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Contact: Jennifer Zajac, Highland Public Relations, (330) 603-0465; jz@...

Mexico Defends North American Marathon Relay Title at Akron
Gordeyev, Orleva Individual Race Champions

AKRON, Ohio - (Oct. 2, 2004) - Mexico defended its North American Men's Marathon Relay Championship edging Team USA at the second Road Runner Akron Marathon and Team Relays.

Olympian Alejandro Suarez, Team Mexico's anchor leg, crossed the finish line in 2:06:02, four seconds ahead of Ryan Shay, Team USA's anchor. The victory earned Team Mexico $25,000 in prize money. Team Canada finished third with a time of 2:11:59.

Andrey Gordeyev, Belarus, won the men's race with a time of 2:22:20 and Elena Orleva, Russia, won the women's title in 2:40:20; both took home $4000. Orleva set a new women's course record and improved her previous personal record time by 2 minutes, 9 seconds.

A race record 3,272 runners participated in the Road Runner Akron Marathon and Team Relays, besting last year's race by almost 200 runners. 863 were individual marathon runners and 2,409 were team relay runners. Team relays ran a full marathon distance race (42.2K/26.2 miles) divided into five legs (10K, 5K, 10K, 5K and 12.2K).

Fleet Feet Racing from Louisville, Ky., won the USA Track & Field National Club Men's Relay Championship with a time of 2:15:24, while adidas Raleigh Track Club of Cary, N.C. won the USATF National Club Women's Relay Championship with a time of 2:34:17. Each winning team earned $4000.

Another big winner at the Road Runner Akron Marathon was Doug Haring of Cuyahoga Falls who won the raffle for a brand new Toyota Camry.

The second Road Runner Akron Marathon and Team Relays started at the National Inventors Hall of Fame and concluded in Olympic fashion inside the Canal Park Stadium in downtown Akron. The race day temperature was in the low 60s with clouds and occasional light rain.

2nd Road Runner Akron Marathon: North American Relay Championship
Akron, OH, Saturday, Oct 2, 2004

1) Mexico, 2:06:02, $25,000
2) Team USA, 2:06:06, $10,000
3) Canada, 2:11:59, $5,000

For complete race results, go to: www.akronmarathon.org

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Contacts:
Richard Finn, (212) 423-2229, Maeve Mullally, ( 212) 423-2294
Media Relations Department, New York Road Runners

Irish Olympian Marie Davenport to Run ING New York City Marathon 2004

NEW YORK - (October 1, 2004) - After years of success at shorter distances, 2004 Olympic 10,000 meter runner Marie Davenport of Ireland announced that she will make her marathon debut at the ING New York City Marathon 2004. The race will be held on Sunday, November 7.

Davenport was joined by Allan Steinfeld, ING New York City Marathon race director and president and CEO of New York Road Runners, at a luncheon at O'Neill's Irish Bar in Midtown Manhattan on Friday.

"We are delighted that Marie has chosen the ING New York City Marathon for her debut, and we expect her to make her mark here in November," said Steinfeld. "She follows a long line of Irish runners who have made the ING New York City Marathon their race." Fellow Irish runners John Treacy (third in 1988 and ninth in 1991), Mark Carroll (sixth in 2002) and Sonia O'Sullivan (11th in 2002) have been among the top Irish performers in New York.

A resident of Chester, Conn., Davenport finished 14th in the 10,000 meters (31:50.49) at the 2004 Athens Olympics. In September, she won the CVS/pharmacy Downtown 5K in Providence, R.I., in 15:19. Davenport showed her promise at longer distances when she won the 2003 BAA Half-Marathon in 1:10:57. She was an NCAA champion at 5000 meters and a 10-time All-American while at Providence College. (Treacy and Carroll are also Providence alumni.)

Davenport, 29, becomes the latest addition to a stellar women's field at the ING New York City Marathon 2004 that includes Olympic bronze medalist and American Deena Kastor and reigning World Cross Country champ Benita Johnson of Australia.

About the ING New York City Marathon
The ING New York City Marathon is the premier event of New York Road Runners (NYRR). Inaugurated in 1970 with 127 entrants, the ING New York City Marathon has grown into the world's premier road race, featuring more than 30,000 participants, more than two million spectators, a leading professional field, and a guaranteed prize purse of more than $500,000. Broadcast across the nation and in 125 countries worldwide, the 26.2-mile footrace is the United States' most watched one-day sporting event. The ING New York City Marathon joins the USA Men's 8K Championships and the Circle of Friends New York Mini 10K as the cornerstones of the NYRR Professional Racing Series and continues NYRR's tradition of bringing the very best runners in the world to New York City. For more information visit www.ingnycmarathon.org.

About New York Road Runners
Founded in 1958 with a membership of 47, New York Road Runners (NYRR) is one of the world's foremost running organizations. NYRR is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting the sport of running and walking for health, recreation and competition and provides full professional services related to all aspects of racing. The organization has a full-time staff of more than 60 employees, supplemented by a network of thousands of volunteers, serving 40,000 members from every U.S. state and more than 100 countries.

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For further information, contact:
Jack Fleming, Boston Athletic Association, (617) 236-1652 x2627

Olympians Kiplagat, Yegorova Headline B.A.A. Half Marathon®

BOSTON - (Sept. 30, 2004) - The fourth B.A.A. Half Marathon, presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and The Jimmy Fund, on Sunday, October 10, features an increased prize purse ($30,000) and has drawn both a deep, international field, as well as several of New England's top runners.

Headlining the women's elite field are Lornah Kiplagat, of The Netherlands, who was fifth place at 10,000 meters at this summer's Olympic Games and Valentina Yegorova, of Russia, who won gold in the marathon at the Barcelona Games in 1992 and silver at the Atlanta Games in 1996. Among the top males are Julius Kibet and Luke Metto, both of Kenya.

Among the top-seeded men in this year's race are Isaac Arusei, of Kenya; Vinny Mulvey, of Ireland; Jason Woolhouse, of New Zealand; and inaugural B.A.A. Half Marathon champion Wayne Levy, of Newton, Mass. Among the field's other top women are Americans Milena Glusac, Molly Austin, Rachel Kinsman, and Sylvia Mosqueda; and Galina Alexandrova, Silvia Skvortsova and Zinaida Semenova, all of whom are from Russia. Also entered are Sarah Nixon, of Medfield, Mass. and winner of the first two B.A.A. Half Marathons in 2001 and 2002; and Maria Servin, a Mexican citizen who resides in Middleboro, Mass. and who won the masters division last year.

The prize purse has been expanded from the Top Five to include distributions to the Top Ten overall male and female finishers, and the field size was capped at 4,500 entrants (an increase from the 4,000 entrants who were accepted last year). For the first time, top teams will be awarded prize money.

Several hundred Dana-Farber Runners will be fundraising for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and The Jimmy Fund.

For more race information, visit its website at: www.baa.org

Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Services Director
385 Oak View Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93111

(805) 696-6232, fax (805) 967-5958
Ryan@...

www.runningusa.org