Posted: December 2, 2004

Athletics: Team USA Minnesota Athletes in Action Locally and Internationally

Carrie Tollefson Featured in Running Times Magazine

MINNEAPOLIS - (Dec. 1, 2004) - In the spirit of the season, several Team USA Minnesota distance runners will join more than 3,000 runners and walkers at the Life Time Fitness Reindeer Run 5K on Dec. 4. The fun run, which will be held at Lake Harriet in Minneapolis, will mark its 17th year as a holiday favorite that also attracts hundreds of costumed runners.

Running with Santa, Rudolph, various reindeer and elves and members of the Life Time 5K training class will be Olympian Carrie Tollefson, Sara Wells, Dana Coons, Toby Henkels, Matt Gabrielson and Chad Johnson. In addition, Jenelle Deatherage has volunteered to be in the Life Time/Institute for Athletic Medicine tent; Kristen Nicolini will be a course marshall and Katie McGregor, co-director of the Life Time Fitness Running Club, will be working the event.

The 5K run starts at 9:30am followed by the 5K walk at 9:40am. Participants are encouraged to bring along a new unwrapped toy for the Marine Corps Reserves Toys for Tots program.

Tollefson Featured in "Running Times"
Team USA Minnesota's Carrie Tollefson, a 2004 Olympian competing in the 1500 meter at Athens, is featured in the January/February issue of "Running Times" magazine. Tollefson is also shown on the magazine's cover running in the 2004 USA 4K Cross Country Championships. The article is titled "A Case Study in Talent, Tenacity and Treatment." It discusses her first place finish in the 1500m at the U.S. Olympic Trials, her quest in Europe to secure the Olympic "B" standard time, as well as her college and post-collegiate running career.

Recent Race Results
Jason Lehmkuhle won the Arena 5K run on Thanksgiving Day in downtown Minneapolis with a time of 14:41. More than 7,000 runners participated in the event.

At the 2004 International Chiba Ekiden in Chiba, Japan, on Nov. 23, Team USA Minnesota runners Matt Gabrielson and Luke Watson each posted a time of 14:14 for their 5K legs in the relay. The U.S. men's team, with five relay runners, placed seventh overall out of 15 teams. In addition, Dana Coons ran the 7.428K anchor leg for the U.S. women's team in a time of 25:35, with the squad placing 10th out of 15 teams. The legs in each relay totaled the marathon distance.

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. Formed in 2001, the purpose of the training center is 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 training center is operated by a group of volunteers and supported by local organizations and individuals. Team USA Minnesota's major sponsor is Life Time Fitness and its silver sponsor is the Twin Cities Marathon. For more information, visit the team website at www.teamusaminnesota.org.

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