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Dryer
to Defend USA 10K Title at Tufts From the Running USA Wire BOSTON - (October 11, 2002) - After a one year absence, the USA Women's 10K Championship returns to the Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women. The race - to be held on Columbus Day, Monday, October 14 - hosted seven straight national championships from 1994-2000, and like past editions, deep U.S. and international fields are expected including defending USA 10K champion Elva Dryer, defending Tufts champion Colleen De Reuck, six U.S. Olympians (Dryer, Libbie Hickman, Marla Runyan, Amy Rudolph, Joan Nesbit Mabe and Shayne Culpepper), Ethiopians Ejegayehu Dibaba, Asha Gigi and Eyerusalem Kuma, Kenyan Teresa Wanjiku and Russian Olga Kovpotina. Last year at the USA 10K Championship hosted by the Senior Bowl 10K in Mobile, Ala., Elva Dryer won her second U.S. road title in 32:43 over Anne Marie Lauck (32:56). This year, Dryer, a Team USA California member, will face a tougher challenge with De Reuck (who won here last year in 32:10), Hickman (three-time USA 10K champion at Tufts) and Runyan (the 2002 5K and 5000m U.S. champion). Dryer, 31, recently finished 4th at the CVS/pharmacy Downtown 5K in 16:03 just behind Hickman and last March, she was national runner-up at the USA 15K Championships (48:46) at Gate River. Along with the USA Championship and the $17,950 U.S. prize purse, Tufts is also the 2002 Women's USA Running Circuit finale and like past finales, the USARC Grand Prix prize money positions ($6000, $4000 and $2500) will be decided except the overall title which De Reuck has already won with 49 points. Here are the top contenders Dryer will compete against for the U.S. 10K crown: 1) Colleen De Reuck, 38, (Boulder, CO), 2002 World Cross Country Championships bronze medal, USARC champion (49 points), USA 7 Mile champion (Bix 7), USA 20K champion (New Haven), USA 5K Championships runner-up (Freihofer's) and Steamboat Classic 4 Mile winner (19:59); 2001 USA 8K champion (Carolina); became U.S. citizen in December 2000; in 1998, set world records at 20K (1:05:11, New Haven) and 10 Mile (51:16, Nortel Cherry Blossom); three-time Olympian for South Africa 2) Marla Runyan, 33, (Eugene, OR), 2002 USA 5K champion (15:27) at Freihofer's, USA 5000 meter champion and 2nd Philadelphia Distance Run Half-Marathon (1:11:19); 2001 USA 5000m champion and set the U.S. 5000m indoor record (15:07.33). 3) Libbie
Hickman, 37, (Ft. Collins, CO), returning to competition after 2001
maternity leave; 2002 USA 20K Championship runner-up (New Haven) and
3rd USA 7 Mile Championship (Bix 7); 2000 USA 5K champion and 10,000m
Olympian; 1999-2 4) Katie McGregor, 25, (Minneapolis, MN), 2002 USA 7 Mile Championships runner-up (38:25, Bix 7) and 3rd USA 10,000m Championships (32:17.49, personal record); Team USA Minnesota member 5) Amy Rudolph, 29, (Providence, RI), 2002 USA Indoor 3000m champion (8:58.18); 1996/2000 Olympian 5000m; 1998-99 USA 8K champion; Team USA California Other top Americans expected at Tufts include: Kristen Coogan (Boulder, CO); Dana Coons (Charlottesville, VA); Jenny Crain (Eugene, OR); Shayne Culpepper (Louisville, CO), 2000 Olympian; Melody Fairchild (Boulder, CO); Sarah Hann (Northfield, MA); Cassandra Henkiel (Austin, TX); Emily Nay (Salt Lake City, UT); Beth Old (Douglasville, GA); Kim Pawelek (Jacksonville Beach, FL); Blake Russell (Acton, MA); Rachel Sauder (Auburn, AL); Sarah Toland (Boulder, CO); Amy Yoder Begley (Kendallville, IN) and Deeja Youngquist (Albuquerque, NM) The total prize purse equals $28,400 with $6050 in Open prize money ($3000, $1650 and $1400) and $17,950 in national championship prize money ($6000, $3000, $2000, $1800, $1500, $1100, $825, $675, $575 and $475). 10K Road
Records In conjunction with the USA Women's 10K Championship, Tufts Health Plan, proud sponsor of the 26th annual race, will host a Women's Fitness & Lifestyle Expo near the Boston Common on Saturday, Oct 12 (12:00pm - 6:00pm) and Sunday, Oct 13 (10:00am - 5:00pm). There also will be a 1K Walk for Kids (10:30am) and a variety of fun activities for the entire family. The women's 10K race starts at 12:00 noon on Charles Street. The flat, fast loop course along the Charles River starts and finishes in the Boston Commons. The Tufts Health Plan for Women is the country's largest all-women's 10K race (5,078 finishers in 2001). For more information, visit the race website at http://www.tuftshealthplan.com/tufts10k/index.html. # # # USA Women's 10K Road Champions (1978-2001) 1978 Mary
Decker 34:39 AAU Championship, Purchase, NY Compiled
by USATF Road Running Information Center # # # Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women to Decide USARC Grand Prix Positions From the Running USA Wire BOSTON - (October 11, 2002) - The 2002 Women's USA Running Circuit finale, the Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women on Monday, October 14 in Boston, will determine the Women's USARC final standings as well as the final two Grand Prix prize money positions ($4000 and $2500). Colleen De Reuck of Boulder, Colo. has already secured the USARC Grand Prix title and the accompanying $6000 with 49 points. With a top performance at Tufts, Libbie Hickman, the 1999-2000 USARC champion who is currently third in the standings with 29 points, can earn one of the final GP prize money spots, while if Marla Runyan wins the U.S. title, she will be guaranteed at least the final GP prize money position (third). The USARC - a USA Track & Field road series - features USA Championships from 5K to the marathon. The 2002 USARC, the eighth edition for the men and seventh for the women, offers over $340,000 in championship prize money plus a $25,000 grand prix purse. Per USARC race, the first ten U.S. runners earn points (15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1) with a final $12,500 grand prix purse for the top three men and women point scorers overall. Circuit points at the Twin Cities Marathon were doubled. WOMEN 2002 USA Road Champions WOMEN ---------------- JOAN SAMUELSON JOINS THE LASALLE BANK CHICAGO MARATHON'S ELITE FIELD CHICAGO - (October 3, 2002) - Joan Samuelson, a pioneer in women's marathon running and America's greatest women's marathon legend, has committed to run the 25th anniversary of The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, it was announced today by Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski. The 25th Anniversary LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon takes place Sunday, October 13 at 7:30 a.m. "Joan Samuelson's return to compete in this year's Marathon makes the celebration of our 25th anniversary complete," said Pinkowski. "Joan is an integral part of the history of our event. I have been a big fan of hers for many years, all of us who were privileged to watch Joan's inspirational victory at the 1984 Olympics will be pulling for her." Samuelson, 45, then known as Joan Benoit, won the first women's Olympic Marathon on August 5, 1984 in 2:24:52, the only American woman ever to win an Olympic gold medal at the marathon distance. She has set the American record in the marathon five times and still holds the record from her 1985 Chicago Marathon victory (2:21:21). Samuelson also holds the American record at 25K (1:24:43, set in 1986) and the half-marathon mark (1:08:34, set in 1984). She is a two-time winner of the Boston Marathon (1979, 1983), former marathon World Record holder and Sullivan Award winner (1985). "Seventeen years after setting the American record in Chicago, it's a great feeling to be coming back to The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon for the 25th anniversary," said Samuelson. "I know that I am fortunate to still be able to race in the marathon and I look forward to competing against the masters ranks. I am going to give it my best shot!" In 2000, Samuelson was ninth at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials (2:39:59) and last year she was the second masters finisher at the New York City Marathon in 2:42:56. She has been the masters winner at the Bix 7-Mile Road Race, the Carlsbad 5000 and the Falmouth Road Race. A Maine native, Samuelson lives in Freeport, Maine, with her husband Scott and children Abigail and Anders. She is active in many community and civic organizations and is the founder of the Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race. Elite athletes will compete this fall for an event-record purse of $500,000. The male and female winners each will earn $100,000, the largest ever payout for first place in a marathon. The 2002 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon begins Sunday, October 13 at 7:30 a.m., starting and finishing in Chicago's Grant Park. The race will be televised live on NBC5 and broadcast on Chicago's ESPN Radio AM1000 from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. |