Women's Team USA Set for BolderBOULDER International Team Challenge
Kastor, De Reuck, Rhines - 2002 Team Champions - Reunited

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Posted Sunday, 1 May, 2005

BOULDER, Colo. - (April 30, 2005) - The 2005 BolderBOULDER Women's Team USA has been assembled for the 8th International Team Challenge as part of the 27th BolderBOULDER on Memorial Day, May 30. The U.S. women are set to race against top teams from Mexico (defending team champion), Romania, Japan and Russia. All three of the women on Team USA are Olympians, all three were on the silver medal-winning U.S. 8K world cross country team in 2002 and all three were members of the first Team USA to win the Challenge (2002):

Deena Kastor, 32, of Mammoth Lakes, CA, is a three-time women's BolderBOULDER champion (2001-2003). Kastor, the 2004 Olympic Marathon bronze medalist, recently ran a pending U.S. 8K record of 24:36 at the LaSalle Bank Shamrock Shuffle, as well as winning the USA Women's 8K title at the NYRR 8000. In 2003, Deena won her second consecutive Silver medal at World Cross Country Championships and set U.S. marathon record (2:21:16) at London and U.S. 15K record (47:15) at Gate River Run (#2 all-time road performance). In 2002, the 2000 Olympian set world 5K road record (14:54) at Carlsbad 5000, U.S. 10,000 meter record (30:50.32) at Stanford and U.S. 15K record (48:12) at Gate River. The Team Running USA athlete is an 18-time national champion (cross country, roads and track) and a four-time U.S. 10,000m champion (2000-01; 2003-04). Deena, sponsored by ASICS, is coached by Joe Vigil and married to Andrew Kastor.

Colleen De Reuck, 41, of Boulder, CO has raced BolderBOULDER twelve times with three second-place finishes ('96/'98/'02). Colleen won her second consecutive USA 8K Cross Country Championship last February and in 2004, won the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Women's Marathon and the USA 15K title. The three-time Olympian for South Africa and U.S. citizen since December 2000 earned the Bronze medal at the 2002 World XC Championships and is a three-time USARC Grand Prix champion (2002-04). In 2002, she won USA 7 Mile and 20K titles and set U.S. 12K road record (38:53) at Lilac Bloomsday. The 2001 USA 8K champion set the world record for 10 miles (51:16) in 1998. Colleen is sponsored by Nike and is coached by her husband, Darren De Reuck.

Jen Rhines, 30, of Ardmore, PA, is making her second appearance at BolderBOULDER. In 2002, she finished fourth overall to help Team USA win the BolderBOULDER Team Challenge. A 2004 Olympic Marathon teammate of Kastor and De Reuck, the Team Running USA athlete recently won the USA 15K title in Jacksonville, Fla. In only her third marathon, Rhines finished third at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Women's Marathon Trials in 2:29:57, a personal record by 11 minutes, 19 seconds. A five-time NCAA champion at Villanova, Rhines came into her own on the elite track scene when she placed second in the 10,000 meters at the 2000 Olympic Trials, using an impressive kick to make the Olympic Team. She repeated that runner-up finish at the 2001 GMC Envoy USA Outdoor Championships; then, in 2002, won her first USA 10,000m title. Rhines, sponsored by adidas, is married to Terrence Mahon.

BolderBOULDER officials anticipate strong performances again as the best road runners in the world compete over a criterium course at the International Team Challenge.

Professional Athlete Coordinator Rich Castro spoke about this year's women's Team USA, "The USA will have its work cut out for it with the return of Ethiopia and Kenya, plus defending team champion Mexico. Romania, Japan and Russia all have the potential to upset the field and capture their first team titles."

CBS TV Commentator and 1981/83 BolderBOULDER champion Ellen Hart is also looking forward to seeing these women race, "It is wonderful to have these three women back at BolderBOULDER again this year. The team format suits these three runners perfectly. They were teammates at the 2002 BolderBOULDER and at the 2004 Olympic Marathon. It is obvious when you watch them race that they are able to draw strength from each other as teammates. We are truly honored to have them back, I feel like they are our hometown team."

The International Team Challenge, started in 1998, is the largest international road racing team competition held annually in the United States. International teams are made up of three runners per gender. The teams compete for the largest non-marathon prize purse in the world. Monies are awarded in the team and individual categories. Teams are scored cross-country style with points awarded on the basis of finishing place. The team with the lowest score for all three runners is the winner. Ties are broken by the position of the third-place finishers.

About BolderBOULDER
The Celestial Seasonings BolderBOULDER 10K, a Running USA Founding Member, is one of the largest road races in the world and the largest timed 10K in the world. The race attracts up to 50,000 runners, walkers, and wheelchair racers, and draws professional racing teams from all over the world to compete for the largest non-marathon prize purse in road racing. The race starts at the north end of 30th Street in Boulder near the First National Bank of Colorado, winds through neighborhoods with live music and entertainment at every corner, and finishes in the University of Colorado's Folsom Field. More than 100,000 spectators watch the festivities from inside the stadium and along the course. Every year, the race makes donations to local charities that provide volunteers to help stage the race. Over the years, beneficiaries have included the Boulder Humane Society, Attention Homes, Younglife, Boulder Optimists, local schools, and church youth groups.

The BolderBOULDER is proud to be partnered with the following primary sponsors: Celestial Seasonings, Frontier Airlines and Millennium Hotel. The 27th BolderBOULDER will be held on Memorial Day, May 30, 2005.

Visit the race website at: BolderBoulder.com

Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Services Director
385 Oak View Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93111
(805) 696-6232, fax (805) 967-5958
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.runningusa.org

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