Posted: October 4, 2004

Athletics: Mexico Defends North American Marathon Relay Title at Akron

Gordeyev, Orleva Individual Race Champions

AKRON, Ohio - (Oct. 2, 2004) - Mexico defended its North American Men's Marathon Relay Championship edging Team USA at the second Road Runner Akron Marathon and Team Relays.

Olympian Alejandro Suarez, Team Mexico's anchor leg, crossed the finish line in 2:06:02, four seconds ahead of Ryan Shay, Team USA's anchor. The victory earned Team Mexico $25,000 in prize money. Team Canada finished third with a time of 2:11:59.

Andrey Gordeyev, Belarus, won the men's race with a time of 2:22:20 and Elena Orleva, Russia, won the women's title in 2:40:20; both took home $4000. Orleva set a new women's course record and improved her previous personal record time by 2 minutes, 9 seconds.

A race record 3,272 runners participated in the Road Runner Akron Marathon and Team Relays, besting last year's race by almost 200 runners. 863 were individual marathon runners and 2,409 were team relay runners. Team relays ran a full marathon distance race (42.2K/26.2 miles) divided into five legs (10K, 5K, 10K, 5K and 12.2K).

Fleet Feet Racing from Louisville, Ky., won the USA Track & Field National Club Men's Relay Championship with a time of 2:15:24, while adidas Raleigh Track Club of Cary, N.C. won the USATF National Club Women's Relay Championship with a time of 2:34:17. Each winning team earned $4000.

Another big winner at the Road Runner Akron Marathon was Doug Haring of Cuyahoga Falls who won the raffle for a brand new Toyota Camry.

The second Road Runner Akron Marathon and Team Relays started at the National Inventors Hall of Fame and concluded in Olympic fashion inside the Canal Park Stadium in downtown Akron. The race day temperature was in the low 60s with clouds and occasional light rain.

2nd Road Runner Akron Marathon: North American Relay Championship - Akron, OH, Saturday, Oct 2, 2004

1) Mexico, 2:06:02, $25,000
2) Team USA, 2:06:06, $10,000
3) Canada, 2:11:59, $5,000

For complete race results, go to: www.akronmarathon.org

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.