Posted: May 25, 2006

Athletics: Teams Set for 2006 BolderBOULDER International Team Challenge

Ethiopian men, U.S. women to defend ITC titles; prize purse exceeds $100,000

BOULDER, Colo. - (May 24, 2006) The 2006 BolderBOULDER International Team Challenge is gearing up as 23 teams representing 13 countries have signed up for the 9th International Team Challenge at the 28th BolderBOULDER on Monday, Memorial Day, May 29.

On the men's side, eleven teams include: USA, Team Colorado, Australia (AUS), Canada (CAN), Ecuador (ECU), defending champion Ethiopia (ETH), Great Britain (GBR), Kenya (KEN), Mexico (MEX), Morocco (MAR) and Russia (RUS).

On the women's side, twelve teams include: defending champion USA, Team Colorado, Australia (AUS), Ethiopia (ETH), Great Britain (GBR), Japan (JPN), Kenya (KEN), Mexico (MEX), Morocco (MAR), Poland (POL), Romania (ROM) and Russia (RUS).

The International Team Challenge runs in the afternoon, after the citizen's race finishes and after the Memorial Day Tribute. Team introductions in Folsom Field on the University of Colorado campus precede the professional races. The women's race starts at 11:30am and the men's race starts at 12:20pm.

Teams compete on a 10K 5-lap criterium course along Folsom Street with one lap thru Folsom Field. Spectators can watch both races along Folsom Street or from inside the stadium on the BuffVision big screen TV. The BolderBOULDER is also telecast live on the Denver CBS affiliate, KCNC-TV channel 4 from 9:00am - 1:00pm on race day. The post-race press conference will be at 1:30pm at Folsom Field, Club Level.

The International Team Challenge, started in 1998, is the largest international road racing team competition held annually in the United States. International teams are made up of three runners per gender. The teams compete for one of the largest non-marathon prize purses in the world ($110,600 guaranteed excluding bonuses). Monies are awarded in both team and individual categories. Teams are scored cross-country style with points awarded on the basis of finishing place. The team with the lowest score for all three runners is the winner. Ties are broken by the position of the third-place finishers.

2006 International Team Challenge (ITC) Athletes with Bib #s

MEN Team Colorado 36 Matt Levassiur 35 Chris England 34 Clint Wells Australia 33 Kim Gillard 32 Andrew Letherby 31 Shane Nankervis Canada 30 Taylor Milne 29 Calvin Staples 28 Nigel Wray Ecuador 27 Byron Piedra 26 Silvio Guerra, has run the most BolderBOULDER's by a professional athlete (13) 25 Vladimir Guerra Ethiopia 24 Berhanu Adane, 1999 ITC champion 23 Asnake Fekadu 22 Dejene Guta Great Britain 21 Andi Jones 20 Ewen North 19 Jason Ward Kenya 18 Charles Kiama 17 Lewis Nyariki 16 Laban Kipkemboi México 12 Juan Luis Barrios 11 David Galvan, 4th in the 2005 ITC 10 Alejandro Suarez Morocco 9 Ahmed Baday 8 Ridouane Harroufi 7 Aniss Selmouni Russia 6 Andrey Karpin 5 Sergei Lukin 4 Dmitry Safronov USA 3 Celedonio Rodriguez (CO) 2 Brandon Leslie (NM) 1 Ryan Shay (MI), five-time USA road champion

WOMEN Team Colorado 36 Stephanie Bylander 35 Faith Byrum-Erik 34 Carrie Messner Australia 33 Miranda Carfrae 32 Jennifer Gillard 31 Kate Smyth Ethiopia 30 Aheza Kiros 29 Yimenashu Taye 28 Adanech Zekiros Great Britain 27 Kathy Butler 26 Jenny Clague 25 Louise Watson Japan 24 Yasuko Hashimoto 23 Hiromi Ominami 22 Kaori Yoshida Kenya 21 Sally Barsosio, 1997 World Champion at 10,000m 20 Linet Chepkurui 19 Jemima Jepligat México 18 Susana Diaz 17 Adriana Fernandez 16 Nora L. Rocha Morocco 15 Malika Asahssah 14 Fatima Ayachi 13 Malika Majdoub Poland 12 Malgorzata Sobanska 11 Edyta Lewandowska 10 Dorota Gruca, third in 2004 to lead team to runner-up finish Romania 9 Constantina Tomescu-Dita 8 Lidia Simon, 1999 ITC champion and 2000 Olympic Marathon silver medalist 7 Luminita Talpos Russia 6 Albina Ivanova 5 Victoria Klimina 4 Olga Romanova USA 3 Jen Rhines (CA), in 2002 and 2005 helped U.S. win team title 2 Sara Slattery (CO) 1 Elva Dryer (NM), defending champion, led Team USA to title

For more information, go to: BolderBOULDER.com.

Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.RunningUSA.org.

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