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Send Email| Return to top / Return to main page Running USA Announces Its 2008 Board of Directors Running USA recently held elections for eight Board of Directors seats and its members selected the following distance running industry leaders for the newly constituted 17 member board which is listed below with affiliation. Elected for two-year terms (8): Continuing Board Members (terms expire 02/2009): The officers of Running USA are: president, Allan Steinfeld; vice presidents, Virginia Brophy Achman and Doug Kaplan; secretary, Tracey Russell and treasurer, Bruce Franke, MarathonFoto. The new board will hold its first meeting on Sunday, February 10 at 1:00pm at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines in conjunction with the Running USA 2008 Conference powered by The Active Network and Gen-A Media & Marketing. The annual signature event for the road racing and distance running industry returns to the San Diego area, February 10-12, 2008. More Running USA 2008 Conference information including registration, hotel reservations, schedule, speakers and list of attendees is available at: www.runningusa.org/conference/rusa2008.shtml About Running USA Its event members represent over 500 U.S. races including many of the leading ones with over 2 million participants and millions of spectators and over $3 million in prize money. For more information on Running USA, its objectives, members and annual conference, visit www.RunningUSA.org or call Ryan Lamppa at (805) 696-6232. |
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Return to top / Return to main page Sell Shatters ING Miami Half Marathon Course Record, Women's Champion Fernandez Does Too MIAMI - (January 27, 2008) - Cool morning breezes and thousands of spectators ushered in the momentous start of the 2008 ING Miami Marathon and Half Marathon® at American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami on Sunday morning. The field, which included 2008 U.S. Olympic marathoner Brian Sell and teammates from the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, was the largest in the history of the race with 10,452 athletes making it to the start. After the half-marathoners finished their race, thousands of children lined up for the Final Mile of their marathon, running the last leg of their 15-week marathon with Olympian Gigi Fernandez through the ING Run for Something Better youth program. PR Racing Miami, organizers of the event, expected a fast half-marathon with 62 degrees start temperature and an overcast day. Sell, 29, from Rochester Hills, Mich., qualified for the Olympic team in November and used the Miami race to begin training for the Summer Games in Beijing. The finish line area, adorned in the race's signature orange, also featured red, white and blue as Sell crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 3 minutes and 46 seconds. As expected, the three-time USA road champion shattered the course record of 1:07:11 set by 2007 champion Jared Nyamboki. Nyamboki, who led the 2007 Boston Marathon for 17 miles, pulled out with an injury early. Five other men in the field also beat the previous record. Joseph Sitienei, a Kenyan running out of Atlanta, took second place in 1:05:14, edging out Hansons-Brooks runner Mike Morgan, also of Rochester Hills, by two seconds. Other runners who beat the record included Hansons teammates Todd Snyder, Mike Reneau and Luke Humphrey. The women's half-marathon included several Open runners with fast times. The winner, Yolanda Fernandez of Colombia, beat a four-year-old course record by more than one minute with a time of 1:16:01. Kathleen Jobes of Bethlehem, Pa., who entered as one of the few elites, took second in 1:18:05. Behind her, another Open runner, Carmen Martinez of Puerto Rico, ran one of the five fastest times in race history, finishing in 1:18:40. For the marathon, another Olympian took home the title in what was a competitive race until the last mile and a half. Jose Garcia, who will represent Guatemala in Beijing, beat out the field with a strong push at the end of his race. Garcia, who finished in 2:17:43, was followed by a late entrant, Samuel Kiprotich, who pushed him to the end. Kiprotich, from Kenya but living in Mexico, finished in 2:18:14 and was almost caught at the end by Ethiopian Demesse Tefera who ran a 2:18:29. Kelly Liljeblad, a top U.S. runner and triathlete from Boulder Colo., trailed runner-up Nadezhda Tuptova of Russia through mile 16 until Liljeblad took the lead and ran unchallenged to the tape in 2:47:13, beating Tuptova who finished in 2:48:09. Carol Rowe of Richmond, Utah took third (2:50:08). After the winners came through, the crowd gathered for what was the most exciting and emotional portion of the race. With thousands of runners and spectators at the finish line, more than 3,000 children ran on the course to take part in the ING Run for Something Better Final Mile, one of the largest children's races in the United States. The 15-week program is implemented in Miami-Dade County Schools, promoting physical fitness and goal-setting to children to help prevent childhood obesity and foster confidence. Gigi Fernandez and 1972 Olympic gold medalist Frank Shorter as well as local figures joined the children as they completed their marathon on race morning. As the children crossed the finish, cheering fans and the top runners from the day's events, including Sell and his teammates, welcomed them. The program, which is funded by ING and the Fit Miami Foundation, has garnered national acclaim and served as a model for similar programs in major school districts nationwide, including Atlanta and San Francisco. 6th ING Miami Marathon MEN WOMEN Half-Marathon WOMEN Complete results at: INGMiamiMarathon.com Return to top / Return to main page Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee Enters 112th Boston Marathon® BOSTON - (January 24, 2008) - Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has officially entered the 2008 Boston Marathon, the Boston Athletic Association has announced. As has been reported in the media, Huckabee has been training while on the campaign trail. He will join Team Hoyt, a local charity which strives to integrate the physically challenged into everyday life. Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father and son team that has completed 25 Boston Marathons, with Dick running and Rick in his wheelchair. In 2003, while serving as Governor of Arkansas, Huckabee was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. As a result, he began running and gradually lost 110 pounds. In 2005, he completed the Little Rock Marathon in 4 hours, 38 minutes, 32 seconds, a performance which earned him the honor of USATF Athlete of the Week. Since then Huckabee has completed three additional marathons: the 2005 Marine Corps Marathon, the 2006 Little Rock Marathon and the 2006 ING New York City Marathon. His personal best, coming in 2006 at Little Rock, is now 4:26:05. Following stints as Lieutenant Governor (1993-96) and Governor (1996-2007) of Arkansas, Huckabee entered the 2008 presidential race. Huckabee's campaign scored a victory in the Iowa Caucuses and placed third in both the New Hampshire and Michigan primaries, making the former governor is a strong contender for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. He was the runner-up in the South Carolina Republican presidential primary on Saturday, January 19. The 112th Boston Marathon will be held on Monday, April 21, 2008, Patriots' Day in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The race follows a 26.2-mile point-to-point route from the town of Hopkinton to Boston's Back Bay. The race begins at 10:00am. For more information, go to: BostonMarathon.org Return to top / Return to main page Defending Champions Dold, Walsham Return for NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up NEW YORK - (January 24, 2008) - Defending champions Thomas Dold of Germany and Suzy Walsham of Australia will attempt to return to the top of New York at the 31st annual NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up on Tuesday, February 5, it was announced by New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg. An expected field of 250 competitors from 23 states and 17 countries will race up 86 flights - 1,576 steps - to the outdoor observation deck of the world's most famous office building, and the tallest building in New York City. In 2007, Dold crossed the finish line in 10 minutes, 25 seconds, and Walsham finished in 13:12. "This race is our version of the X Games, combining speed, endurance, strength, and fearlessness to race up one of the world's most famous landmarks," Wittenberg said. "That our defending champions will once again lead the charge proves the pain is worth the gain." Dold, 23, will be seeking his third consecutive victory. Prior to winning in 2006 and 2007, he finished in second place by less than a second to Rudolf Reitberger of Austria in the 2005 race. Dold, who is studying economics at the University of Stuttgart, started in the sport in 2003 as a member of the German national mountain running team. He is as close to a professional tower climber as the sport has to offer, with a website, several sponsors, and a list of victories around the globe. "This year, I am even more motivated than in previous years, because by achieving the third victory at the Empire State Building Run-Up, I can become the most successful European tower runner ever," said Dold, who trains regularly in the main tower of Helaba, a German bank in Frankfurt that is 200 meters high (1,090 steps). "During the race, it's very hard to push yourself constantly, so it is necessary to be very concentrated, especially the last part when your legs hurt awfully. The only thing that keeps you running is the thought of the finish line at the 86th floor and a fantastic view over New York!" Walsham, 34, previously competed on the international scene as a middle distance track runner, finishing sixth in the mile and reaching the semifinals of the 800 meters at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Now semi-retired from the track, Walsham first became involved in stair races in 2006 when she learned that the Singapore Swissotel Vertical Marathon was awarding a trip to New York to compete in the NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up as first prize. She won that race and then repeated as champion in 2007. She recently finished second in the Taipei 101 Run-Up in November 2007. A native of Sydney, Walsham moved to Singapore in 2006 to work as an Australian chartered accountant in the finance group of global internet security company Symantec. "I never expected to actually win the Empire State Building Run-Up in 2007," said Walsham, who is training for this race by climbing stairs in her 12-story condo in Singapore. "I really enjoyed the physical and mental challenge of the event and racing in such a famous building. It's a tough race, but so rewarding to get to the top. I am sure there will be more pressure and expectation on me this year, but I am more familiar with the event, and I hope to run faster." Cindy Moll-Harris, 39, of Indianapolis, the only woman to have won the race four times (1998, 2000, 2001 and 2003), will be aiming for a fifth victory this year. She was the runner-up to Walsham in 2007. Additionally, 69-year-old Nina Kuscsik of New York City, a three-time winner in this race (1979-81) and a two-time New York City Marathon champion (1972-73), will compete. Paul Crake of Australia set the course record of 9:33 in 2003, which was three minutes faster than Gary Muhrcke's winning time in the inaugural 1978 race (12:33). Tragically, Crake was paralyzed in a cycling accident in 2006. For more information, visit: NYRR.org Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director |
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