meter champion, Tegenkamp won the 5000 meters at the 2009 USA Outdoor Championships.

Lomong, 24, of Colorado Springs, CO, was the U.S. flag bearer during the opening ceremonies at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He became a U.S. citizen in 2007 through the Lost Boys of Sudan program, which rescued nearly 3,800 children from Kenya. Lomong won his first career USA Outdoor title earlier this year in the men's 1500 meters. His personal best time in the mile is 3:53.97.

The Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile begins near East 80th Street and finishes at East 60th Street. The wheelchair and handcycle race will kick off the event at 9:00am. After that, entrants will run in heats according to age and gender. The professional women's race is scheduled to start at 12:45pm, followed by the professional men's race at 1:05pm. A total prize purse of $30,000 for the men's and women's professional races will be offered with the top men's and women's professional finishers each receiving $5000.

For more race information, visit: www.NYRR.org

Study reveals Rock 'n' Roll Marathon generated over $30 million for Seattle

SEATTLE - (September 9, 2009) - The summer's inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon and Half Marathon, a signature event in partnership with Seafair, produced an economic impact of $30.8 million, according to a third party study conducted by San Diego State University (SDSU) study and released earlier today.

"The overwhelming support of the local community combined with all that Seattle has to offer visiting runners, helped make the Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon a tremendous success on every level," said Scott Dickey, Chief Operating Officer of the Competitor Group. "We are certainly very pleased with the results of the economic impact study and look forward to expanding the event in 2010."

Presented at the Seattle Sports Commission board meeting, the report showed that the event generated 12,223 hotel room nights and more than $1.8 million in new tax revenue and other tourism-related fees collected by local municipalities. The race attracted an estimated total of 12,076 participants from out of town and 16,353 total visitors.

"From conventions to marathons, Seattle is a city that has a rich history hosting world-class events. Today's economic impact numbers from the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon show how vital these events are to stimulating our local economy," said Tom Norwalk, President & CEO of Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau. "With our second Rock 'n' Roll Marathon less than ten short months away, we look forward to welcoming even more visitors to Seattle for this great event."

Visiting runners alone brought over $18.9 million in direct spending from outside the region, including expenditures on food, travel, lodging and entertainment. The economic impact study was conducted by SDSU College of Business Associate Dean Dr. Jim Lackritz and Sports MBA Director Scott Minto. SDSU's Sports MBA program surveyed 6,135 participants representing a 32% response rate of the total audience participating in the inaugural event.

"Our partnership with the Competitor Group in bringing the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series here to Seattle represents an annual opportunity for Seafair to promote Seattle as a world class destination," said Beth Knox, CEO of Seafair. "The hard work of many organizations and individuals not only helped generate over $30 million for our local economy during difficult economic times, but the race also showcased how this community can come together to flawlessly execute a world-class event."

The inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon took place Saturday, June 27, 2009, and sold out over two months in advance with over 25,000 registered runners descending on Seattle from all 50 states and 27 countries. The positive economic impact was felt in a variety of areas and industries including:

* Of the 16,353 total visitors, each travel party visited the region for an average 3.4 hotel room nights.
* Approximately 20% of all visitors stayed in the city of Tukwila, home of the race starting line.
* Over 10,000 race participants and spectators flew in to Sea-Tac Airport resulting in $47,068 Passenger Facility Charge fees collected by the Port of Seattle.

"The City of Tukwila is pleased to be a partner for a fun and inspirational event that encourages healthy activity and promotes local businesses," said Tukwila Mayor Jim Haggerton. "The study clearly illustrated the entire region benefitted from hosting the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon."

The 2010 Rock 'n' Roll Seattle is slated for Saturday, June 26. The race is a Signature event of Seafair, and organized by the Competitor Group. Registration for the 2010 event is already under way at: www.runrocknroll.com

Max King to defend national title; "Beat the King, Win a Grand" promo; world ultra champion Kami Semick top woman

XTERRA Trail Run Nationals, a half-marathon on the banks of the Deschutes River in Bend, hits the pristine Central Oregon town on Sunday, September 13th. While the race draws runners from the eight regions (SoCal, NorCal, Philly, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia and New England) that make up the 50-stop XTERRA U.S. Trail Run Series - it's a pair of Bend locals that are getting all the pre-race attention as the runners to beat.

In the men's race, it's all about Max King, the undisputed "King of XTERRA Trail Running" as the reigning national and world champ. Last year, King (photo left, Nils Nilsen) turned out close to five-minute miles for a winning time of 1 hour, 8 minutes, 1 second and the 29-year-old is such a clear cut favorite organizers proposed a "Beat the King, Win a Grand" promo that if anyone out there can run faster than Max they'll take home the $1000 first-place prize money.

For the women, it's Kami Semick, 43, the world's fastest ultramarathoner - a title earned by winning the World 100K crown in Belgium earlier this year. Last year, she was sick-as-a-dog and placed second to Susannah Beck (who moved to the East Coast and will not race in Bend). A week after that runner-up performance, Semick took her aggression out at the Portland Marathon, which she won.

For mere mortals "Nationals" provides an opportunity to discover Bend's epic "urban-to-wild trail system" as the race runs from the hip, upscale Old Mill District to uncluttered and clean forest single track in a matter of miles. It also gives age group runners a chance to win a national title, as age groups from 10-15 all the way to 80+ compete against others in their division for the honor and a great collection of sponsor swag.

In addition to the $5000 prize money, Hawaiian Air is giving roundtrip airfare to Hawaii for the winners, XTERRA Footwear is awarding trail running shoes, Paul Mitchell is providing care packages, and a treasure chest full of other prizes from GU Energy Gel, Blue Steel, R3 Gel, Fuel Belt and Swiftwick Socks is up for the taking.

While Nationals will feature a bunch really fast guys and gals, it's an Open race on a relatively flat and very fast course and all runners are welcome. There's also a stroller-friendly 5K along the river as well as a blazing fast 10K race. Plus, in celebrated XTERRA championship style, there will be an XTERRA K9 Challenge for owners and their dogs, a Kids Zone with free races for the young ones, Paul Mitchell stylists cutting hair for the Challenged Athletes Foundation, and two great nights of Beer with the Little Woody Beer Festival and Bend Brewing Company post-race gathering.

For more information, go to: www.XTERRAtrailrun.com

FALMOUTH, Mass. - The 2009 CIGNA Falmouth Road Race broke its fund-raising record by more than $100,000 at its 37th running, raising $1.41 million for the 68 groups it supports with its Numbers-for-Nonprofits program.

Each year, the race directors provide guaranteed entries, exempt from the lottery and with an extended deadline and a discounted entry fee, to selected charities. The charities then offer the entries to runners, who solicit donations for the non-profit. More than 900 people participated in the program this year. Runners in last year's race raised $1.3 million and the total for the past seven years is more than $6.2 million.

This year's top fundraiser was Dana-Farber Cancer Institute of Boston, with more than $192,000, followed by Compassionate Care ALS of North Falmouth, which raised $177,000, and Children's Hospital Boston at $121,000.

The individual leaders were Elise Warhaftig of Hingham, who raised $32,000 for the NephCure Foundation, and Robin Davis of Newton, with $29,000 for Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. The team of Doug and Patty Oakley of Weymouth and North Falmouth collected more than $38,000 for Compassionate Care ALS of Falmouth and Michelle Silk of Brookline raised $24,600 for Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Cape Cod-based non-profits did very well at this year's race. In addition to Compassionate Care, 20 other local groups participated in the program, raising more than $287,000. Last year's Cape tally was just over $240,000. Among the local leaders were Ariana Kerrigan of East Falmouth and 14-year-old Aoife Callinan of West Falmouth. Callinan, a Falmouth High School freshman, raised over $3500 for the Cape Cod Center for Women and Kerrigan raised $4300 for the Children's Tumor Foundation.

Other leading groups include Lymphoma Research Foundation, $100,000; Ronald MacDonald House of Boston, $91,000; Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, $63,000; American Stroke Association/Teddy's Team, $56,000; Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, $55,000 and Joslin Diabetes Center, $50,000.

In addition to the money raised by runners, the race made direct donations of more than $40,000 to local non-profits, sports teams and athletes.

Information about the nonprofit groups in the program is listed at: www.FalmouthRoadRace.com/guaranteed-entries