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U.S. champions crowned in Twin Cities
MINNEAPOLIS
– Four U.S. champions were crowned Sunday as the Medtronic Twin Cities
Marathon hosted the USA Men’s Marathon, Masters Marathon and Women’s 10
Mile Championships.
The USA Women’s 10 Mile Championship started the day’s events with local favorite Katie McGregor (Saint Louis Park, Minn.), taking her seventh career U.S. title in 54:21. Sergio Reyes (Palmdale, Calif.) took the men’s marathon title in 2:14:02 and Mbarak Hussein (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Susan Loken (Phoenix, Ariz.) took the men’s and women’s masters titles in 2:16:58 and 2:44:43 respectively.
As the women’s 10 mile started under ideal conditions with clear skies and temperatures near 40 degrees, Renee Metivier Baillie
(Boulder, Colo.) took control of the women’s race, opening a small lead
as she passed the first mile in 5:41, only McGregor and Jen Rhines
(Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) gave chase. Just before three miles, Rhines
lost contact as Baillie and McGregor ran the next two miles together.
Shortly after five miles, McGregor took advantage of a short uphill to
open a ten meter lead on Baillie and looked to be on her own for the
last half of the race. As McGregor approached seven miles, Baillie
reestablished contact and tried to ease into the lead. McGregor was
content to let Baillie lead for the next mile but as the pair crested
another small hill after eight miles, McGregor made her final move,
steadily pulling away from Baillie for a 16 second win.
In the race for third, Alissa McKaig (Blowing Rock, N.C.) led a chase pack that included Meghan Armstrong (Richfield, Minn.) and Sally Meyerhoff
(Tempe, Ariz.), to eventually overtake Rhines after seven miles.
McKaig’s effort paid off as she held on for third in 55:18. Armstrong
and Meyerhoff took fourth and fifth in 55:20 and 55:22 respectively.
Rhines faded to ninth in 55:41.
The
women’s championship offered a total of $25,000 in prize money with
McGregor earning $10,000 for the title.
Reyes shines in men’s marathon
In the men’s marathon, which saw six personal best performances in the top-ten, David Jankowski (Blowing Rock, N.C.) and Seth Pilkington
(Harrisville, Utah) take the early pace, maintaining a 400 meter lead
as they passed the half-marathon in 1:06:43. A chase pack that included
Reyes, Jeff Eggleston (New York, N.Y.) and 2008 USA Marathon champion Fernando Cabada (Alamosa, Colo.), began to close the gap.
Jankowski pulled away from Pilkington around 14 miles but was overtaken
by the chase pack by 25 km as the race was down to three men. As the
trio climbed the hills into St. Paul, Reyes and Eggleston looked easy
as Cabada began to struggle just after 22 miles.
Reyes
and Eggleston continued to duel until 23 miles when Reyes made his move
to drop his final rival and cruised to the finish in 2:14:02 for his
first U.S. title and a spot on Team USA for the 2011 World
Championships Marathon. Eggleston took the runner-up position in
2:14:09, also earning a spot on the U.S. team for Daegu. Cabada rounded
out the top-three in 2:15:25, as Jankowski held on for fourth in
2:16:15 and Drew Shackleton (Los Angeles, Calif.) finished fifth in 2:16:31.
The men’s marathon offered $72,500 in prize money with Reyes taking home $25,000 for the win.
Masters Marathon
For the 20th consecutive year, the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon
hosted the USA Masters Marathon Championships. Masters standout Mbarak Hussein
(Albuquerque, N.M), who took both the overall and masters titles at
this event in 2005 and 2006, returned to take another U.S. masters
title, finishing seventh overall in 2:16:58, while Susan Loken (Phoenix, Ariz.) returned to Twin Cities, running 2:44:43, to reclaim the masters women’s title she last won in 2007.
The USA Masters Marathon Championships featured $55,000 in prize money with Hussein and Loken earning $7,500 each.
Video highlights
The USA Women’s 10 Mile and Men’s Marathon Championships are available in cooperation with RunnerSpace.com at www.USARunningCircuit.com.
About the USARC
The USA Women’s 10 Mile Championship was the eighth stop for women
while the USA Men’s Marathon Championship was the tenth and final stop
for men on the 2010 USA Running Circuit (USARC).
Antonio Vega (Minneapolis, Minn.) finished the year on top of the men’s standings with 44 points, while his Team USA Minnesota teammate Katie McGregor (St. Louis Park, Minn.) now leads the women with 45 points.
The USARC is a USA Track & Field road series, featuring USA
Championships from one mile to the marathon and attracts the best U.S.
distance runners. The circuit features ten events each for men and
women.
The 2010 USARC will once again see a record
amount of circuit prize money for a non-Olympic year with total prize
purse of $623,850 offered by host events. U.S. athletes will also have
the opportunity to qualify for various Team USA events, including the
IAAF World Half Marathon Championships and the Chiba International
Ekiden.
The first ten U.S. runners earn points at
each USARC race (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 ($6,000, $4,000, and
$2,500) for the top three men and women point scorers overall. The
USARC points at the USA Marathon Championships will be doubled.
The mission of the USA Running Circuit is to showcase, support, and
promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USARC and its
races have provided over $6 million dollars to U.S. distance runners.
For more information on the 2010 USA Running Circuit, visit www.USARunningCircuit.com.
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by Larry Eder
