Posted: July 1, 2005

Athletics: U.S. Women's 100K Team Earns Gold Medal at World Cup in Japan

Anne Riddle-Lundblad Silver Medalist

Report from Nancy Hobbs, USATF MUT Council

At the 2005 IAU 100K World Cup in Lake Saroma, Hokkaido, Japan on June 26, the U.S. women's team won the gold medal led by silver medalist Anne Riddle-Lundblad, 38, Asheville, NC who covered the grueling 62.1 miles in 7 hours, 54 minutes, 22 seconds. For the individual gold medal, Japan's Hiroko Syou edged out Riddle-Lundblad by 41 seconds with her 7:53:41, while teammate Yoko Yamazawa won the bronze medal in 8:10:27.

Second American woman was Nikki Kimball, 33, Bozeman, MT in 8:22:58 in seventh and rounding out the scoring and also finishing in the top 10 was Tanya Pacev, 44, Lakewood, CO who placed ninth in 8:29:19. The second place team - France - was over 14 minutes behind the Americans. The top three finishers' times are added for the team score.

"At the 80K mark, there was an out and back. We ran to about 88.5K and then turned around. When I saw Anne, she was in fourth place and I told her she'd catch the third place gal, but the first two women I saw were so far ahead I thought for sure they'd go one-two. It was awesome to see Anne charge to the finish, pass the second place woman and just miss first," remarked Howard Nippert, 39, Pembroke, VA the top U.S. male, 8th, in 6:59:20.

Nippert added, "When it appeared that they might finish third based on the 80K positions, they charged through the field and changed the outcome. They had a goal coming into this run and then saw it through with sheer desire and guts."

Nippert was the only U.S. man to finish in the top ten, but two of his teammates finished with PRs including Patrick Russell, 28, Duluth, MN in 16th place with a 7:14:48 followed by Greg Crowther, 31, Seattle, WA in 20th (7:20:51). The team score put the U.S. men in fourth place after Japan, France and Germany.

"The performances of Patrick and Greg have breathed hope back into the hopes of future U.S. men's teams for medals. A couple of relatively inexperienced boys became veteran ultra-men out there. They ran smart, well-executed races and stuck to their race plans the entire way. I'm proud of their performances. As the "Old Man" of this bunch (2005 was Nippert's seventh consecutive U.S. 100K team), I'm proud of the entire U.S. team and appreciate their dedication, resolve and all-out performances out there," said Nippert the day after the event.

Russian Gregory Murzin was the men's 100K world champion with a time of 6:24:15 followed by Jorge Aubeso, Spain in 6:33:03 and Tsutomu Sassa, Japan, 6:40:20. There were 71 finishers and 16 teams on the men's side and 27 female finishers and six teams.

IAU 100K World Cup -Lake Saroma, Hokkaido, Japan, Sunday, June 26, 2005

MEN
1) Gregory Murzin, RUS, 6:24:15
2) Jorge Aubeso, ESP, 6:33:03
3) Tsutomu Sassa, JPN, 6:40:20
4) Sandor Barcza, FRA, 6:44:45
5) Yoshiaki Kobayashi, JPN, 6:49:43
6) Pascal Fetizon, FRA, 6:50:59
7) Michael Sommer, GER, 6:57:35
8) Howard Nippert, USA/VA, 6:59:20
9) Yasunori Yamamoto, JPN, 7:04:04
10) Jyouji Nishimura, JPN, 7:07:38

Team
1) Japan, 20:34:07
2) France, 20:43:27
3) Germany, 21:25:19
4) USA, 21:34:59

WOMEN 
1) Hiroko Syou, JPN, 7:53:41
2) Anne Riddle-Lundblad, USA/NC, 7:54:22
3) Yoko Yamazawa, JPN, 8:10:27
4) Laurence Fricottea, FRA, 8:12:02
5) Magali Reymoneng, FRA, 8:18:52
6) Jungkok Kim, KOR, 8:19:49
7) Nikki Kimball, USA/MT, 8:22:58
8) Tanja Hooss, GER, 8:23:25
9) Tania Pacev, USA/CO, 8:29:19
10) Christine Denis, FRA, 8:30:13

Team
1) USA, 24:46:39
2) France, 25:01:07
3) Japan, 25:17:40

For complete results and information on the 100K World Cup, visit: IAU.org.

The U.S. ultra team receives limited funding and most athletes must pay for a large portion of their expenses out of their own pockets. There is a non-profit organization, Ultrarunners Supporting Ultrarunners (USU), which has raised funds for the team for a number of years. Donations are always welcome at: www.run100s.com/USU/