Kastor, Hall Lead U.S. Team at BolderBOULDER International Team Challenge
Posted Tuesday, 13 May, 2008
BOULDER, Colo. - (May 11, 2008) - At the 30th DICK'S Sporting Goods BolderBOULDER on Monday, May 26, U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials champions Ryan Hall and Deena Kastor will lead the men's and women's American teams in the International Team Challenge. Over the last six Challenges, the U.S. women have had good success with four team titles (2002, '03, '05 and '06) to their credit, while the U.S. men won their first and only team title in 2004.
Kastor of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., the 2004 Olympic Marathon bronze medalist, has won the BolderBOULDER three times in her four attempts between 1999 and 2003. Other career highlights for the three-time Olympian include a World Record at 5K on the roads and marathon victories at the recent Olympic Trials in Boston, Chicago (2005) and London (2006) as well as two World Cross Country Championship silver medals (2002-03) and 25 national titles. In addition, Kastor, 35, has set 17 U.S. records including the marathon (2:19:36), the first American woman under 2:20.
Hall, who trains with Kastor and Team Running USA at altitude in Mammoth Lakes, will be making his BolderBOULDER debut. Although just 25-years-old, his running resume already lists three U.S. Records (including 59:43 for the half-marathon) and four national titles (including his stirring marathon trials win in Central Park last November). At the recent Flora London Marathon, the 2005 NCAA 5000 meter champion finished 5th overall in 2:06:17, the third fastest all-time U.S. performance for the 26.2 mile distance.
2008 also marks a return to the traditional BolderBOULDER point-to-point 10K course for the International Team Challenge. Since 1998, the event has been contested on a criterium-style course from Folsom Field. This change is expected to produce faster times and increase the competition of the Challenge. Overlapping start times will allow spectators to watch the finish of the men's and women's team races within 20 minutes of the end of the Memorial Day Celebration.
The complete Team USA roster, along with the rest of the international professional teams, will be announced later in May. The International Team Challenge again will offer more than $100,000 in individual and team prize money - one of the largest guaranteed non-marathon race purses.
About BolderBOULDER
The DICK'S Sporting Goods BolderBOULDER 10K, a Running USA Founding Member, is the 2nd largest running race in the USA and the 5th largest in the world. The race attracts over 50,000 runners, walkers, and wheelchair racers, and draws professional racing teams from all over the world to compete for one of the largest non-marathon prize purse in road racing. The race starts at the north end of 30th Street in Boulder near First National Bank, winds through neighborhoods with live music and entertainment at every corner, and finishes in the University of Colorado's Folsom Field. More than 150,000 spectators watch the festivities from inside the stadium and along the course. FSN Rocky Mountain will televise the Memorial Day tradition in a two-hour feature program airing after the event. The 30th BolderBOULDER will be held on Memorial Day, May 26, 2008. For more information, visit: www.BolderBOULDER.com
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