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LONG
DISTANCE FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Woodrow
Wilson Bridge Half Marathon Will Host The Potomac Valley Association Half
Marathon Championship. Alexandria, VA, August 7, 2011
- Potomac Valley Association/USATF is proud to return as a supporter of
the 2nd Annual Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon presented by
Endurance Enterprises LLC , slated for October 2, 2011, 7:30 a.m. NBC4
news anchor Doreen Gentzler is returning as the Honorary Chair. The destination half marathon will begin at
Mount Vernon Estates and Gardens in Alexandria, Virginia, travel up the
George Washington Memorial Parkway and over the majestic Woodrow Wilson
Bridge path. Once in Maryland, the USATF-certified 13.1-mile course will
travel clockwise around National Harbor resort with sweeping vistas of the
famed Potomac River and the bridge before ending at the river in front of
the eclectic Awakening Statue. This event is a must for your marathon
training program. The field is set to close out at 5,000 entrants. Registration can be
found at www.wilsonbridgehalf.com. Potomac
Valley Association (PVA) of USA Track & Field Half Marathon
Championship: for all card-carrying PVA/USATF members who will be
competing for prize money and prestige at the second annual PVA Half
Marathon Championships. Prize purse - open athletes’ male/female first
place $300, second place $200, and third place $100. Prize purse for
Master athletes’ male/female first place $250, second place $150, third
place $100. Double dipping is allowed. Prizes will be in the form of gift
cards. PVA
membership is available at the following website http://www.usatf.org/assoc/pva. “It is a great honor to be awarded the PVA half
marathon championship, especially for the second consecutive year. Our
partnership with PVA and USA Track & Field continues to enhance the
Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon as a signature event in the Washington
metropolitan region and it helps to promote the participation and
advancement of PVA members”, stated Event Director, Steve Nearman. There is
additional prize money for the overall male and female top five finishers: American
only prize money for the top male and female finishers: Master (age
40+) male and female top finishers: There will
be additional bonus prize money for open elites and Americans which is
listed on the race website. Laura
O’Hara was the top female PVA member in 2010, “It was great! The
African women were so far out in front of us that they were a non-factor,
but it was good race among the American women. Running over the Woodrow
Wilson Bridge, I live in Old Town, so I run to National Harbor over the
bridge quite frequently for training runs. That's a nice hill that plays
to strength runners. I am a strength runner and I used that and my
familiarity with the bridge to escape my competition”. The race will benefit six charity partners:
Autism Speaks, Alice Ferguson Foundation, Child & Family Network
Centers of Alexandria, Washington Area Women’s Foundation and Back on My
Feet – DC and RunningBrooke Fund. For additional information and registration: visit wilsonbridgehalf.com or call Steve Nearman at 703-587-4321.
It
Was a Matter of Time and the Right Day for Local PVA Member Michael
Wardian By George
Banker On Saturday,
June 18, 2011 at the 35th running of Grandma’s Marathon in
Duluth, MN, Wardian was going to tow the line and run with the best. The
goal was to achieve the Olympic Marathon standard of 2:19:00 to qualify
for the trials. Until the first foot strike anything was possible. Wardian
shows no fear in the face of competition and accepts each event as an
opportunity to test himself and to learn from the experience. Wardian dialed up the 2:19:00 and he clocked 2:17:49 and by all accounts that was success. The following are some of the stats Average pace: 5:16, Overall Place 13 out of 6,336 Gender place 13 out of 3,658 males, Age Group 4th out of 485 in the 35-39 Splits:10K-32:04,
13.1 miles – 1:08:06, 20 miles – 1:44:10, 25 miles – 2:11:02. On January
14, 2012, Wardian will be standing with America’s finest male marathons
at the 40th Houston Marathon for the Olympic Marathon Trials.
Each person on the starting will have earned a right to be there. At the age
of 22 after having ran a 3:06:54 at the 1996 Marine Corps Marathon who
would have guessed that Wardian would collect numerous awards along the
way which have included IAU Ultra Runner of the Year 2010, USATF Ultra
Runner of the Year 2008, 2009, and 2010. Also, USATF National Champion at
the 50K, 50 mile and 100K distances. The accomplishments can fill up
several pages. Wardian is
sponsored by MarathonGuide.com, The North Face, and PowerBar. Athletes
know the values which sponsors contribute to the athlete’s success. Wardian is a
visible runner within the Potomac Valley Association and competes in
numerous area races of all distances. Wardian goes for the good fight and
he never backs down. Wardian is a
great spokesperson for the sport of running and just being in his presence
you can feel the passion which he has for the sport. The Potomac
Valley Association extends our congratulations to Wardian for the
outstanding performance in making the cut. The best wishes will be there
in January 2012. Anything is possible and until you try you will never
know the outcome. Go Michael Wardian!
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