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| Lehmkuhle 10th at NYC Marathon |
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 Minneapolis/St. Paul - Nov. 3, 2009 - Team USA Minnesota's Jason Lehmkuhle was 10th overall and sixth American at the ING New York City Marathon, a race that also hosted the USA Men's Marathon Championship on Nov. 1. Led by Meb Keflezighi, who was the first American since 1982 to win the NYC Marathon, and with six Americans in the top 10 for the first time since 1979, the race was called a "banner day" for U.S. men's distance running.
Lehmkuhle's time on Sunday was 2:14:39. He finished eighth last year in New York and was fifth at the U.S. Men's Olympic Marathon Trials held in New York's Central Park in 2007. He has a personal best in the distance of 2:12:54 which was set at the Trials race.
"Jason had another strong run in New York," said Team USA Minnesota coach Dennis Barker. "The city always seems to bring out the best in him. The field was very strong both nationally and internationally so a top ten finish again this year was a good effort. He wanted to run a little faster time, as did most of the other top runners, but there was a steady headwind for much of the race. You could tell by First Avenue (where the course is at 16 through 19 miles) that it was starting to wear people down."
Also competing at New York was Team USA Minnesota's Josh Moen, who had hoped to do well in the USA Men's Marathon Championship but dropped out of the race just after mile 17 on First Avenue. Moen went through the half marathon point at 1:06:46. He was running in just his second marathon.
"Josh has had a great year, setting PRs in the 5000 and 10,000 on the track and the 10 mile, but Sunday wasn't his day," said Barker. "Sometimes even when you're in great shape you wake up and you're just not going to be 100 percent and in a race like New York that will take a toll. But he'll bounce back. Meb proved that you can't keep a good man down, and Josh is a good man."
The 40th running of the New York City Marathon was televised in a two-hour tape delay show Sunday afternoon on NBC Sports. The race had 43,475 finishers, which was a record for New York. For complete results and more information about the ING New York City Marathon, visit www.nycmarathon.org.
About Team USA Minnesota
Team USA Minnesota is based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Formed in 2001, the purpose of the training center is to improve post-collegiate American distance running and to develop Olympians. The athletes are coached by Dennis Barker, head cross country and track coach at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. Team USA Minnesota's major sponsor is Life Time Fitness (www.lifetimefitness.com) and its silver sponsor is Twin Cities in Motion (www.mtcmarathon.org). It is also supported by the New York Road Runners and the USA Distance Project. For more information, visit the web site at www.teamusaminnesota.org.
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Contact:
Pat Goodwin
952-924-1081
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