Running USA wire #23-03-04

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Wire 23, March 28, 2004

In this edition of the Running USA wire:

1) Keflezighi Repeats as USA 8K Champion; Sets USA Championship Record

2) Ochichi Sets World 5K Record at Carlsbad; Berhanu Defends Men’s Title

Team Running USA sponsored by Nike

Supported by grants from the New York Road Runners and Atlanta Track

Club

Copyright © 2004 Running USA

All Rights Reserved

*********************************************

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Keflezighi Repeats as USA 8K Champion; Sets USA Championship Record

By Jim Gerweck, Running USA wire

NEW YORK – (March 27, 2004) – Just call Meb Keflezighi the master of USA

Road

Championships. The man who won three road titles last year (8, 15 and 20

kilometers) has duplicated two thirds of that success in 2004, defending

his USA

8K title in Central Park in course and national championship record time

under

near-perfect racing conditions on Saturday.

The win comes two weeks after his USA 15K Championship four-peat at the

Gate

River Run in Florida, and less than two months after finishing second at

the

U.S. Men’s Olympic Marathon Trials in Alabama. Keflezighi, 28, ran the

fastest

8K of the year in 22:16 on roads still damp from overnight drizzle but

with

the warmest conditions (temperatures in the low 50s) the race has

enjoyed in its

three year history. That broke Tim Broe’s course record, set at the

inaugural

running in 2002, by 10 seconds and earned Keflezighi a $1000 bonus to go

with

his $5000 first place prize. In addition, the Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

resident

grabbed the $500 prime for being first to the 5K split, reached in 14:04.

“In a USA Championship, you run first to win, and not worry about the

time,”

said Keflezighi who also won three U.S. road titles in 2002. “But about

200

meters from the finish people were yelling that I could get the record,

and I

would have hated to not try and miss it by a second.”

The Team Running USA athlete’s time is the fourth fastest ever run by an

American, and was 12 seconds better than his winning mark here last year.

The fast times were engendered by the weather and Anthony Famiglietti,

who

was third at the first edition of the race but missed last year due to

an injury

incurred in his primary event, the steeplechase. Famiglietti who lives

in

Knoxville, Tenn. often visits his girlfriend who lives in Manhattan and

does

frequent training in the park, and in this case familiarity with the

course

brought success.

“When I saw the first mile split (4:38) I wasn’t worried because I knew

we’d

pick it up, especially with the great field that was running,” said the

2002

USA steeplechase champion.

Famiglietti, along with Keflezighi and road race debutante Bolota

Asmerom,

really began cranking the second mile (9:03). Shortly thereafter, Abdi

Abdirahman, who had chased fellow Olympian Keflezighi right to the line

at Gate River,

dropped out as a back injury suffered at last week’s World Cross Country

Championships flared up.

By three miles (13:35) only the trio of Famiglietti, Asmerom and

Keflezighi

were left, and the latter threw in a short surge to nab the prime. “I

wasn’t

thinking about it until 10 meters before,” he said.

That seemed to settle the overall outcome, as Famiglietti dropped back

(“I

just wanted to settle in and react to the rest of the race,” he

explained) but

Asmerom pulled alongside near 6K, which seemed to give Keflezighi a jolt

of

adrenaline. “I was pretty much going all out, but that gave me a boost,”

continued Keflezighi. “I have to credit both those guys for making the

fast times.”

That surge sealed the deal for Keflezighi, but Famiglietti regrouped and

caught Asmerom in the final 400 to tie the old CR and provide a huge

boost of

confidence in his training. “I thought I was in great shape based on my

workouts,

but your first race back is still your first race, so you never know.”

For Asmerom, his first major road race was an enjoyable experience. “It’s

so

much more fun than track,” he said. “You can kind of look around at the

trees

and the birds, just relax. It feels so natural.”

Rounding out the top five, a hard charging Ryan Kirkpatrick nipped last

year’s runner-up, Chad Johnson, by a second.

“The third time was a charm,” said NYRR CEO Allan Steinfeld. “When you

get

fast people together under good conditions, you get a great race. And I

can tell

you, this definitely isn’t the last time we’ll do this.”

As part of the 2004 USA Running Circuit, a USA Track & Field road racing

series featuring USA Championships from 5K to the marathon, the top 10 U.S.

runners earned valuable Circuit points at this national championship.

With his win

(worth 15 points), Keflezighi increased his USARC lead over Alan

Culpepper and

Dan Browne, 54 points to 30 and 20 points respectively.

The 2004 USARC offers a record $818,700 in guaranteed prize money with a

final $12,500 grand prix purse ($6000, $4000 and $2500) for the top

three men and

women point scorers overall. At each USARC race, the first ten US

runners earn

points (15 points for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3,

2

and 1), and Circuit points will be doubled at the USA Marathon

Championships.

The next Men’s USARC race is the Papa John’s 10 Miler on April 10 in

Louisville,

Ky.

NYRR 8000: USA Men’s Championship

New York, NY, Saturday, March 27, 2004

1) Meb Keflezighi, 28, CA, 22:16*, $6500#

2) Anthony Famiglietti, 25, TN 22:26, $4000

3) Bolota Asmerom, 25, CA, 22:29, $3000

4) Ryan Kirkpatrick, 25, CO, 22:32, $2000

5) Chad Johnson, 27, OR, 22:33, $1250

6) Mike Donnelly, 29 OR, 22:43, $1000

7) Nick Rogers, 28, OR, 22:52, $800

8) Nolan Swanson, 28, OR, 22:59, $700

9) Pete Julian, 32, CO, 23:00, $600

10) Justin Young, 24, CO, 23:04, $500

11) Dave Davis, 25, OR, 23:12, $400

12) Henry Dennis, 29, OH, 23:14, $300

13) Jason Lehmkuhle, 26, MN, 23:16, $200

14) Jason Balkman, 27, CA, 23:19, $150

15) Luke Watson, 23, MN, 23:24, $100

*USA Championship and Central Park Records

#$1000 course record bonus and $500 5K prime

For more results and information, go to the race website at:

http://www.nyrrc.org/nyrr8000/index.php

2004 USA Running Circuit Standings

MEN after three races

1) Meb Keflezighi, 28, Mth Lakes, CA 54

2) Alan Culpepper, 31, Lafayette, CO 30

3) Dan Browne, 28, Portland, OR 20

4) Trent Briney, 25, Rochester Hills, MI 14

5) Clint Verran, 28, Rochester Hills, MI 12

Abdi Abdirahman, 27, Tucson, AZ 12

Mike Donnelly, 29, Portland, OR 12

Anthony Famiglietti, 25, Knoxville, TN 12

9) Scott Larson, 34, Superior, CO 10

Chris Graff, 28, Palo Alto, CA 10

Bolota Asmerom, 25, San Leandro, CA 10

2004 USARC Champions

MEN

Alan Culpepper 2:11:42 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, Birmingham, AL,

Feb

7

Meb Keflezighi 43:18 Gate River Run 15K, Jacksonville, FL, March

13

Meb Keflezighi 22:16+ NYRR 8000/USA Men’s Championship, NY, NY,

March 27

+USA Championship Record

Upcoming USARC Races:

U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Women’s Marathon, St. Louis, MO, $250,000,

April 3

Papa John’s 10 Miler (men), Louisville, KY, $26,500, April 10

# # #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ochichi Sets World 5K Record at Carlsbad

Berhanu Repeats as Men’s Champion

By Ryan Lamppa and Basil Honikman, Running USA wire

CARLSBAD, Calif. – (March 28, 2004) – The Carlsbad 5000 is synonymous

with

great competition and world records and Sunday’s race, under warm,

breezy

conditions, was no exception as Kenya’s Isabella Ochichi set a world 5K

road record

in 14:53, while Ethiopia’s Dejene Berhanu repeated as men’s champion in

13:23.

With two current world champions and the 10,000 meter gold medalist from

the

1997 World Track Championships, the Women’s invitational promised to be

one of

the most competitive ever. As it turned out 2003 Carlsbad runner-up,

Isabella

Ochichi, 24, threw in an unanswerable surge at 1.5 miles and ran away

from

the field to a U.S. All-Comers and, for the present time, a new world 5

kilometer world road record. Although Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain

has run a 14:51

on a certified course in London last September, said course needs

remeasurement (which is scheduled for this April).

A group of four including 2004 World Cross Country 4K champion Benita

Johnson

of Australia, Ochichi, 2004 World Indoor 3000 meter champion Meseret

Defar

and Sentayehu Ejigu of Ethiopia, established themselves at the front of

the

race. The lead women passed the first mile in 4:42 and then exchanged

the lead for

the next 800 meters. Then Ochichi, who ran 14:56 here last year, began

to

pull away. She reached the second mile in 9:25. Neither the uphill nor

the

headwinds had any effect on her pace. At that point she was about 9

seconds ahead of

Johnson who had about a 30 meter lead on Ejigu and Defar. About 400

meters

before turning onto the finish stretch on Carlsbad Village Drive,

Ochichi seemed

to be struggling but this proved to be an illusion as she gathered

herself

for a stretch drive to the victory. Johnson finished strongly, 14

seconds behind

in 15:07.

Gracious in defeat, Johnson said, “I went out hard, but Isabella opened

a gap

on me at one and a half miles. I tried my hardest to catch her but she

was

too speedy for me today. All credit to her – I’ll be back next year.”

“I didn’t know if a world record was possible today. I thought it would

be

too hot, but during the race I felt comfortable and knew that I had to

run a

fantastic race against Benita to win,” said Ochichi who won $15,000

which

includes a $10,000 world record bonus.

In the men’s race, nobody wanted to take the pace so the entire men’s

field

of 11 hit the first mile in 4:17 and at the uphill second mile (4:26),

nine men

were still in the hunt including men’s defending champion Berhanu and

Kenyans

Raymond Yator, Boniface Songok and Boaz Cheboiywo. Around the 2.5 mile

mark

on Carlsbad Boulevard just before Beech Street, Berhanu surged, looked

back at

his competition and pulled away for good as he ran unchallenged to the

tape in

13:23 with Songok second 7 seconds back.

“Today was about winning not about running fast, and I was happy when I

broke

away that nobody went with me,” said the soft-spoken Ethiopian.

In the master’s races, Peter Magill of South Pasadena outkicked Brian

Pope of

Oxford, Miss., 14:51 to 14:52, while Monica Joyce of Pinckney, Mich. set

a

U.S. 45-49 age group record of 17:08 to handily win the women’s race

over Dolly

Ginter of nearby Irvine (17:54).

19th Carlsbad 5000

Carlsbad, CA, Sunday, March 28, 2004

MEN

1) Dejene Berhanu (ETH) 13:23 $5,000

2) Boniface Songok (KEN)13:30 $3,500

3) Raymond Yator (KEN) 13:31 $2,000

4) Boaz Cheboiywo (KEN) 13:32 $1,000

5) Barnabas Kosgei (KEN)13:32 $800

6) Eliud Kirui (KEN) 13:40 $700

7) Alejandro Suarez (MEX) 13:46 $500

8) Cathal Lombard (IRL) 13:49 $400

9) Alastair Stevenson (AUS) 14:01 $300

10) Adrian Blincoe (NZL) 14:11 $200

WOMEN

1) Isabella Ochichi (KEN) 14:53* $15,000#

2) Benita Johnson (AUS) 15:07 $3,500

3) Meseret Defar (ETH) 15:23 $2,000

4) Sentayehu Ejigu (ETH) 15:25 $1,000

5) Eyerusalem Kuma (ETH) 15:37 $800

6) Hayley McGregor (AUS) 15:38 $700

7) Sally Barsosio (KEN) 15:58 $500

8) Lucy Smith (CAN) 16:08 $400

9) Natalie Harvey (GBR) 16:11 $300

10) Sally Hauser (USA/CA) 16:22 $200

11) Georgie Clarke (AUS) 16:34

*world and U.S. all-comers record; previous record 14:54 by Deena

Drossin

(Carlsbad 2002) and Berhane Adere (Carlsbad 2003); Paula Radcliffe’s 14:51

from

Flora Light Women’s 5K is pending course validation (i.e., remeasurement)

#includes $10,000 world record bonus

MASTERS MEN (40+)

1) Peter Magill (CA) 14:51 $1,000

2) Brian Pope (MS) 14:52 $500

3) Danny Martinez (CA) 14:54 $200

MASTERS WOMEN (40+)

1) Monica Joyce (MI) 17:08 $1,000

2) Dolly Ginter (CA) 17:54 $500

3) Ceci St. Geme (CA) 18:04 $200

For complete results, go to:

http://www.eliteracing.com

# # #

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