Athletics: Get in Gear 10K/2K Supports Team USA Minnesota

Get in Gear 10K/2K Supports Team USA Minnesota with Contribution Athletes Participate in Fit for Fun Activities

MINNEAPOLIS - (April 14, 2004) - The Get in Gear 10K/2K announced this week that it would contribute $1,000 to Team USA Minnesota to help the team's distance runners with travel expenses for competitions leading up to the U.S. Olympic Trials in July. In turn, Team USA Minnesota athletes are assisting Get in Gear with the Fit for Fun 2K training program which has trained over 35,000 children to run since 1988.

The 27th annual Get in Gear 10K will be held April 24, along with its companion 2K (1-1/4 mile) Fun Run. Both races start and end at Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. Known as the "Annual Rite of Spring," the Get in Gear 10K attracts over 5,000 runners and is Minnesota's largest 10K race.

The 2004 Fit for Fun program, coordinated by teacher Paul Vogel, is a seven-week training program designed to introduce children in grades 3-5 to the fun of recreational running and to the health benefits of aerobic fitness activities. There are 33 metropolitan-area grade schools participating this year. Team USA Minnesota athletes Katie McGregor and Johanna Olson have given talks and run with children at two schools with some of the largest sign-ups - Hastings Elementary and the Ramsey Fine Arts School.

Team USA Minnesota athletes will also help with the start and finish of the Get in Gear 2K where the Fit for Fun children will run. In 2003, over 2,400 children completed the seven week training program and more than 1,100 children participated in the 2K Fun Run.

"We are proud to help support Team USA Minnesota in its mission to provide training opportunities for promising distance runners," said Paulette Odenthal, executive director of the Get in Gear 10K and 2K. "We are also honored to have the opportunity to showcase Team USA athletes as role models to our youth that participate in our long-standing Fit for Fun program."

About Team USA Minnesota
Team USA Minnesota, part of the Team USA Distance Running program, is based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. It was formed in January 2001 and began selecting athletes in April of that year. The Team USA Minnesota Distance Training Center is a coordinated effort to bring local resources together to improve post-collegiate American distance running and to develop Olympians. The athletes are coached by Dennis Barker, head cross country and track coach at Augsburg College in Minneapolis.

The Minnesota training center's major sponsor is Life Time Fitness (www.lifetimefitness.com) and its silver sponsor is the Twin Cities Marathon. For more information about Team USA Minnesota, visit the web site at www.teamusaminnesota.org.

Contact: Pat Goodwin, (952) 924-1081; pfgoodwin@teamusaminnesota.org.