Elite Field Announced for Salt Lake City Marathon
International Field to Set Inaugural Course Records

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Posted Thursday, 22 April, 2004

SALT LAKE CITY - (April 20, 2004) - An international elite field of talented world class runners from around the globe will be vying for over $100,000 in prize money with $25,000 to the champions and to set the course records for the inaugural Salt Lake City Marathon, Run, Bump & Boogie on Saturday, April 24.

Heading the men's field with what promises to make up a very healthy competition is John Kariuki from Kenya. Having finished 1st in the Detroit Marathon in 2002 with a time of 2:19:04, Kariuki's personal record for a marathon is 2:12:51 at the 2002 Suzuki Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Diego. Fellow Kenyans challenging him for the win will be Michael Mislay who took 1st place in the 2003 Hartford Marathon. Mislay boasts a best of 2:14:25, and Gabriel Muchiri who finished fourth in 2:14:53 at the 2003 Twin Cities Marathon. David Rotich, also from Kenya, is strong in the running for a course record with a 2003 Ruhr Int'l Marathon from Germany of 2:17:00. Mike Korir will be running with a best of 2:18:43 and Kenyan Christopher Koech is in the running with a personal record of 2:26:44 from the 2004 HP Houston Marathon.

Also in the running for the prize money is Ethiopian Kassahun Kabiso with a PR of 2:15:38. Juan Carlos Gutierrez from Columbia, with a 2003 half-marathon time of 1:02:53 from Bogotá will be challenged by Mindaugas Pukstas of Lithuania, who took 3rd place in his marathon debut in Austin in 2004 with a 2:14:59. Also competing for course records will be Aleysey Khokhlov who took first overall in Copenhagen in 2003 with a 2:18:00. Retta Feyissa from Ethiopia with a record of 2:23:53 will be running alongside Hector Lopez who took 4th place overall in the 2003 Big Sur Marathon with a time of 2:27:00.

Also competing this inaugural year is Russian Sasha Pachev, the 2003 Top of Utah winner, whose best time is 2:24:47 at St. George. William Kemey of Kenya runs his debut marathon with a half-marathon best of 1:04. Local elite runner Kevin Herd will be searching for a top place after winning his debut marathon, the 2004 Las Vegas Marathon in 2:28:13. Ogden runner Joe Wilson who owns a time of 2:21:31 from the 2003 Austin Motorola Marathon is expected to be in direct competition with Farmington runner Corbin Talley, with a personal record of 2:21:33, having finished third in the St. George Marathon.

Heading up the master men's division will be Russian Gennady Temnikov with a 2:20:23 from the 2002 Boston Marathon, third master. Also in the masters field are Bernie Boettcher from Silt, Colorado, with a personal best of 2:34:36 at the 2002 Tucson Marathon and Chris Clark who was first master at the 2003 Napa Valley Marathon with a time of 2:37:58.

Look for strong performances from the women's field. Heading an international field will be Rose Chichi from Kenya with a time of 1:13:29 from the 2003 Kenya Half-Marathon running against Rimma Dubovik from Russia. Dubovik clocked a 2:26:50 to win the 2003 Eurasia Intercontinental Marathon in Turkey. She also took first place in the 2002 Eurasia race.

Fellow Russian Lioudmila Kortchaguina, the 2003 Pittsburgh Marathon champion (2:29:53), should also be a contender. She recently won the 2003 Dallas White Rock Marathon and came in sixth in the 2004 Los Angeles Marathon. Aurica Buia from Romania ran 2:34:15 in the 2003 Los Angeles Marathon and boasts a personal record of 2:31:39 from Vienna. Look for Maria Portilla from Peru to be hot on her heels. With her best time of 2:35:30, Portilla finished right behind Buia at the 2003 Los Angeles Marathon. Canadian born veteran runner Stephanie Hodge will be running in this pack to beat her personal record of 2:55:23 from the 2002 St. George Marathon.

U.S. women are closely matched in times with the international field. Paula Morrison of Tucson, Arizona took third place in the 2002 St. George Marathon with her personal record of 2:44:50. She was a U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier this year.

Provo, Utah runner Maggie Chan-Roper boasts a personal record of 2:37:52 from the 2002 Richmond Marathon and will be challenged by Michelle Simonaitis. A Draper resident, Simonaitis won the St. George Marathon in 2003 and boasts a record of 2:40:34, run at the 2002 USA Marathon Championship. She is also the winner of the 2002 Top of Utah Marathon and is a three-time Olympic Trials qualifier. Norway-born Ingunn Earl, one of Utah's newest elite distance runners, took first place in the Ogden Relay in 2003 with her personal best of 2:50:02. Becky Sontag from Casper, Wyoming who won the 2002 Houston Marathon is also in this field. Also at the start line will be Julie Thomas of Holladay who has taken 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th in
the Deseret News Marathon, achieving her personal record of 2:52:00 in 2003. Right on her heels will be Lisa Mangum a local mother of five children, who ran the 2002 St. George Marathon in her personal best of 2:55:23.

Elite masters women division runners include Irina Bogacheva from Kyrgyzstan. Bogacheva - who will also be a contender in the Open race - boasts a personal record of 2:26:27 and won the 2003 Country Music Marathon in 2:28:06. An Olympian for Kyrgyzstan, she has already been selected for the 2004 Athens Games. In one of her biggest performances, she finished 2nd at the Boston Marathon in 2000. Competing with Bogacheva in the masters class is Luzma Caballero and Brenda Graham Gray.

Slated for the inaugural running on April 24, the Salt Lake City Marathon & 5K, themed "Run, Bump & Boogie," is destined to be the most spectacular new Marathon & 5K. The Salt Lake City Marathon & 5K is certified and sanctioned by USATF, and is a qualifier for the Boston Marathon. The Huntsman Cancer Institute, the premiere cancer research and care facility in the Intermountain West is the charity organizers have selected to partner with.

For race information, contact Scott Kerr, Race Director at (801) 412-6060. The presenting sponsor of the Salt Lake City Marathon & 5K is Ken Garff Automotive Group.

Related info:
Running USA

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