Wire 7, February 5, 2003

In this edition of the Running USA wire:

1) USA Men's Marathon Championship Field with Bib Numbers
2) Recent USA Marathon Champions and Championship Trivia
3) Crake, Moll Fleet Empire State Building Run-Up Champions - Again

Team USA California sponsored by Nike
Supported by a grant from The New York City Marathon

Copyright © 2003 Running USA
All Rights Reserved
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UPCOMING EVENTS:

Mercedes Marathon, Birmingham, AL, February 9
*79th USA Men's Marathon Championship, February 8
http://www.mercedesmarathon.com
USA Cross Country Championships, Houston, February 15-16
http://www.usatf.org
Motorola Marathon, Austin, TX, February 16
http://www.motorolamarathon.com
City of Los Angeles Marathon, CA, March 2
http://www.lamarathon.com
Gate River Run 15K, Jacksonville, FL, March 8
*USA Men's and Women's Championship; USARC Event
http://www.1stplacesports.com
HEB Bayou City Classic 10K, Houston, TX, March 8
http://www.bayoucityclassic.org

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Elite Field Finalized for 79th USA Men's Marathon Championship
Online Updates During the Race

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - (Feb. 5, 2003) - Online updates will be available to monitor this Saturday's 79th USA Men's Marathon Championship, part of the Mercedes Marathon weekend of races Feb. 8-9 in Birmingham. Site visitors to www.mercedesmarathon.com can track the mile-by-mile progress of the elite runners - provided by 1996 Olympic marathoner Keith Brantly and Dr. Dave Martin - by clicking on the link "Live, USA Men's Marathon Championship".

The elite field for the national championship has been finalized as follows:

Bib#/Athlete/Hometown Marathon PR/Event
2 Kyle Baker, Mason, MI 2:14:13 2002 LaSalle Bank Chicago (debut)
3 Chris Banks, Albuquerque, NM 2:21:57 2002 Twin Cities Marathon
4 Nate Bowen, Menlo Park, CA 2:31:46 2002 Chronicle Marathon
5 Edward Callinan, Haddonfield, NJ DEBUT
6 Jeff Campbell, Rochester Hills, MI 2:19:18 2000 U.S. Olympic Team Trials
7 Brian Clas, New York, NY 2:18:03 2000 Philadelphia Marathon
8 Kevin Collins, Craryville, NY 2:17:31 2002 Valley of the Sun Marathon
9 Rick Fuller, Eugene, OR 2:23:43 1998 LaSalle Banks Chicago Marathon
10 Jerry Lawson, Jacksonville, FL 2:09:35 1997 LaSalle Banks Chicago Marathon
11 Darrell General, Mitchellville, MD 2:14:42 1989 N.J. Waterfront Marathon
12 Chris Graff, Palo Alto, CA 2:24:00 2002 Twin Cities Marathon
13 Eddy Hellebuyck, Albuquerque, NM 2:11:50 1994 Antwerp, Belgium
14 Phil Hudnall, Kansas City, MO 2:21:40 2002 Kentucky Derby Marathon
15 Fred Kieser, Lakewood, OH 2:18:27 1999 Detroit Free Press Marathon
16 Stephen Jayaraj, Atlanta, GA 2:33:16 2002 Citizens Bank Philadelphia
18 James McGown, Shelton, NE 2:24:16 2002 Quad Cities Marathon, IA
19 Jason Medler, Muncie, IN 2:27:11 2002 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon
20 David Morris, Albuquerque, NM 2:09:32 1999 LaSalle Banks Chicago Marathon
21 Ryan Pauling, Macedon, NY DEBUT
22 Ken Pliska, Marblehead, MA 2:23:11 2002 St. George Marathon, UT
23 Carl Rundell, Birmingham, MI 2:20:05 2002 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon
24 Ryan Shay, East Jordan, MI 2:14:30 2002 LaSalle Bank Chicago (debut)
25 Mike Slinskey, Wapp. Falls, NY 2:19:57 1999 Ocean State Marathon
26 Scott Strand, Birmingham, AL 2:21:16 2001 New York City Marathon (debut)
27 Clint Verran, Rochester Hills, MI 2:14:17 2002 LaSalle Bank Chicago
28 Michael Wardian, Arlington, VA 2:28:39 2002 LaSalle Bank Chicago
29 Greg Wenneborg, Tucson, AZ 2:18:47 2002 Motorola Austin Marathon
30 Brantley Lutz, Albuquerque, NM 2:20:55 2002 Twin Cities Marathon
31 Patrick Muturi, Lafayette, CO 2:08:59 1997 LaSalle Banks Chicago Marathon
32 Rusty Snow, Randolph, MA 2:21:23 2000 Las Vegas Marathon
33 David Spiller, Harrisburg, VA 2:33:11 2002 Marathon in the Parks, MD
34 Andy Keel, Marietta, GA 2:34:46 2000 Rocket City, Huntsville, AL
76 Peter DeLaCerda, Alamosa, CO 2:14:41 2002 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon
77 Teddy Mitchell, Albuquerque, NM 2:20:25 1998 California Int'l Marathon

WEATHER REPORT
Saturday's race day weather in Birmingham is expected to be partly cloudy, highs in the mid-40s, lows near 20. Rain is likely on Friday, and again on Sunday. To monitor weather online, visit the Web site of race sponsor WBRC-TV Fox 6 at: http://www.wbrc.com/weather/index.shtml

HOST INFORMATION
The 2003 Mercedes Marathon weekend is hosted by Birmingham Marathon, Inc., a non-profit charitable organization with the mission to provide premier events open to athletes of all running abilities. Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc. (MBUSI) and Mercedes-Benz U.S.A. are title sponsors of the 2003 Mercedes Marathon weekend. The event also hosts the 2004 Olympic Team Trials - Men's Marathon on February 7.

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RECENT USA MARATHON CHAMPIONS (1992-2002)

MEN
1992 Steve Spence 2:12:43 U.S. Olympic Trials: Columbus, OH, 04/11
1993 Ed Eyestone 2:14:34 Twin Cities, Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, 10/03
1994 Paul Pilkington 2:12:13 City of Los Angeles, CA, 03/06
1995 Keith Brantly 2:14:27 USA NationsBank, Charlotte, NC, 01/07
1996 Bob Kempainen 2:12:45 U.S. Olympic Trials: Charlotte, NC, 02/17
1997 Dave Scudamore 2:13:48 UPMC/City of Pittsburgh, PA, 05/04
1998 Keith Brantly 2:12:31 UPMC Health System/City of Pittsburgh, PA, 05/03
1999 Alfredo Vigueras 2:14:20 UPMC Health System/City of Pittsburgh, PA, 05/02
2000 Rod DeHaven 2:15:30 U.S. Olympic Trials: Pittsburgh, PA, 05/07
2001 Scott Larson 2:15:26 New York City, NY, 11/04
2002 Dan Browne 2:11:35 Twin Cities, Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, 09/29

Number of USA Men's Marathon Championships = 79 (including 2003)
Number of champions = 54

USA CHAMPIONSHIP RECORD
Bill Donakowski 2:10:41 Twin Cities, Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, 10/12/86

TOP 10 USA CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCES
1) Bill Donakowski 2:10:41 Twin Cities, 1986
2) Ken Martin 2:11:24 California Int'l, 1984
3) Dan Browne 2:11:35 Twin Cities, 2002
4) Don Janicki 2:11:59 Twin Cities, 1986
5) David Gordon 2:12:09 Twin Cities, 1986
Bill Reifsnyder 2:12:09 New Jersey Waterfront, 1989
7) Paul Pilkington 2:12:13 City of Los Angeles, 1994
8) Steve Spence 2:12:17 Columbus, 1990
9) Mark Conover 2:12:26 U.S. Olympic Trials, 1988
10) Keith Brantly 2:12:31 UPMC Health System/City of Pittsburgh, 1998

USA CHAMPIONS IN THE RACE
Brian Clas, 20K 1997
Peter DeLaCerda, half-marathon 2002
David Morris, 25K 2002, half-marathon 1997
Scott Strand, 10K 2000

MR. CONSISTENCY'S CHAMPIONSHIP STREAK
Darrell General, 37, from Mitchellvile, MD, bib #11, has completed the past 11 USA Marathon Championships (1992-2002) with the following times and places.

1992 - 2:25:02, 30th
1993 - 2:16:08, 6th
1994 - 2:18:47, 3rd
1995 - 2:19:07, 8th
1996 - 2:16:30, 12th
1997 - 2:22:47, 10th
1998 - 2:17:58, 4th
1999 - 2:25:50, 16th
2000 - 2:28:41, 35th
2001 - 2:20:20, 6th
2002 - 2:29:02, 18th

Source: USATF Road Running Information Center

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RECORD PERFORMANCES TOP 26TH RUNINNG OF FLEET EMPIRE STATE BUILDING RUN UP

NEW YORK - (Feb. 4, 2003) - Champions Paul Crake of Australia and Cindy Moll of Indianapolis turned in record making performances at the 26th running of the Fleet Empire State Building Run-Up at the Manhattan landmark Tuesday.

Crake bettered his own course record (9:37 in 2001) with a 9:33 clocking up the 86 floors from the lobby level to the Observation Deck to win for the fifth consecutive year.

"To win in five years in a row has been fantastic. It's been a dream run," said Crake, who added that he would now retire from vertical racing and turn his focus to racing on the European circuit as a cyclist.

Crake, 26, is the only man to break the 10 minute barrier in event history. Second place finisher Austrian Markus Zahlbruckner finished more than a minute back at 10:58.

Moll reclaimed her title by beating last year's winner Kerstin Harbich of Germany in a race that came down to the final few steps. Moll, 34, clocked 13:06 just 11 seconds ahead of Harbich. Moll became the first woman to win the New York Road Runners event four times.

"It was so disappointing last year," Moll said. "I was so surprised by the German last year. I was better prepared this year. This was a tight race."

2000 U.S. Olympian triathlete Jennifer Gutierrez, in her run-up debut, finished in fifth in 15:20 and walked away with a first-person appreciation of the challenges of the event.

"I was ready to stop about halfway through," Gutierrez, 35, said of the 1,576 step climb up Manhattan's tallest building.

"It was hard to prepare for this," she said, saying conditions were worse than she had imagined..."the heat, the narrow hallways and the air." However, she would not rule out another crack at the run-up. "I may be back next year."

A field of 106 men and women finished.