Five Team USA Minnesota Runners to Compete at USA 15k Championships in Jacksonville March 10
Press Release
March 6, 2012
Minneapolis/St. Paul Five Team USA Minnesota distance runners Katie McGregor, Emily Brown, Meghan Peyton, Antonio Vega and Matt Llano will be among the competitors at the USA 15k Championships in Jacksonville on March 10. The championships for men and women are being held in conjunction with the 35th annual Gate River Run.
The race features a prize purse of $60,000 in individual money plus an equalizer bonus of $5,000 - the top women start 7 minutes ahead of the rest of the field and the first person, female or male, to cross the finish line receives the bonus. As the largest 15k race in the country, the Gate River Run has been the site of the USA 15k Championships for 19 years and is part of the USA Running Circuit.
McGregor has a best in the 15k of 49:51. She won the 15k Womens Championship in 2010, was second in both 2008 and 2009, and finished in sixth place last year. Most recently, McGregor was 11th at the U.S. Olympic Womens Marathon Trials in January.
Brown has run 50:06 in the 15k and placed third at the championships in 2009, while Peyton has posted 51:18 in the distance and was fifth at Gate River in 2011.
On the mens side, Vega has run 43:55 at the 15k Championships and finished third in 2010. While he was still at the University of Richmond in 2011, Llano ran 45:12 at the 15k.
Over 20,000 runners are expected to compete in various Gate River events, which include a 5k run/walk, a 1 mile run for children, and diaper dashes. For the 15k, the womens elite field starts at 8:23 a.m. (Eastern time) and the mens field plus all other participants will begin running at 8:30.
The race also features a mens and womens team competition known as the TenBroeck Team Cup, which has a $20,000 purse for the top three overall female and male teams composed of three runners each. Team USA Minnesotas womens team finished first in 2009 and 2011 and second in 2010 and will be in contention this year for the win once again. The mens team was first in 2009 and second in 2010.
Gearing Up for Grandmas 2012 March 10
Andrew Carlson will be the featured speaker at the annual Gearing Up for Grandmas pre-race seminar in Duluth on March 10. The free event is from 9-11 a.m. and includes other presenters and question and answer sessions. The pre-race seminar is for both first-timers and veteran runners who plan to participate in Grandmas Marathon on June 16.
Carlson most recently placed sixth in the U.S. Olympic Mens Marathon Trials in Houston on Jan. 14. Racing in his first event at the marathon distance, he finished in 2:11:24. The native of Fargo, N.D., who ran collegiately at the University of Minnesota, is also a two-time national champion as a professional runner (15k and 25k) and trains with Team USA Minnesota.
About Team USA Minnesota
Team USA Minnesota is based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Formed in 2001, the purpose of the training center is to improve the competitiveness of post-collegiate American distance running and to develop Olympians. The athletes are coached by Dennis Barker, head cross country and track coach at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. Team USA Minnesotas major sponsor is Life Time Run (www.lifetimerun.com) and its silver sponsor is Twin Cities In Motion (www.tcmevents.org). It is also supported by the New York Road Runners and the USA Distance Project. For more information, visit the teams web site at www.teamusaminnesota.org.
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