FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: David Monti, Media Consultant
dmonti@dellepro.com
+1 212-752-2666
Larry Grollman, Race Director
marathon@msx.upmc.edu
+1 412-647-7866
JULIAN READY TO RUN HIS BEST MARATHON ON SUNDAY
Cancer Survivor to Vie for Title at
UPMC Health System/City of Pittsburgh Marathon
PITTSBURGH (May 3) -- Having overcome two bouts of stomach cancer and
rebuilding his running career to the elite level he once took for granted,
marathoner Pete Julian declared himself ready to take on Sunday's UPMC
Health System/City of Pittsburgh Marathon.
"I'm fit and ready to roll" said the 30 year-old athlete from Atherton
Calif. who won a bronze medal at the 1999 Pan Am Games in the 10,000m.
It was shortly after winning that medal that Julian decided to have a
doctor investigate the stabbing pain in his side which wouldn't go away.
An ultrasound revealed a tumor on his stomach, and the diagnosis was
cancer. Two weeks later he went to the IAAF World Championships in
Athletics in Seville, and competed anyway, and then got married two weeks
after that. He was operated on a week later.
Unfortunately, the cancer returned more than a year later, and Julian
underwent a second more invasive surgery. He couldn't walk let alone run.
"I had a goal to run, or to just jog," he remembered. "It was, like, walk
20 minutes jog five minutes. I was able to hit that goal."
Last fall Julian was fit enough to take on the marathon again, running a
modest 2:15:54 at Chicago. Although he wasn't up near the leaders of the
race, he was satisfied with that effort and he didn't let his 28:05.42
10,000m speed --which would indicate marathon potential sub-2:11-- bloat
his expectations.
"It's an entirely different monster," he said of the marathon, quickly
pointing out the weak connection between accomplishments on the track and
in the marathon. "It doesn't help you at mile 22."
Julian will face an international field on Sunday, led by 1996 Beijing
Marathon Champion, Nelson Ndereva of Kenya, who will be chased by
compatriots Andrew Musuva, Gilbert Rutto, Eliud Kering, Kefah Keraro,
Reuben Chesang and John Mwai. Joe LeMay of Danbury, Conn. and Abderazzak
Haki of Morocco round out the men's elite field.
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