Steve Peterson and Rebecca Johnson earned AUA National 24 Hour
crowns under near ideal conditions for the championship race in San
Diego this past weekend, except for a downpour of about one inch
during the 23rd hour, according to John Metz, the Race Director.
Peterson, a Boulder, Colo. resident, took the lead around 50 miles
and never surrendered it to cover 143.79 miles. A very close race,
however, occurred for 2nd as Danny Ripka edged out World 24 Hour
Team members John Geesler and Roy Pirrung. Geesler and Pirrung were
coming off strong World 24 Hour performances only two weeks ago at
the World Cup in Brno, The Czech Republic.
The women's champion Johnson of Lafayette, Colo. ran an amazing
debut at 24 hours, by turning in a remarkable 130.11 miles, besting
Brenda Klein by close to 7 miles. Janet Runyan a close friend of
Johnson's would take the bronze medal.
Interesting to note, that since the American Ultrarunning
Association raised its Masters minimum age to 45, the average age of
the top six U.S. men was just shy of 49 years of age. This clearly
justifies the raising of the masters age group for ultrarunning,
says Kevin Setnes, President of the American Ultrarunning
Association.
San Diego 1 Day: AUA National Championship
San Diego, CA, Sat-Sun, Nov 6-7, 2004
MEN
1. Steve Peterson, 42, CO, 143.79 miles
2. Danny Ripka, 47, MN, 136.79 miles
3. John Geesler, 45, NY, 135.43 miles
4. Roy Pirrung, 56, WI, 135.00 miles
5. Leon Rothstein, 47, ID, 116.69 miles
WOMEN
1. Rebecca Johnson, 35, CO, 130.11 miles
2. Brenda Klein, 36, NM, 123.84 miles
3. Akos Konya, 30, Hungary, 118.9 miles
4. Janet Runyan, 41, CO, 115.39 miles (3rd U.S. Women)
5. Anne Langstaff, 42, CA, 110.49 miles
Full results are at:
www.runraceresults.com/rclp2004
# # #
Special thanks to
Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Services Director.
385 Oak View Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93111
(805) 696-6232, fax (805) 967-5958
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
http://www.runningusa.org
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