Posted: June 2, 2005

Athletics: Gete Wami - World Champion, Three-Time Olympic Medalist - Joins Stellar Coca-Cola Zero™ Rock 'n' Roll Marathon® Field

SAN DIEGO - (May 31, 2005) - Veteran distance runner Gete Wami, a three-time Olympic medalist and three-time World Cross Country champion, is a new addition to an already stellar elite field assembled for the Coca-Cola Zero Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, Sunday, June 5, 2005.

Ethiopia's national record holder in the marathon, Wami, 30, owns a personal best of 2:22:19, set in Amsterdam in 2002. She won a bronze medal in the 10,000 meters at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and was a double medalist on the track at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, capturing the silver medal in the 10,000 meters and a bronze medal in the 5000 meters. She claimed her World XC Championship titles in 1996, '99 and '01 and also won a World Championship on the track, in the 10,000 meters in 1999.

Wami joins a marathon field that includes five former Rock 'n' Roll champions, headlined by the defending men's and women's winners from 2004; Kenyan Joseph Ngolepus and Russian Tatiana Titova. They will battle a field that includes event record holder Philip Tarus and 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Joyce Chepchumba.

The elite runners will all be vying for a prize purse that awards $20,000 and a new vehicle to both the men's and women's champions. Each second place finisher earns $20,000 and all told, the total prize purse is valued at nearly $200,000.

The invitational field will be the first to traverse the newly designed course that will welcome more than 20,000 runners and walkers on June 5. To learn more about the marathon or to registration, visit RnRMarathon.com or call (800) 311-1255.

For more information on the Coca-Cola Zero™ Rock 'n' Roll Marathon® and the elite field, visit RnRMarathon.com.

Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Services Director
385 Oak View Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93111

(805) 696-6232, fax (805) 967-5958
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.runningusa.org.