10 March, 2006

CONTACTS: (Please do not publish these numbers. THE NUMBER FOR PUBLICATION IS THE RACE HOTLINE AT 301-320-3350):

Frank McNally
Media Coordinator
703-801-2566 (cell); 703 572-4040 (d); 540-338-5648 (e)

Phil Stewart
Event Director
301-320-6865 (d); 301-802-2194 (cell)

Women’s World Record Will Be Set at Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run®; Two Elite Japanese Men to Participate

WASHINGTON – A women’s world record for 10 miles will be established at the 34^th running of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run® on April 2^nd in West Potomac Park in Washington, DC. According to Event Director Phil Stewart, the record is a certainty because the event will utilize a 10-minute head start for the elite women, which qualifies the event as an “all-women’s” ten-mile race on a standard race course. There currently is no women’s world record for this category of race course. “There are an increasing number of events, including the Boston and New York City Marathons, that are using this format because it allows the women to run unencumbered by the male competitors in the race. It is the purest form of head-to-head competition for women and we are benefiting because we are the first 10-mile run to use the format. It also will allow us to showcase our women on the WJLA Channel 7 Broadcast set for 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 8.”

Two elite women athletes have signed up already – 2002 champion Luminita Talpos of Romania, and bright new U.S. star Lucinda Hull, one of the Road Runner’s Club of America’s 2005 Roads Scholar grant recipients.

On the men’s side, Gilbert Okari will be making his first appearance at the race. Okari compiled an impressive string of wins in 2005 including the Falmouth Road Race 7 mile, Boilermaker 15k, Beach to Beacon 10k, Peachtree Road Race 10k, and Quad City Times Bix 7 Miler. He finished the year as the 2^nd ranked road runner in the U.S. according to Running Times magazine.

Two talented male runners from Japan who finished 2-3 in February’s Himeji Castle 10 Mile that serves as a “sister” race in Japan will be competing as well.  Michitaka Hosokawa finished second at Himeji and has a marathon best time of 2:09:10, and Kazuo Ietani, who finished 3^rd at Himeji and 11^th here last year after setting a bold pace in the early miles.

Event Director Stewart expects to announce other talented additions to the elite athlete field that will be chasing after a record amount of $31,500 in prize money in the Metropolitan area’s only world class running event. The men’s and women’s winners will earn $6,000.

The organizers expect the total of charity donations made by the sponsoring Credit Unions and the race participants to the Children’s Miracle Network to surpass the $1.5 million mark this year. The funds raised by Credit Unions in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area go to the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. Funds raised from outside the Metropolitan area go to CMN affiliates in home states of the participating Credit Unions.

Entries to the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run® closed out in December. With a record number of 10,000 participants expected, the organizers, with the support of the Credit Unions, have arranged to have Metro begin its Sunday operations an hour early -- at 6 a.m., on Sunday morning, April 2nd. Shuttle buses will provide round-trip service between the Metro Center stop to the race site.

The course starts and finishes in West Potomac Park and includes stretches of Independence Ave., Memorial Bridge and an out-and-back stretch on Rock Creek Parkway. In addition to the 10-mile, there will be a 5k Run Walk (also closed) and a 1k Kids Run. Spectators are invited to see all the action starting with the elite women’s start at 7:50 a.m. and the mass start at 8:00 a.m.

The event is part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival and the Professional Road Running Organization Circuit.