Posted: September 13, 2004

Athletics: Nippert, Riddle Shine at World Cup 100K

Nippert, Riddle Shine at World Cup 100K

From Dan Brannen, AUA

WINSCHOTEN, The Netherlands - (Sept. 11, 2004) - At World Cup 100K, run on a flat, 10K (6.2 mile) loop around this small city in the northeast part of the country, Americans Howard Nippert and Anne Riddle finally broke through after flirting around the edges of world-class success for the past six years.

Nippert of Blacksburg, Va. bettered his 100K personal best by some 18 minutes in recording a remarkably even-paced 6:43:09 to take 7th overall in this most competitive of kilometric century events. His distaff American counterpart achieved her personal best by 15 minutes, becoming the first American woman in 5 years to break 8 hours for the 62.1 mile distance. The Asheville, N.C. resident notched a 7:56:14 to finish 6th among women, almost evenly matching her two 50K splits.

In a race where the early pace is always furious, the attrition rate high and the average second half slowdown curve about 10-12%, the American pair's 2-3% late-race deceleration had them apparently coming out of nowhere to mow through hordes of the world's finest ultrarunners. Riddle's American National teammates Nikki Kimball of Livingston, Montana and Ann Heaslett of Madison, Wis. ran 8:27:22 and 8:36:08. Italy's Mario Ardemagni (6:18:24) and Russia's Tatiana Zhyrkova (7:10:32) were crowned the World Champions. For more details, check the American Ultrarunning Association website at: www.americanultra.org

World Cup 100K - Winschoten, The Netherlands, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2004

Men
1. Mario Ardemagni, Italy, 6:18:24
2. Jaroslaw Janicki, Poland, 6:26:21
3. Oleg Kharitonov, Russia, 6:32:56
4. Pascal Fetizon, France, 6:36:20
5. Piotr Sekowski, Poland, 6:37:20
6. Oleksander Holovnytskyy, Ukraine, 6:37:32
7. Howard Nippert, USA, 6:43:09
8. Stefano Sartori, Italy, 6:45:25
9. Yoshiaki Kobayash, Japan, 6:46:16
10. Jorge Aubeso, Spain, 6:52:22

Women
1. Tatiana Zhyrkova, Russia, 7:10:32
2. Marina Bychkova, Russia, 7:26:37
3. Monica Casiraghi, Italy, 7:29:20
4. Akiko Sekiya, Japan, 7:44:15
5. Kazuho Izutsu, Japan, 7:49:53
6. Anne Riddle, USA, 7:56:14
7. Paola Sanna, Italy, 7:58:52
8. Giovanna Cavali, Italy, 8:00:22
9. Birgit Schoenherr-Hoelscher, Germany, 8:00:42
10. Yoko Yamazawa, Japan, 8:03:37

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
www.runningusa.org.