Seaman, Vaill win national race walk titles

For Immediate Release
Monday, October 5, 2009

Contact:
Tom Surber
USA Track & Field
Media Information Manager
317-713-4690; Tom.Surber@usatf.org


News & Notes, Volume 9, Number 52



Seaman, Vaill win national race walk titles

Two-time Olympian Tim Seaman and 2004 Olympian Teresa Vaill were the respective men's and women's winners Saturday at the 2009 USA 5 km Race Walk Championships in Kingsport, Tenn.

Seaman (Imperial Beach, Calif.), who won his 11th consecutive USA Indoor 5,000m race earlier this year in Boston, had little difficulty in crossing the finish line first Saturday in 21 minutes 35 seconds. Seaman now owns 37 national race walk titles at a variety of distances indoors, outdoors and on the roads. Earlier this year, he won his sixth 20 km national title at the 2009 USA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore.

Dave McGovern (Locust Valley, N.Y.) was the runner-up in 23:57, with Chris Schmid (Wooster, Ohio) finishing third in 25:3, with Omar Nash (Cincinnati, Ohio) placing fourth in 25:31.

Earlier this year, Teresa Vaill (Gainesville, Fla.) won her fourth-career USA 20 km title, and on Saturday she won the women's 5 km national crown by finishing first in 23 minutes 19 seconds. Other top finishers included Bobbi Chapman of Charleston, W.V. (2nd-24:52), Susan Randall of Beaver Creek, Ohio (3rd-26:11) and Maryanne Daniel of Clinton, Conn. (4th-27:08).

For more information on the 2009 USA 5 km Race Walk Championships in Kingsport, Tenn., visit: www.usatf.org.

Keflezighi sets U.S. 20 km record at Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon

On his way to winning the 2009 Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Sunday in San Jose, Calif., 2004 Olympic marathon silver medalist Meb Keflezighi set a pending American 20 km road record.

Keflezighi, who improved his personal best by 25 seconds in winning the half marathon in 1:01:00, hit the 20 km mark in 57:52, which bettered Ryan Hall's previous American record of 57:54 set in 2006.

"The other runners looked like they were struggling with the 4:30 pace early on, so I decided to leave the pack and go on my own," said Keflezighi, who pulled away from the pack just after mile 3. "It was a great atmosphere out there today; I just wanted to maintain a solid pace through 10 miles and then see what I had left. I ran a personal best by 25 seconds and I'm 34, so I am very excited with my performance."

Keflezighi's half-marathon performance ranks him number three all-time on the American list for a record standard course. He sits behind only Mark Curp's 1:00:55 from 1985, and Ryan Hall's American record 59:43 from 2007.

The women's race was won by Belainesh Gebre of Ethiopia who crossed the line in 1:11:24. Bay Area resident Magdalena Lewy-Boulet, who made her Olympic debut for the U.S. in Beijing, finished a close second with a new personal best of 1:11:46. Her previous half-marathon best of 1:11:47 was set in 2008.

Runners from 44 states and 11 countries participated in the race, including a group of California's fastest runners, who competed in the event's first California Cup. For more information on the 2009 Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Jose, Calif., visit: http://san-jose.competitor.com/



About USA Track & Field

USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States.

For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org