05-08-2007
   
Contact:
Jim Estes
LDR Programs Manager
USA Track & Field
317-713-4661

INDIANAPOLIS - Fernando Cabada (Bristol, Va.) returns to the USA 25 km Championships this Saturday in Grand Rapids, Mich. to defend the crown he won last year on his way to a national record, while Katie McGregor (Minneapolis, Minn.) will make her debut at that distance in the women's race. The USA 25 km Championships will be held in conjunction with the 30th Fifth Third River Bank Run for the 14th time since its inception.

Though Cabada dominated the 2006 field, he will face stiff competition this year from 2005 champion and in-state favorites Brian Sell (Rochester Hills, Mich.) and two-time USA Men's Half Marathon champion (2003, 2004) Ryan Shay (East Jordan, Mich.).

Sell comes into the 25 km having only raced the USA Half Marathon Championships in January's Aramco Houston Half Marathon where he finished sixth in 1:03:10. Shay heads into the 25 km gaining momentum as he progresses through the 2007 season after making the U.S. team for the World Cross Country Championships and recently running a personal best of 28:03 for 10,000 meters at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational.

Though McGregor is making her first run at the 25 km distance, her USA Championships record makes her a clear favorite for the 25 km title. The two-time USA 10 km Champion (2005 and 2006) and the 2005 10,000 meter track champion, McGregor has a best in the distance of 31:21.20. She also has been a five-time qualifier for the World Cross Country Championships in the 8 km and made her debut in the marathon at the ING New York City Marathon last November, running 2:32:36.

Also contending for the women's title will be 2003 NCAA 10,000 meter champion Alicia Craig (Woodside, Calif.); Michelle Lilienthal (Philadelphia, Pa.), third-place at the 2007 USA Half Marathon Championships in Houston and fourth at the 2006 USA Marathon Championships last October at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon; and Jeanne Hennessy (Stanhope, N.J.), the 2002 25 km champion.

USA Running Circuit

The 2007 USA 25 km Championship is the fourth event in the 2007 edition of USA Track & Field's 2006 USA Running Circuit (USARC).

The USARC, a USA Track & Field road series, features USA Championships from 5 km to the marathon and attracts the best U.S. distance runners. The thirteenth edition for the men and twelfth for the women, the 2007 USARC has nine events for men and seven events for women.

The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USARC race (15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1), with a final $12,500 grand prix purse ($6000, $4000, and $2500) for the top three men and women point scorers overall. The USARC points at the USA Marathon Championships will be doubled.

The mission of the USA Running Circuit is to showcase, support, and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USARC and its races have provided over $4 million dollars to U.S. distance runners.

For more information on the 2007 USA Women's Marathon Championship and the 2007 USARC, visit www.usatf.org.
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