Team Strands.com Sends Four Athletes to Jacksonville for USA 15K

2009 USA 10 Mile Championship runner-up Josh Moen leads distance running development group

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Team Strands.com athletes Josh Moen, Josh Glaab, Justin Young and Meghan Armstrong are racing in the USA 15K Championships on Saturday, March 13, 2010 in Jacksonville, Fla. The event is hosted again by the Gate River Run, and with more 14,000 participants expected, the race is the largest 15K in the United States.

Leading Team Strands.com is Josh Moen, who was the national runner-up at the USA 10 Mile Championships last fall, with the fifth fastest time ever run by an American in the 10 mile (46 minutes, 38 seconds). Josh is coming off a strong performance in the USA Half-Marathon Championships where he placed sixth overall and ran a personal record 1:02:53.

Teammate Justin Young returns to racing after winning the ING Miami Half Marathon on January 31, 2010. Young has notched five top 10 finishes in USA Championships races in his post-collegiate career, with his highest finish coming at the 2005 USA 10 Mile Championship, where he placed 4th. His PR in the 10 mile is 47:49.

Glaab will be making his debut in the 15K (9.3 miles), after finishing 31st at the USA Cross Country Championships.

In the women's race, Meghan Armstrong will be the lone Team Strands.com female representative. Armstrong started her 2010 season with a 1-minute PR (1:13:56) and 11th place finish at the USA Half-Marathon Championships. She also won the ING Miami Half Marathon, and placed a strong 13th at the USA Cross Country Championships.

As part of the Gate River Run's unique "equalizer" format, the start is staggered, with the top 25 professional women beginning at 8:25am EST, followed by the pro men at 8:30. The equalizer challenge pits the top women against the top men in a gender battle to the finish line (first finisher earns a bonus worth $5000). The men lead the gender challenge, 5-1.

The women are given a 5-minute advantage based on the time differential between the current men and women's U.S. 15K records. Deena Kastor, the only woman to win the "Equalizer Bonus" (2007), is the current U.S. record holder for the women (47:15), while the men's record is held by Todd Williams
(42:22). Both records were set on the Gate River course.

Results will be available at www.gate-riverrun.com following the race.

Team Strands.com is sponsored by Strands.com and Mizuno USA. Strands.com is an online training log and social networking site where athletes share their training, connect with friends and teammates, and streamline their online activities. The site is operated by Strands Labs, Inc. For more information on Strands Labs, Inc. visit: http://corp.strands.com/