FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Four USA Championships at Stake at Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon

$25,000 Prizes Await Mens and Womens Marathon Winners

St. Paul, Minn. October 1, 2014 Marathoners will race from Minneapolis to St. Paul on Sunday with four USA Championships at stake as Sundays 33^rd annual Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon plays host to the USA Mens & Womens Marathon Championships and the USA Masters Marathon Championships for runners 40 and older.

Competitors in the USA Mens & Womens Championships will be racing for $145,000 in prize money, including $25,000 for the winners, plus an additional $25,000 course record bonus should the mens champion break Phil Coppesss mens mark of 2:10:05 set in 1985 or the womens winner better the record shared by Zinaida Semenova (2001) and Irina Permitina (2004) at 2:26:51.

The professional mens field is headlined by 2010 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon champion Sergio Reyes (Palmdale, Calif.) who earned a USA title with his victory. Reyes finished 4^th in last years event in a personal best 2:13:34. Likely challengers to Reyes include Ian Burrell (Colorado Springs, Colo.) who has run 2:13:27 for the marathon, Sean Quigley (Concord, Mass.) the USA 7 Mile champion and a 2:14:12 marathoner, Tyler McCandless (Boulder, Colo.) who has run 2:16:46, and marathon debutante Tyler Pennel (Blowing Rock, N.C.) the USA 10K runner-up who sports a 1:01:44 half marathon best.

In the competition for the USA Womens Championship, 2012 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon champion Jeannette Faber returns to the scene of her biggest sporting success. Also challenging for the USA title are Esther Erb (Richmond, Va.) the 3^rd-place finisher last year who sports a 2:33:15 personal best, Team USA Minnesotas Meghan Peyton (Richfield, Minn.) the 2013 USA 20K champion and the 9^th-place finisher last year in 2:38:58, Brianne Nelson (Golden, Colo.) the USA 10 Mile runner-up in 2013, and Ariana Hilborn (Tempe, Aiz.) a 2:37:28 marathoner.

In the USA Master Championships, which Twin Cities In Motion is hosting for the 24^th straight year and where winners will earn $7,500 for their efforts, defending mens champion Mbarak Hussein (Albuquerque, N.M), historys only four-time USA Mens Masters champion, returns. The two-time Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon champion expects to battle Kevin Castille (Lafayette, La.) last years masters runner-up, Uli Steidl (Seattle, Wash.) the 2012 USA Masters champion, and Michael Wardian (Alexandria, Va.) a decorated ultra-marathoner.

Among the masters women, defending master champion and two-time USA Masters champion Sheri Piers (Falmouth, Maine) will race Joanna Zeiger (Boulder, Colo.), an Olympian in the triathlon at the 2000 Sydney Games, and Wendi Ray (Sister Bay, Wisc.), last years womens masters runner-up.

Find biographical information on the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon professional and masters field on Twin Cities In Motions For the Media webpage.

Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Weekend kicks off on Friday with the Health & Fitness Expo at RiverCentre in St. Paul. Activities continue on Saturday with the TC 10K, presented by Sprint, the TC 5K Run/Walk, presented by Fredrikson & Byron, and the Medtronic TC Family Events, all held on the State Capitol grounds in St. Paul. The weekend culminates with the 16th running of the Medtronic TC 10 Mile and the 33rd annual Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon on Sunday.