VERACRUZ, Mexico - (November 12, 2000) - Paula Radcliffe and Paul Tergat got a bit of Olympic redemption by winning the 9th annual IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships, while the U.S. women, led by a surprising 10th-place finish by Milena Glusac in a personal record 1:13:53, finished fifth.

Clint Verran was the top U.S. man in 17th (1:05:56), giving the U.S. its best individual finishes ever and prompting Shaun Creighton, Australian 10,000 meter record holder, to say, "Those are excellent finishes in tough conditions against deep fields."

Added IAAF official Giorgio Reineri of the IAAF, "This was a very promising performance by these new U.S. runners against this kind of field. This is a good start. I hope to see them back next year."

The opposition, however, won't be eager to see the Kenyan men for a while. A dominating 1-4-5 (6) finish gave Kenya the team title, while Romania's 3-6-7 placing was good enough to hold off Japan in the women's team race. Kristin Beaney (23rd, 1:16:20) and Shelly Steely (35th, 1:18:50) rounded out the U.S. women's scoring. The USA team tied for its best place, 5th with the 1992 women's team.

The U.S. men finished 13th, with Teddy Mitchell (56th, 1:09:48) and Todd Reeser (57th, 1:09:52) joining Verran in the scoring.

The criterium-style races were held on a flat, three-lap course that hugged the seawall in downtown Veracruz, a historic port on the Gulf of Mexico. The championships were held later in the year than usual because of the Olympics, but the weather was still "muchisimo calor", especially in the men's race. A dozen men dropped out, left gasping for water on the side of the road like yesterday's catch of codfish.

Radcliffe, still stinging from her Olympic disappointment in which she placed fourth in the 10,000 meters after leading much of the way, got a measure of satisfaction by easily pulling away in the final 5K from Olympic marathon silver medalist Lidia Simon and Kenyan Susan Chepkemei, third in the 2000 World Cross Country Championships. After running side-by-side with those two and Japan's Mizuki Noguchi (silver medalist in this race last year) on the first two laps (through splits of 16:31 and 33:14), Radcliffe surged at the start of the third lap and ran in alone to pick up her first senior title ever (1:09:07).

"That makes this a very special win for me," said Radcliffe, the world junior cross country champion in 1992. Since then, she has taken several seconds, thirds and fourths in major championships, but never a first, until Sunday.

"There is no half-marathon in the Olympics, so this is as close to it as you can get," she said. "I could not even hear my splits because it was so noisy (from the cheering) out there. Because of the heat and humidity, I knew I wanted to wait until the last lap."

So did Tergat, who put in another of his workman-like performances. The smooth striding Kenyan stayed near the back of a lead pack of 22 runners which passed 5K in 14:48 and 10K in 30:09. On the last lap it become a Rift Valley championship race among four Kenyans, two Tanzanians and defending bronze medalist Tesfaye Jiffar of Ethiopia. Just past the Ruiz Cortinez (a former Mexican president) monument, Jiffar stepped on Tergat's heel, prompting an angry scowl from the Olympic 10,000 meter silver medalist. The contact seemed to energize Tergat, who soon after began pressing the pace before sprinting in down Avenue Francisco Hernandez y Hernandez in front a large crowd to get the gold medal and to successfully defend his title in 1:03:47.

"I am so happy to win," said Tergat who like Radcliffe earned $40,000. "You see, in a championship race like this the time is not important. The position is. There were eight of us fighting over the last stage of the course, and it was my plan to push the last 2K."

Tergat said afterwards that the Olympic 10,000 was his last track race ever. The five-time World Cross Country champion also said that he will run that championship for the final time in March, and then, "I will make my debut in the marathon in 2001--but I cannot tell you where."

Just as happy as Tergat with his finishing position was Verran, a 25-year-old from Rochester Hills, Mich. "Seventeenth in the world!" he exclaimed afterwards while being hugged by his parents, who traveled from Michigan to watch the race.

"What a wonderful feeling. My training the past 12 weeks has been as perfect as my training could be. A lot of it today had to do with running smart." That training included 140-mile weeks under the coaching of Kevin Hanson, some of it while wearing a rubber suit to acclimate to the heat. And running smart meant going out at 5-minute mile pace, then picking off struggling runners on the last lap. "One year ago I could never imagine running in an international race against guys like Tergat," said Verran. "My training has improved 100 percent, because I have the best sponsorship set-up in the nation."

That set-up includes free housing, equipment, travel and health benefits from Hansons Running Shop and now, the Hansons group is part of Team USA Distance Running, a program designed to develop, support and develop U.S. runners.

Perhaps the most emotional runner in the field was Glusac, who through tears told how she had dedicated the race to her coach, Bill Dellinger, who is recovering from a stroke. "I felt great today," said Glusac who like Verran was running her first international race ever. "I ran with a lot of confidence."

Confidence was needed when Glusac passed 10K in 34:02, not far off from her personal best. The University of Oregon grad missed several years of racing because of stress fractures and chronic fatigue syndrome. Now healthy for the first time in years, Glusac, 25, from Fallbrook Calif. was not satisfied with being competitive with some of the best in the world in Veracruz. "Yes, I do believe I can run with them in the future," she said. "I know it will take a lot of hard work and patience, but I am confident I can do it."

9th IAAF Half-Marathon Championships
Veracruz, Mexico, November 12, 2000

MEN
1. Paul Tegat, Kenya, 1:03:47
2. Phaustin Baha Sulle, Tanzania, 1:03:48
3. Tesfaye Jifar, Ethiopia, 1:03:50
4. Joseph Kimani, Kenya, 1:03:52
5. David Ruto, Kenya, 1:03:59
6. John Gwako, Kenya, 1:04:16
7. Zebedayo Bayo, Tanzania, 1:04:25
8. Oscar Fernandez, Spain, 1:04:25
9. Marco Mazza, Italy, 1:04:26
10. Noureddine Betim, Algeria, 1:04:40

U.S. runners - 17. Clint Verran, 1:05:56; 56: Teddy Mitchell, 1:09:48; 57.
Todd Reeser, 1:09:52; 72. Jeff Campbell, 1:12:06; Jerry Lawson, DNF

Team Standings - 1. Kenya, 3:11:38, 2. Ethiopia, 3:14:45; 3. Belgium,
3:18:35; 4. Japan, 3:18:44; 5. Italy, 3:19:21; 6. Spain, 3:20:12; 7. South
Africa, 3:20:28; 8. Mexico, 3:21:12; 9. Morocco, 3:21:25; 10. Algeria,
3:21:43, 11. Australia, 3:23:54; 12. Colombia, 3:24:09; 13. United States,
3:25:36

WOMEN
1. Paula Radcliffe, GBR, 1:09:07
2. Susan Chepkemei, Kenya, 1:09:40
3. Lidia Simon, Romania, 1:10:24
4. Mizuki Noguchi, Japan, 1:11:11
5. Pamela Chepchumba, Kenya, 1:11:33
6. Mihaela Botezan, Romania, 1:11:52
7. Cristina Pomacu, Romania, 1:12:06
8. Yukiko Okamoto, Japan, 1:12:20
9. Yasuka Hashimoto, Japan, 1:12:54
10. Milena Glusac, USA, 1:13:53

Other U.S. runners:
23. Kristin Beaney, 1:16:20; 35. Shelly Steely, 1:18:50; 42. Kelly Keeler,
1:21:51; DNF, Kelly Cordell

Team Standings - 1. Romania, 3:34:22; 2. Japan, 3:36:25; 3. Russia,
3:45:41; 4. Ethiopia, 3:48:20; 5. United States, 3:49:03, 6. Great Britain
and Northern Ireland, 3:49:55; 7. South Africa, 3:55:26; 8. Mexico,
3:36:55, 9. Guatemala, 4:33:36; 10. Croatia, 4:41:29

For complete results and more, go to: http://www.iaaf.org

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Special thanks to 
Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Coordinator for providing us this press release.
USATF Road Running Information Center
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