Wells Fargo, Target and Country
Hearth Provide Prize Money for Top Finishers in Grandma’s
Marathon Press Release Jun 9, 2006
Duluth, Minn.: A prize purse
totaling $88,000 will be awarded to the top male and female competitors in the
30th annual Grandma's Marathon on Saturday, June 17, 2006. Presenting Sponsors,
Wells Fargo and Target, fund the purse for the top male and female runners in
the competition, and major sponsor, Country Hearth, contributes prize money for
athletes in the wheelchair division.
“Grandma's Marathon has become known
in elite running communities around the world as a race that not only offers a
fast course, but also a substantial prize purse. Wells Fargo, Target and Country
Hearth play a crucial role in helping our race attract some of the best runners
in the marathon circuit, and we are so thankful that they understand the
importance of rewarding our top finishers for their accomplishments,” said Scott
Keenan, executive director of Grandma's Marathon.
Wells Fargo presents a
total of $39,000 to the first ten runners in the men’s open division and the
first three men in the masters division. Target presents the same amount in cash
prizes to the top female runners. Country Hearth will award a total of $10,000
to the top five men and women in the wheelchair race.
The 2006 Grandma's
Marathon will feature a strong field of elite athletes including defending
women's champion Halina Karnatsevich, 37, of Russia, who ran the second fastest
women’s time in Grandma's Marathon history finishing the 2005 race in 2:28:43.
Two-time champion (2003 and 2004) and women’s course record holder, Fira
Sultanova-Zhdanova, 45, of Russia is also registered to compete along with 2002
women’s champion Zinaida Semenova. Semenova heads into the competition
with the fastest personal record time (2:26:52) in the women’s field.
Top
American women runners are Magdelena Lewy Boulet, 32, of Oakland, Calif., Mary
Akor, 29, of Gardena, Calif., and Katie Koski, 33, of Two Harbors,
Minn.
In the men’s division, Wesly Ngetich, Simon Sawe, Pavel Andreev and
James Karanja, who placed one through four respectively in the 2005 Grandma's
Marathon, are returning to compete. Defending champion, Ngetich, 28, of Kenya
set a personal record time of 2:13:20 at Grandma's last year and recently
lowered that to 2:12:10 at the Houston Marathon in January. David Kuri, 29, of
Kenya has the fastest open division time in the men's field –
2:08:53.
Jim Jurcevich, 30, of Columbus, Ohio holds the fastest
personal record time in the field for an American. He ran 2:14:28 at the 2006
Austin (Tex.) Marathon in February. Jurcevich’s training partner, Josh Ordway,
26, and Teddy Mitchell, 34, of Albuquerque, N.M. round out the top three
Americans in the field.
In the wheelchair division, 2005 champion, Krige
Schabort, 42, of South Africa, will defend his title against a strong field of
wheelchair athletes. Jacob Heilveil, 36, of South Korea and Alan Bergman, 32, of
Canada, who were second and third respectively in 2005 will be back again to
compete for the first place spot. The women’s division includes two of the
nation’s fastest wheelchair athletes: Miriam Ladner, 28, and Amanda McGrory, 19.
Both women are from Champaign, Ill.
To date, there are 72 men and 54
women runners, and a total of 15 wheelchair racers registered to compete in the
elite field of the 26.2-mile race. In all, 9,758 people from 34 different
countries and 49 states are registered to run on June 17.
Editor's Note: The Elite Field Can be found here and includes Harvard sophomore and US national junior 10k record holder Lindsey Scherf who is making her debut and fueling talk on the message board.
