FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Defending Champ McGregor, Record Holder Abdirahman Return To USA 10 Mile
$10,000 Equalizer Bonus Pits Women Versus Men at Medtronic TC 10 Mile
St. Paul, MN (September 27, 2011) – Before 12,000 marathoners stride from
Minneapolis to St. Paul on Sunday morning in the 30th Annual Medtronic Twin
Cities Marathon, many of the United States' top distance runners will race
for the USA 10 Mile Championship and its $12,000 winners' prize at the
Medtronic TC 10 Mile.
In addition, thanks to a handicapped format that will see the women start
ahead of the men, the first USA Champion to cross the finish-line – woman
or man – will earn an additional $10,000 in an exciting new feature for the
13th annual race.
In the women's field, six-time Medtronic TC 10 Mile women's champion Katie
McGregor of St. Louis Park returns to defend her USA 10 Mile title against
a strong field of American challengers. McGregor has only lost once on
her home course – in the 2008 USA 10 Mile to Duluth native Kara Goucher.
One of the most decorated long distance runners in Minnesota history,
McGregor has won seven USA titles in her distinguished running career.
McGregor can expect challenges from 2003 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon
champion Blake Russell of Pacific Grove, Calif., a 2008 Olympian in the
marathon, USA 20K champion Janet Cherobon-Bawcom of Rome, Ga., and 2011 USA
25K champ Molly Pritz of Rochester, Mich. Serena Burla of Falls Church,
Va., who has been the runner-up in the last two USA Half Marathon
Championships and Stephanie Rothstein of Flagstaff, Ariz., a 2:29
marathoner, are also expected to contend along with McGregor's Team USA
Minnesota teammates Emily Brown of Minnetonka, the 2009 USA Cross Country
champion, and Meghan Peyton of Richfield, who finished 4th in the USA 10
Mile last year.
Among the men, two-time Medtronic TC 10 Mile champion Abdi Abdirahman of
Tucson, Ariz., the men's course record holder, returns hoping to add a
third Medtronic TC 10 Mile and fifth USA 10 Mile title to his remarkable
resume. A three-time Olympian at 10,000-meters on the track, the
Somali-born American has twice topped a local favorite at the Medtronic TC
10 Mile. In 2007 he outran Team USA Minnesota's Jason Lehmkuhle for the
crown. In 2009 he narrowly beat Team USA Minnesota's Josh Moen in his
record-breaking win.
Those expected to challenge Abdirahman this year include Mohamed Trafeh of
Duarte, Calif, the 2011 USA Half Marathon and USA 15K champion, 2008
Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon champion Fernando Cabada of Boulder, Colo.,
the 2011 USA 25K champ, Ben True of Hanover, N.H., the 2011 USA 5K
champion, and 2010 USA 25K runner-up Brett Gotcher of Flagstaff, Ariz.
Team USA Minnesota's Moen of Minneapolis returns to challenge Abdirahman
again, as does teammate Matt Gabrielson of Minneapolis, the 6th-place
finisher at the this year's Grandma' Marathon.
The Medtronic TC 10 Mile, dubbed "The Shortcut to the Capitol," begins near
the HHH Metrodome and the marathon start in Minneapolis. From there runners
descend down to the river before climbing to join the last seven miles of
the marathon course and finishing on the State Capitol grounds in St. Paul.
About Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Weekend The Most Beautiful Urban
Marathon in America® celebrates its 30th running in 2011. Held the first
weekend in October, the three-day weekend celebration of fitness begins on
Friday, September 30 with the Health & Fitness Expo. Saturday includes the
TC 10K, TC 5K Run/Walk, Medtronic TC Family Events and a pasta dinner.
Sunday features the weekend's premiere races, the Medtronic Twin Cities
Marathon and the Medtronic TC 10 Mile. Medtronic is the title sponsor of
marathon race weekend events.
About Twin Cities In Motion Twin Cities In Motion, (formerly Twin Cities
Marathon, Inc.) is the non-profit organization that organizes over a dozen
running events throughout the year, including the Medtronic Twin Cities
Marathon, as a community service for the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Visit
tcmevents.org for more information.
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