De Reuck, Rhines will round out U.S. women's team http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/running/article/0,1713,BDC_2413_3743787,00.html
By Michael Sandrock, For the Camera May 1, 2005 Once a runner wins an Olympic medal, she has reached the highest echelon of long-distance running, commanding large appearance fees and having the freedom to be selective about races. That is why Saturday's announcement that 2004 Olympic marathon bronze medalist Deena Kastor will be returning to Boulder on May 30 to try for her fourth Bolder Boulder title shows the race is firmly entrenched among the top road competitions in the world. "I love the race," Kastor said in a telephone interview Saturday night. "I didn't do it last year because of the Olympics and was definitely sad not to be there." Joining Kastor, 32, on the U.S. women's team that will race in the International Team Challenge in the 27th annual Bolder Boulder are fellow 2004 Olympic marathoners Colleen De Reuck and Jen Rhines. The three also comprised the U.S. team that won the 2002 Bolder team title and were part of the U.S. squad that placed second in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships the same year. "It is just fabulous to have Colleen and Jen on the team with me," said Kastor, 32. "They are my favorite teammates when we travel together, and I am excited to have this team put together." Added Ryan Lamppa of Running USA, "Deena has said often that she loves the race, and with three individual titles she obviously has developed deep roots, many positive memories, and a following at the Bolder Boulder." According to Bolder Boulder professional athlete coordinator Rich Castro, defending team champ Mexico, along with Romania, Japan, Kenya, Ethiopia and Russia should be the top competition for the U.S. squad. De Reuck, 41, is a four-time Olympian who lives in Boulder. In February, she won her second-consecutive U.S. 8K cross country championship and has been sharpening up with wins in a couple of local races since then. De Reuck has run the Bolder Boulder 11 times, and has finished second three times. Rhines, 30, won five NCAA titles as an undergrad at Villanova. She is an experienced international racer who is coming off a win in the U.S. 15K road championships in March. It is Kastor, however, who brings star power to the Bolder Boulder. She has won 18 national titles since leaving the University of Arkansas, is the U.S. marathon record holder at 2 hours, 21 minutes, 16 seconds, and last August capped her stellar career by taking the bronze medal at the Athens Olympic Games. In that race, Kastor showed the patience that helped her to three consecutive Bolder wins, starting in 2001. Battling the heat as well as world record holder Paula Radcliffe and the best marathoners in the world, Kastor gradually moved up through the slowing field to take the bronze. It was the first U.S. medal in the Olympic women's marathon since Joan Benoit Samuelson's gold in the 1984 Los Angeles Games. So far in 2005, Kastor has picked up wins in the U.S. women's 8K championships in New York, and she also set the pending U.S. 8K record of 24:36 at the Shamrock Shuffle in Chicago. Kastor said the hoopla and the tens of thousands of fans who pack Folsom Field to watch the professional runners race are part of the Bolder Boulder's attraction. "It is the reason we all come back year after year," said Kastor. "(Husband) Andrew and I used to live in Colorado, and this is a good excuse to come back and visit friends and be in the great spirit of Memorial Day." Julian will lead Team USA in Bolder Hubbard, Graff round out crew for Memorial Day race http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/running/article/0,1713,BDC_2413_3756875,00.html By Michael Sandrock, For the Camera May 6, 2005 Peter Julian was "on call" last May, poised to run for Team USA in the 2004 Bolder Boulder International Team Challenge if his friend Alan Culpepper was forced out because of a foot injury. Culpepper recovered in time to help the United States upset Team Kenya by a point in the Bolder team race, while Julian, a long-time Boulder resident, was left on the sidelines watching the race for the 10th time. That will change this Memorial Day when Julian, 33, headlines the U.S. squad that will race against some of the best international road runners in the world in the 27th annual Bolder Boulder. The race, which annually draws more than 40,000 runners and walkers to the streets of Boulder, is one of the largest and well-organized races in the world. "Clearly, every elite athlete wants to have a chance to run in the Bolder Boulder, and I am excited about it," Julian said in phone interview Thursday. "With only three Americans on the team it is really competitive to get selected. Things fell in place this year. My fitness is good, and when (Professional Athlete Coordinator) Rich (Castro) asked me if I wanted to be on the team, I jumped at the chance." Joining Julian, a four-time All American the University of Portland, will be former Adams State All American Jason Hubbard and up-and-comer Chris Graff. Graff showed his fitness Sunday by running 28 minutes, 3 seconds for 10,000 meters on the track at the Cardinal Invite in Palo Alto, Calif. Julian's best time on the track is 28:05. In addition, he has made three World Cross Country Championship squads and has finished in the top three in national track and cross country races several times. Castro said on Wednesday that he expects Kenya, Ethiopia and Mexico, three altitude-trained teams, to be the toughest competition for the United States. However, Julian and Hubbard, who went to school in the 7,000-foot plus altitude of Alamosa, are both strong altitude runners. "Every time I have raced at altitude I have done well," Julian said. "Plus I run well in the heat. I am certainly looking at a finish in the top 10." ENDS
