Posted: July 21, 2005

Ultra Running: Powell Leads American Women's Team to 24 Hour World Challenge Bronze Medal

Russians Sweep World Titles

Report from Dan Brannen, AUA

The 3rd annual International Association of Ultrarunners' 24 Hour World Challenge was held the weekend of July 16-17 in the small village of Worschach, in the foothills of the Austrian Alps. Warm conditions for the most part kept performance levels modest, except for the remarkable 1-2 finish of Russian women Lyudmila Kalinina and Galina Eremina, who notched top 5 all-time world performances (150.5 and 149 miles respectively). Defending world champion Sumie Inagaki of Japan, finishing 3rd (145.8 miles), was the only factor preventing the Russian women from a global medal sweep, as Irina Koval of Russia finished fourth. So overwhelming was the Russian distaff strength, their entire scoring women's team finished ahead of the first place scorer of half the men's national teams in the race.

The American men were led for the second time in this event by three-time national 24 hour run champion John Geesler of St. Johnsville, New York, who totaled 144 miles to finish 14th. Rounding out the 6th placing American men's team were Rudy Afanador of Medford, New York and Dean Karnazes of San Francisco, California. The men's race was won by Russian Anatoliy Kruglikov with 166.5 miles.

The shining star of the American team was Sandy Powell of Greenville, Virginia. Powell has been one of the best and most consistent American women over the last half-decade in the all-day, all-night running event. A top finisher in the recent national championship races, she is now the only woman to score for the American team in all three World 24 Hour events.

For the past two years, she has run as somewhat of a "domestique" in the shadow of American superstars Pam Reed and Stephanie Ehret. This year, with both Reed and Ehret unable to make the trip to Austria, Powell rose to the occasion to fill their shoes with a huge 5% improvement on her personal record. Her 133.2 mile total brought her home in 6th place and put the American women on the podium, sporting bronze team medals for the second straight year. The other American women scorers were Carolyn Smith of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (11th with 126.8 miles) and Sue Olsen of Burnsville, Minnesota (23rd with 115.5 miles).

Next on tap for America's best long-range ultrarunners: The American 24 Hour Run National Championship on November 12 in San Diego. This year's national title run will feature something brand new: a head-to-head "Pacific Rim dual meet" competition between American and Japanese national teams. During the last 5 years the Japanese have come to global prominence in the 24 hour event, as evidenced by their gold and silver team medals in this year's World 24 Hour, following their silver/silver team performance of last year. Ryoichi Sekiya and Sumie Inagaki, 4th and 3rd, respectively, this year after winning the men's and women's world individual titles last year, will lead the Japanese squads in this head-to-head match with the Americans. Geesler and Powell are the first automatic selections to the American team to face the Japanese in this two nations match race. The remainder of the American national team will be announced within the next month.

IAU 24 Hour World Challenge - Worschach, Austria, Sat-Sun, July 16-17, 2005

MEN
1) Anatoliy Kruglikov, RUS, 268,065.45 meters (166.5 miles)
2) Ewald Eder, AUT, 263,810.29 meters (163.9 miles)
3) Jens Lukas, GER, 256,368.65 meters (159.3 miles)
4) Ryoichi Sekiya, JPN, 250,618.80 meters (155.7 miles)
5) Sergio Orsi, ITA, 249,876.86 meters (155.2 miles)
6) Osvaldo Beltramino, ITA, 246,405.19 meters (153.1 miles) 
7) Ivan Seryy, UKR, 246,383.79 meters (153.0 miles)
8) Vladimir Bychkov, RUS, 246,164.51 meters (152.9 miles)
9) Masayuki Otaki, JPN, 245,628.54 meters (152.6 miles)
10) Wagner Josef, AUT, 238,443.11 meters (148.1 miles)
Top U.S.
14) John Geesler, USA/NY, 231,804.88 meters (144.0 miles)
20) Rudy Afanador, USA/NY, 228,602.55 meters (142.0 miles)
29) Dean Karnazes, USA/CA, 219,291.38 meters (136.2 miles)
34) Scott Eppelman, USA/TX, 214,960.31 meters (133.5 miles)
66) Roy Pirrung, USA/WI, 179,780.51 meters (111.7 miles)
78) Danny Ripka, USA/MN, 163,823.66 meters (101.7 miles)

MEN's TEAM
1) Japan, 734,498.37 meters (456.3 miles)
2) Russia, 731,229.07 meters (454.3 miles)
3) Italy, 725,897.25 meters (451.0 miles)
6) USA, 679,698.81 meters (422.3 miles)

WOMEN
1) Lyudmila Kalinina, RUS, 242,228.75 meters (150.5 miles)
2) Galina Eremina, RUS, 239,874.34 meters (149.0 miles)
3) Sumie Inagaki, JPN, 234,803.04 meters (145.8 miles)
4) Irina Koval, RUS, 227,469.94 meters (141.3 miles)
5) Jungok Kim, KOR, 223,109.28 meters (138.6 miles)
6) Sandy Powell, USA/VA, 214,422.14 meters (133.2 miles) 
7) Kimie Noto, JPN, 214,293.11 meters (133.1 miles)
8) Nadezda Tarasova, RUS, 214,194.60 meters (133.0 miles)
9) Michaela Dimitriadu, CZE, 205,597.11 meters (127.7 miles)
10) Masae Kamura, JPN, 205,289.65 meters (127.5 miles)
Other top U.S.
11) Carolyn Smith, USA/WI, 204,087.53 meters (126.8 miles)
23) Sue Olsen, USA/MN, 186,004.43 meters (115.5 miles)

WOMEN's TEAM
1) Russia, 709,573.03 meters (440.9 miles)
2) Japan, 654,385.80 meters (406.6 miles)
3) USA, 604,514.10 meters (375.6 miles)

For more race information, go to: www.24stundenlauf.at/.