13 Sept 97, Winschoten, The Netherlands.
from Dan Brannen, Executive Director, AUA

The American Ultrarunning Association (AUA) announced today that, in an historic combined venture with the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) and the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA), for the first time in history there will be live internet coverage of the "IAU 100km World Challenge Under the Patronage of the IAAF." The race, the annual flagship event of the global ultradistance community, will be held Saturday, 13 Sept 97, at 2:00PM local time in Winschoten, The Netherlands.

The event will be covered live on the internet website of the RRRCA at http://www.rrca.org

The event will be held on the same course on which the 1995 USA Men's and Women's squads took the gold and silver team medals, respectively, in the same World Title run.

This year's American teams will face stiff challenges from the Russian, German, Polish, Brazilian, South African, and Japanese squads. Each team is allowed to declare a maximum of 6 men and 6 women, with the top 3 finishers to score by time in each division. The course is a pancake-flat 10km loop which will be run 10 times. Timing and scoring will be done using the state-of-the-art ChampionChip system.

AUA president Lin Gentling, who also serves as USA Team Coordinator, notes that the event promises to be "by far the deepest and fastest ultra in history. Over 60 men in the field have broken 7 hours, and almost 20 of the women have bettered 8 hours. Our American teams, now that they've risen to the top in this sport, will be challenged like never before. But they're experienced, and they've developed a tradition of rising to the occasion when the pressure is on."

Kris Clark-Setnes and her husband, Kevin Setnes of Eagle, Wisconsin, are the mainstays of the team. The pair made history this past April when they became the first married couple ever to take USA national road titles in the same event, co-winning the USA 100km men's and women's titles in Pittsburgh. Kris will be competing in her third World 100km, Kevin in an unprecedented 6th straight.

The USA men's team will be relying heavily on their top gun, Tom Johnson of Loomis, California. Johnson's surprise 3rd place individual finish in this event two years ago, in which he shattered the 13-year old American 100km Record, was primarily responsible for the men's silver team medal. He is considered one of the favorites in the individual race. Johnson and Setnes will be joined by James Garcia of Westford, Massachussetts, Kevin McGovern of W. Boylston, Massachussetts, Scott St. John of St. George, Utah, and Mark Godale of Aurora, OH. All but Godale are veterans of previous World 100km events.

The American women's team outcome is likely to be more of a group-running effort. Clark-Setnes and Chrissy Duryea of Fremont, California are the likely team leaders, although Janice Anderson of Kennesaw, Georgia has recently emerged at the world-class level. The trio will be joined by Ellen McCurtin of New York City, Lorraine Gersitz of Fullerton, California, and Jennifer Johnston of La Honda, California. All of the women are veterans of previous World 100km events.

For further information:

Dan Brannen, Executive Director, AUA 4 Strawberry Lane Morristown, NJ 07960 PHONE 201-898-1261 FAX 201-898-6586 email: djbrunr@idt.net

revd September 8, 1997, barry