Posted: June 14, 2007

Athletics (RWire): Top Field Expected at 34th Steamboat Classic 4 Mile on June 16

PEORIA, Ill. - (June 13, 2007) - The thirty-fourth edition of the Steamboat Classic 4 Mile race in downtown Peoria on Saturday morning, June 16 promises some high-powered international road racing, with top athletes vying for a potential prize purse of $40,000 with $4000 for each race champion and overall bragging rights to the Midwest summer tradition. Below are the expected contenders: Men Returning - last year's Steamboat champion and runner-up John Korir (Kenya) and Josh Moen (USA / IA) who will be strongly challenged by 2007 BolderBOULDER 10K champion Ridouane Harroufi from Morocco and former LaSalle Bank Chicago and Flora London Marathon champion Evans Rutto from Kenya, plus the USA's Matt Gonzales (NM), Jeff Gaudette (MI) and Ryan Sheehan (MI), Mexico's Mario Macias, England's Jon Brown (4th in the last two Olympic Games marathons) and three other top Kenyans in Richard Kiplagat, Tom Nyariki and Haron Lagat. Women Last year's runner-up at Steamboat and 2004 World Cross Country champion Benita Johnson of Australia - fresh off a victory at Freihofer's - will be challenged by British Olympian Kathy Butler, Romania's Luminita Talpos, Rehima Kedir from Ethiopia, Kiyoko Shimahara from Japan who is part of the Japanese team at the World championships this August in Osaka and her countrywoman Kayoko Obata. The Peoria weather forecast for Saturday's race calls for partly cloudy skies and race temperatures in the 70s. The race, known as the world's fastest 4 mile and with good reason, is home to the world and U.S. road records. World 17:24 Josphat Machuka (KEN), Steamboat Classic 1995 19:28 Delillah Asiago (KEN), Steamboat Classic 1995 U.S. 17:39 Gerard Donakowski (MI), Steamboat Classic 1986 19:59 Colleen De Reuck (CO), Steamboat Classic 2002 For more information, visit the race website at: SteamboatClassic.org. Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director (805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016 Ryan@RunningUSA.org www.RunningUSA.org. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest