FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Four USA Titles at Stake Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Weekend
Former champions Cabada and Ponomarenko return to the marathon
Minneapolis, MN- (September 22, 2010) Four separate USA Championships will
be up for grabs when the starting horn sounds on October 3rd for the 29th
annual running of the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon and the 12th annual
Medtronic TC 10 Mile.
Many of the country's top men's professional marathoners will race for the
2010 USA Men's Marathon Championships, including 2008 Medtronic Twin Cities
Marathon Champion Fernando Cabada. At the same time, the best American
male and female marathoners age-40 and over will compete for the USA
Masters Marathon Championships. The USA Men's Marathon Champion will earn
$25,000 for his win. The USA Masters champions will leave the State
Capitol finish line $7,500 richer.
Starting off the busy day of racing in Minneapolis and St. Paul is the USA
Women's 10 Mile Championship, held in conjunction with the Medtronic TC 10
Mile. The race will feature many of the nation's top female distance
runners as they compete for the $10,000 winner's prize.
USA Men's Marathon – In the marathon, all eyes will focus on former race
winner Fernando Cabada to see if he can become only the fourth man to win
multiple Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon titles. In 2008, Cabada won Twin
Cities and the USA Marathon title by battling chilling rains and sturdy
competition to win in 2 hours, 16 minutes and 32 seconds.
Cabada will face a field of emerging young marathoners vying for their own
USA title. Jeffrey Eggleston of New York City looks to build on the
2:14:32 debut he made at the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in Phoenix
earlier this year. He'll likely be joined in the lead pack by Palmdale,
California's Sergio Reyes, who clocked 2:15:30 at the Bank of America
Chicago Marathon last fall and Hudson, Wisconsin native Mike Reneau, who
has a 2:16:20 to his credit.
Luke Watson, the Stillwater native who finished 7th at the Medtronic Twin
Cities Marathon last fall in 2:15:29, is the local favorite as he attempts
to be the first male Minnesota native to win the state's premier marathon.
Duarte, California's Mohamed Trafeh, a marathon debutante, has the
shorter-distance credentials that could make him a winner – he's the
reigning USA 15K champion and has run 1:00:38 half marathon, the
5th-fastest ever run by an American. Team USA Minnesota's Josh Moen, who
finished runner-up in last year's USA Men's 10 Mile Championships, could
make an impact in the marathon, despite his modest 2:23:16 personal best.
USA Masters Marathon – 45-year-old, two-time Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon
champion Mbarak Hussein, whose running resume glows with a 2:08:12 marathon
personal best from 2004, is the favorite to win his third USA Masters
Marathon title. Despite his age, he also shouldn't be counted out for the
overall title either, as both of his previous Twin Cities wins came after
he turned 40. Hussein's masters competition is likely to come from
42-year-old Carl Rundell of Birmingham, Michigan, last year's USA Masters
runner-up, or 44-year-old Sean Wade of Houston, Texas, who brings a 2:10:59
personal best from his younger days to the starting line.
In the women's competition, 47-year-old Susan Loken of Phoenix will seek a
fourth USA Masters title. Loken won titles on the streets between
Minneapolis and St. Paul in 2005, 2006, and 2007. 43-year-old Jill Boaz,
who was the second-place finisher and the USA Champion at the 2002
Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, should provide strong competition as well
as top seeded Tamara Karrh, in her first year of eligibility as a Master's
runner.
USA Women's 10 Mile – Five-time Medtronic TC 10 Mile champion Katie
McGregor of Edina will seek the one thing that has eluded her on the course
nicknamed the "Shortcut to the Capitol®" – namely, a USA title. When the
USA Women's Championship was contested at Twin Cities in 2008, McGregor
finished runner-up to Duluth native Kara Goucher in her lone defeat on the
familiar course.
McGregor, a six-time USA titlist in distances ranging from 10K to 25K, will
face strong competition from three-time Olympian Jen Rhines of Mammoth
Lakes, California, who has represented her country at the Olympics in the
5000-meters, 10,000-meters, and marathon, and Renee Metivier-Baille, the
4th-place finisher at this year's USA Half Marathon Championship.
Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Open Women's Race – Although not a USA
Championship this year, the race for the women's title at the 2010
Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon should feature a battle between 2007
champion Svetlana Ponomarenko of Russia and this year's Grandma's Marathon
champion Bezunesh Beba of Ethiopia. Ponomorenko, now a 40-year-old,
survived sauna-like temperatures to win the race in 2007 in 2:34:09. Deba
prevailed in Duluth last June running 2:31:35.
Other contenders for the women's crown include Galina Alexandrova of
Russia, a 2:36:20 marathoner, and Alena Vinitskaya of Belarus, 2:32:28.
Twin Cities In Motion, (formerly Twin Cities Marathon, Inc.) is the
non-profit organization that organizes running events throughout the year,
including the Valentine's Day TC 5K, 100% Irish For A Day TC 5K & TC 10
Mile, Medtronic TC 1 Mile, Red, White & Boom! TC Half Marathon, the TC 5K,
TC 10K & Medtronic TC Family Events, Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon,
Medtronic TC 10 Mile, all related events and Medtronic TC Kids Marathon
program, as a community service for the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Visit
mtcmarathon.org for more information.
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