November 25, 2005
USA Track & Field
announced the 8-member team to represent the U.S. at the at the 2005 World
Masters Athletics 100-kilometer (62-mile) world championship in Bariloche,
Argentina on December 11th. This team is the largest team that the United
States has sent to a masters world ultra championship and with four
returning veteran team members, it is the most experienced team that USATF
has fielded for the WMA 100K championship.
The four men and four women
team represent a mix of states and two decades of age groups. Runners
compete for medals within their 5-year age groups. At the last WMA 100K
championship in 2003 in Taiwan, the USATF Masters 100K Team assisted in
bringing home two silver team medals and a gold age-group medal. Of the
American masters team, Lorraine Gersitz, the USATF team coordinator says,
"We have a strong group of very experienced ultrarunners representing a
variety of age-groups including the newly added M35 age-group. Most of these
athletes have age-group records, National Championship titles, and/or World
Championship medals on their resume. The US team will be a factor in both
the individual age-group and the team competition."
The WMA 100K world
championship is an opportunity for American ultrarunners age 35 and over to
compete in a world 100K championship exclusively for masters runners. The
goal of the 2005 USATF Masters 100K Team is to two-fold: to provide a broad
American age-group presence at the World Cup 100K demonstrating American
support for WMA and the masters 100K world competition and to compete for
individual and team world age-group medals.
The
USATF 2005 Masters 100K Team
Katy
Cotton, 39, Wyoming
Chris
Frost, 54, California
Mark
Godale, 35, Ohio
Dee
Dee Grafius, 56, California
Amanda
McIntosh, 40, Texas
Tania
Pacev, 46, Colorado
Roy
Pirrung, 57, Wisconsin
Craig
Robertson, 46, Texas
USATF provides only partial
funding for the WMA 100K Team and therefore team members are largely
self-funded. Donations to the team are welcome. Contributions to the team
are tax-exempt through International Masters Athletics Federation. To
contribute to the 2005 USATF WMA 100K Team, contact Katy Cotton at IMAF,
Inc. at imaf_inc@yahoo.com or 307.432.6809. For information about IMAF, go
to http://www.cerritos.edu/lgersitz/IMAF/Home.htm
.
For information about the
race hosting the 2005 WMA 100K world championship, go to www.mundial100k-wma.com.ar
.
