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Race to Feature Field of Elite Athletes Including Japan’s Hiromi Ominami
CHICAGO (August 10, 2006) – The LaSalle Bank Chicago Distance Classic, the
oldest continually held road race in Chicago, will host 10,000 runners at
its 30th anniversary event on Sunday, August 13. Among the half marathon
participants will be a field of elite athletes led by Hiromi Ominami (JPN)
and Brian Sell (USA), along with running legend Dick Beardsley.
Ominami, 30, set her half marathon personal best (1:08:45) in 2004 with a
first-place finish at the Sapporo Half Marathon. Also in 2004, she ran a
personal best in the real,- Berlin Marathon, earning second place with a
2:23:26 finish.
Sell, 28, arrives fresh off a fourth-place finish at the Boston Marathon in
April. In posting a 2:10:55 finish time, Sell also earned a spot on the
World Marathon Majors men’s leader board where he is currently tied for
seventh place. He set his personal best in the half marathon (1:02:39)
earlier this year at the U.S. Championships in Houston.
Beardsley won the 1980 London Marathon and is a two-time winner of the
Grandma’s Marathon (1981 and 1982) where he owns the course record, set
during his 1981 win. His 1982 second-place finish at the Boston Marathon is
often referred to as the most memorable marathon finish in history as he
lost by only two seconds to Alberto Salazar. Beardsley is now a
professional speaker, author, fishing guide and personality for both radio
and television.
Other top competitors in the field are U.S. runners from the Hansons-Brooks
Distance Project Luke Humphrey, Josh Eberly, 2006 LaSalle Bank Shamrock
Shuffle Champion Chad Johnson, Kyle O’Brien, Dave Ernsberger, Mike Morgan
and Melissa White.
The 2006 LaSalle Bank Chicago Distance Classic half marathon will begin at
6:30 a.m. on Sunday August, 13 followed by The Whole Foods Market 5K
Run/Walk at 6:50 a.m. The Race will start and finish in Chicago’s historic
Grant Park.
chicagodistanceclassic.com.
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