De Reuck wins USA 25km Championship

Colleen De Reuck, whose 13th place finish in the long race led home the USA at the World Cross Country Championships this March, cruised to the national 25 km road race title yesterday, in an open international field at the 28th edition of the Fifth Third River Bank Run in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Two-time Olympic marathoner De Reuck, who turned 41 years of age last month, left the international field in her wake, to win her first ever USA 25 km title in 1:25:15, the second fastest U.S. women's time ever - a World and U.S. Masters best.

"I went out a little too quickly, but the first half is quick," confirmed De Reuck who won last year's USA Olympic Marathon Trials but could only finish 39th at the Athens Games. "I was with a group of guys who were running 5:20's and 5:25's, I kind of got drawn in, so I was a little tired the last half."

The men’s national title went to Brian Sell but he had to content with finishing fourth behind a trio of Kenyans, and he ended up exactly two minutes adrift of the winner, Simon Wangai, who would go on to post the fourth fastest 25km ever with his 1:13:27, a course record.

This is the tenth year that the Fifth Third Riverbank Run has hosted the USA 25 km Championships, which is the fourth stop for men and the third for women on the 2005 USA Running Circuit (USARC).

The USARC is a USA Track & Field road series, featuring USA Championships from 5 km to the marathon and attracts the best U.S. distance runners. The eleventh edition for the men and tenth for the women, the 2005 circuit has nine events for men and seven events for women.

The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USARC race (15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1). Sell now leads the men's circuit with 31 points and Jen Rhines leads the women's with 27.

USATF

For more information on the USA 25 km Championships and the 2005 USARC visit www.usatf.org.

28th Fifth Third River Bank 25K: USA Championship
Grand Rapids, MI, Saturday, May 14, 2005

MEN
1) Simon Wangai, KEN, 1:13:27
2) Julius Kibet, KEN, 1:13:50,
3) Wesley Ochoro, KEN, 1:15:14,
4) Brian Sell, USA/MI, 1:15:27,
5) Mbarak Hussein, 40, USA/NM, 1:17:12
6) Chris Graff, USA/VA, 1:17:54,
7) Clint Verran, USA/MI, 1:18:11,
8) Andrew Cook, USA/TX, 1:18:25

WOMEN
1) Colleen De Reuck, 41, USA/CO, 1:25:15
2) Albina Ivanova, RUS, 1:26:53,
3) Jenny Crain, USA/WI, 1:28:29,
4) Firaya Sultanova-Zhdanova, 44, RUS, 1:29:50
5) Turena Johnson Lane, USA/IN, 1:29:52,
6) Marina Ivanova, RUS, 1:30:28
7) Jenny Spangler, 41, USA/IL, 1:31:05,
8) Leigh Daniel, USA/MI, 1:32:31