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[press release]

2006 Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team Announced

The Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team will compete in the 22nd World Mountain Running Trophy in Bursa, Turkey on Sunday, September 10. This year’s Trophy races are uphill events (as opposed to odd-numbered years when the events are held on up/down courses) with the senior men running 12Km, the senior women and junior men running 8.5Km, and the junior women running 3.4Km.

The U.S. team is sponsored by Teva, the title sponsor and official footwear of the team, and SportHill apparel. Teva has been the title sponsor since 2002 and SportHill has been the official apparel sponsor since 2005. 180s joined as a team gear sponsor in 2005. This innovate company manufactures items such as the ExoLite™ Ear Warmer, Convertible Running Glove™ and Eye Gear. FuelBelt, Inc., is the newest team sponsor and will provide hydration gear for this year’s team.

The women’s squad includes four athletes with the top three finishers scoring for the team. Six athletes represent the men’s team with the top four finishers scoring. The junior men’s team includes a maximum of four with top three scoring while the junior women’s team is a maximum of three with the top two scoring. Team leader Richard Bolt, Portland, OR, junior team manager Dave Dunham, Bradford, MA, women’s team manager Ellen Miller, Vail, CO, and Nancy Hobbs, Colorado Springs, CO, council member of the World Mountain Running Association and team manager, will accompany the team to Turkey.

“This looks to be one of (if not the) best team we have ever fielded. I'm glad to be associated with such a great group of runners,” said Dave Dunham, who in addition to holding manager duties this year, also represented the US team seven times with his best finish – second place overall – in 1993.

The 2006 open team includes two newcomers, an athlete returning after a nearly 10 year hiatus, and a few seasoned veterans. (In alphabetic order)

Eric Blake, 27, New Britain, CT earned his spot on the team with his win at the Mount Washington Road Race, the 2006 USA National Mountain Running Championships, in a time of 1:01:09 besting second-place finisher Paul Low by 28 seconds. In 2005 Blake finished second to Simon Gutierrez at Mount Washington and was third in 2004. Blake was fifth at the USA National Mountain Running Championships in Vail in 2003. On June 24, 2006 Blake set the treadmill marathon world record of 2:21:40 in Farmington, CT at Malibu Fitness. (The former world record was 2:23:58.) He was 28th in the 2004 World Mountain Trophy in Sauze D'Oulx, Italy and 23rd in the 2005 World Trophy in Wellington, New Zealand. He was 33rd in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. In Lyman Memorial High School in Lebanon, Connecticut, he was the 1996 state open cross-country champion. He is a member of the Boston Athletic Assocation and is the Assistant Men’s and Women's Cross-Country and Track and Field Coach at Central Connecticut State University

Rickey Gates, 25, Boulder, CO earned his spot on the team with his third place finish at Mount Washington. Gates was born and raised in the Roaring Fork Valley and is a 1999 graduate of Aspen High School. In 1998 Gates finished fourth in the 3A State Cross Country Championships running 16:48. Gates won the 2005 Imogene Pass Race, an 18 mile race from Ouray to Telluride, Colorado ascending for the first 11 miles and downhill for the final seven miles. He finished 14th at the 2005 USATF Colorado 8Km Cross County Championships timed in 28:04. In 2004 Gates completed a 15,000-mile solo-motorcycle journey from Aspen to South America on a 1979 Honda CX500 that he bought from a friend for $500. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado/Boulder where he studied Sociology and Photography. He works at Frasca Food and Wine on Pearl Street in Boulder.
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Lisa Goldsmith, 41, Nederland, CO, earned a spot on her second mountain team with her decisive win at the Vail Mountain Trophy Race. Goldsmith represented the U.S. at Upice, Czech Republic in 1997 where she was the first American woman finisher. Goldsmith has several top uphill finishes to her credit most notably a win at the Pikes Peak Ascent in 2005 and a masters’ win at this year’s Mount Washington Road Race where she was fifth overall. She recently won the Barr Trail Mountain Race (July 16) setting a new masters’ record. To date in 2006 she has nine overall wins and four of those masters’ wins as well. In 2005 she was named USATF Masters Mountain Runner of the Year. Goldsmith is a massage therapist.

Simon Gutierrez, 40, Alamosa, CO, earned his spot on the team with his win at The Vail Mountain Running Trophy Race. He is a four-time Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team member (2002-2005) and was the first American at the past two World Trophy events where he finished 17th overall in 2004 and 10th in 2005. He was the 2005 USATF Mountain Runner of the Year. Gutierrez is a seven-time winner of the La Luz Mountain Race and three-time Mt Washington Road Race champion. He is a three-time USA world cross country team member and a 1983 High School cross country All American. At age 17 Gutierrez set the still standing road 10Km record of 29.45. He works at the San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center as an outpatient manual /orthopedic physical therapist and works closely with the Adams State men's and women's cross country and track teams.

Laura Haefeli, 38, Del Norte, CO earned her spot on the team with her finish at the USA National Mountain Running Championships at Mount Washington where she was third overall and second American. This is Haefeli’s third team. She was the second U.S. finisher at Mt Washington in 2004 and finished a solid 15th place at the World Mountain Running Trophy (second American) in 2004. Last year Haefeli was the top American finisher with her eighth-place finish. She is a three-time USA National 10Km Trail National Champion and winner of the 2004 Teva Vail HillClimb. Equally talented in summer biathlon (running and marksmanship), Haefeli is a seven time National Champion and a nine-time National Team Member. Running since the sixth grade, she competed in the 800m, 1600m, and cross country in high school, was an All-American during her senior year in college at the University of Dayton and was twice named All-Ohio Runner of the Year and is a two-time USATF Mountain Runner of the Year (2004 and 2005). Her PRs include 34:47 for 10Km, 8Km - 27:33, 5Km - 16:50. Laura and her husband Tom are beekeepers and sell honey and wax. She is the mother of three young children

Nicole Hunt, 36, Deer Lodge, MT earned her spot on her first mountain team by finishing as the first American at Mount Washington where she was crowned the USA National Mountain Running Champion. Hunt has a 5000m track time of 15:52, a 10000m track time of 33:24. She ran 32:48 at the Salt Lake 10Km in 2003, she placed fourth at the USA National Marathon Championships in 2005, and ran a PR of 41:43 at the 2006 Bloomsday Road Race to place tenth among the women and second American. She was fourth at the Gate River Run which hosted the USA 15Km Championships in 2004. She was sixth overall and second American at the 2006 Houston Half Marathon, and was 18th at the 2004 Olympic Trials timed in 2:40:39. This is not Hunt’s first international team. She competed on the USA National Ekiden Teams in 2002 in Beijing and in 2002 in Seoul, South Korea. Hunt has own business where she coaches runners and does personal training primarily Online. She is also an RN but currently not employed as one.

Paul Low, 32, Belchertown, MA was named to his seventh team after earning a spot with a second-place finish at Mount Washington. He is a three-time USATF Mountain Runner of the Year 2002, 2003, and 2004. Low has represented Team USA on the mountain running team in 1999, 2000, and 2002-2005. He secured the 2006 USATF New England Mountain Circuit championship title with his victory at Ascutney Mountain on July 15. He won this year’s selection race at Loon Mountain. He finished second overall at the 2004 Moun Washington Road Race, and as top American was named National Champion. At the 2005 Mount Washington race he finished third. Low won the 2003 North American Snowshoe Championships and was second in 2006. Low was the second U.S. finisher at the 2004 World Mountain Running Trophy finishing in 19th place. Low is a PhD candidate in Geoscience at UMASS studying high temperature geochemistry. He runs for Central Mass Striders.

Chris Lundy, 35, Sausalito, CA was named to the team by the USATF Mountain Ultra Trail Council who voted for the at-large team members. This is Lundy’s second consecutive team. She was fourth at this year’s Mount Washington Road Race and fifth at the Vail Mountain Trophy Race. She finished fourth (second American) at the 2004 USA10Km Trail Championships in Vail and was 18th overall, second American, at the World Mountain Trophy Race in Wellington, New Zealand. She was 14th at the New Haven 20K in 2004 in a time of 1:13:31. At the 2004 Zippy 5-kilomter race in Golden Gate Park, Lundy finished second in a talented field with a time of 17:01. She finished 23rd at the ’04 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon with a time of 2:41:55. A graduate of the University Pennsylvania, Lundy is a member of the Impala Racing team and is a veterinarian.

Shiloh Mielke, 26, Hendersonville, NC was named to the team by the USATF Mountain Ultra Trail Council. Mielke finished third at the Vail Mountain Trophy Race. He was fifth at the 2006 USA National 10Km Trail Championships and third at the Teva VailHillClimb. Mielke won the 2005 Shut In Ridge Trail Race, a 17.8 mile trail race in Asheville, NC, breaking the course record by over five minutes. His PRs include a 29:48 10Km and a 14:35 5Km. Mielke won the 1997 and 1998 NCHSSA Men’s Cross Country State Championships, the State Championships in the 2 mile in 1997, 1998, 1999 and the mile state championship in 1999. He was a scoring member on the 2003 Northern Arizona University Cross Country Team which placed third in the NCAA. He attended Brevard College from 1999 to 2001 and Northern Arizona University from 2001 to 2004. Mielke’s goals are to be a pro mountain biker and also professional trail runner. He works for his father’s shop, First Aid Auto, in Asheville, NC specializing in paintless dent removal, a mechanical process of removing small dents in cars without the increased cost or disadvantages of painting.

Kevin Tilton, 24, Conway, NH was named to his second mountain team by the USATF Mountain Ultra Trail Council. Tilton finished in 71st place at the 2004 World Trophy. He rebounded this year from a disappointing 22nd place finish at Mount Washington to place second at both the Loon Mountain and Vail Mountain Trophy qualifiers. He finished 10th at Mount Washington in 2004, and ran a four- minute personal best at Mount Washington in 2004 to place 5th in 1:03:42. Tilton has PRs of 15:19 in the 5Km, 32:06 in the10km and 1:01:19 in the half marathon. Tilton is a member of the Central Mass Striders. In his spare time he runs the 4,000 foot mountains of New Hampshire and to date has run up 26 of the 48 in the state. He is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire and is employed as a land surveyor.

The junior team will be announced in a separate press release.


For additional information visit the websites listed below:

USA Mountain Running Championships www.gsrs.com

Loon Mountain Race www.whitemountainmilers.com

Vail Mountain Trophy Race www.vailrec.com

World Mountain Running Association www.wmra.info

USA Track & Field www.usatf.org

World Mountain Trophy 2006 www.wmrt2006.org

All American Trail Running Association www.trailrunner.com

Teva www.teva.com

SportHill Clothing www.sporthill.com

180s performance gear www.180s.com

FuelBelt, Inc. www.fuelbelt.com