Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Team USA

Thanks to all of you who wrote with well wishes. I didn't even know that it had been announced until I saw it on Jamie's blog. I'm super excited! We've never been to Korea, so we are taking the kids and spending a little extra time over there. It's also going to be tons of fun to travel with the other members of the team.

Here's the announcement:


NATIONAL TEAM FOR 2008 WORLD 24-HOUR RUN CHAMPIONSHIP

The 6th Annual World Championship 24-Hour Run of the International Association of Ultrarunners will be held in Seoul, Korea on Oct. 18-19 of this year. U.S. National Teams have performed well at the event, usually finishing among the top 5 national teams and making the team medals podium twice. The highest individual American finishes in the world title event's half-decade history were achieved by Stephanie Ehret (3rd in 2005) and Phil McCarthy (4th in 2007). This year will mark the second time the event has been hosted by an Asian city. The 2006 World 24 Hour was held in Taipei, Taiwan.

This year's National Team includes the following members:

WOMEN

Connie Gardner, Medina, Ohio
Debra Horn, Shake Heights, Ohio
Jamie Donaldson, Littleton, Colorado
Carilyn Johnson, El Paso, Texas
Laura Nelson, Woodstock, Virginia

MEN

William Allen, Prince Frederick, Maryland
Scott Jurek, Seattle, Washington
Dean Karnazes, San Francisco, California
Phil McCarthy, New York, New York
Roy Pirrung, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Alex Swenson, Vashon, Washington

TEAM MANAGER
John Geesler, St. Johnsville, NY

TEAM MEDICAL ADVISOR
Dr. Andy Lovy, D.O., Kirksville, MO

Gardner, Horn, Johnson, Pirrung, and McCarthy were automatic team selections by virtue of their top 3 finishes in the Ultracentric National 24-Hour Championship in November 2007. Donaldson, Nelson, Jurek, Karnazes, Allen, and Swenson were selected by virtue of their rankings in non-championship qualifying events in the previous 18 months. Pirrung, at age 59, for the fourth consecutive year becomes the oldest athlete ever named to an open National Team in the sport of Athletics. He is the only runner to have been selected for all 6 of the 24-Hour Run National Teams since the World event's inception in 2003. Pirrung won the inaugural U.S. National 24-Hour Run Championship in 1988, then again in 1991, and has finished second in that event for the past 3 years.

The team's Medical Advisor, Dr. Andy Lovy, was recently honored by the American Osteopathic Association as one of the "Great Pioneers in Osteopathic Medicine.

The team is sponsored by apparel manufacturers Sport Science and Injinji. The team is coordinated and managed by the American Ultrarunning Association.

8 comments:

Ronda said...

Very cool Carilyn! I am excited for you.

onepinkfuzzy said...

congratulations!!!

Jamie Donaldson said...

This will be such an awesome experience! I am excited to run with you again!

Olga said...

What a thrill!!! Girlie, this is yours to take upon!

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

Very Awesome Carilyn... What a great experience that will be and to take ur family will make it that much more special.

Congrats!!

Scott said...

Wow! That's sweet!! Very cool! Congrats and good luck!!

Matthew Patten said...

That is cool!

Now I can say I ran with someone who "made the team"

I was the guy from Minnesota who ran (and dropped) with you for a little at Kettle.

That's an all star cast of men, too.

While you are there, ask Scott why he has not yet run Superior 100 (it's practically his home town).

As Leslie Nielson would say "good luck, we are all counting on you"

Meghan said...

Carilyn,

What an honor! Congratulations! Those are some seriously stacked teams.

On another note, it sounds like you've jumped back in from the trauma that was KM and are back at it again. Good news!

Hope you're well!
Meghan