USA Men's & Masters Marathon Championships attracting a field of professional runners vying for more than $300,000 on October 5
MINNEAPOLIS - (September 19, 2008) - Past Twin Cities Marathon champion Dan Browne (2002), along with defending USA Masters champions Tracy Lokken and Susan Loken, are set to return to compete for $302,000 in prize money at the 27th Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon on Sunday, October 5th.
Olympian and Team Running USA's Dan Browne, 33, headlines a strong men's field that will compete for the USA Men's Marathon Championship. The field features over 20 runners that qualified for last November's Olympic Marathon Trials in New York City, including 6 runners who finished in the top 25. In addition to Browne's 6th place finish, that list includes Mike Morgan (12th), Fasil Bizuneh (13th), Christopher Raabe (16th), Chad Johnson (20th) and Josh Ordway (21st).
Adding to the depth of the field is Fernando Cabada, the U.S. 25K record holder and Justin Young, who lowered his personal best by over five minutes to 2:13:54 at the Rotterdam Marathon this past April. This year's race will also be the debut marathon for Ryan Sheehan, Celedonio Rodriguez, Antonio Vega and Josh Moen, all who've run sub-1:05 half-marathons.
In the women's race, Mary Akor, 31, could become the first woman to win Grandma's Marathon and Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon in the same calendar year. Akor's biggest challenge could come from Russians Silvia Skvortsova and Olga Glok. Not only does Skvortsova have the best time in the field (2:27:07), she's the only woman that has run sub-2:30 in the last five years - a feat she has accomplished in seven of the last eight years. While Glok has yet to break 2:30, she did run 2:31:12 in Istanbul and 2:30:40 in Paris within the last year. In addition, 10 women who ran in the Olympic Marathon Trials last April in Boston add depth to the field.
For the 18th consecutive year, the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon will be the host of the USA Masters Marathon Championship (40 and older). Susan Loken of Phoenix is the three-time defending champion on the women's side. Loken looks to be challenged by three other women who qualified for the Olympic Trials Marathon, Meghan Arbogast, Susan Empey and Doreen Manske. Also looking to make a splash, in her marathon debut, is Jody Hawkins. Hawkins is familiar with Loken, having finished two seconds behind her earlier this year at the More Magazine Half Marathon in 1:20:16.
2007 USA Masters Champion Tracy Lokken returns to defend his title. Other top runners in the field include a couple of newly minted Masters in John Ashton and Carl Rundell, along with Paul Aufdemberge, John Mirth and 2004 USA Masters Marathon champion Dennis Simonaitis.
Visit MTCMarathon.org for more information including a deeper expected professional field listing.
Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.RunningUSA.org.
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