Minneapolis/St. Paul - Jan. 12, 2011 - Team USA Minnesota's Meghan Armstrong will be among the competitors at the inaugural Bay Area Cross Challenge that will be held in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Jan. 16.  She will run in the open women's 6k race at 10 a.m. (Pacific time).

The event, which will be run on the Polo Fields in the park, is being hosted by the Bay Area Track Club and features a prize purse of $9,000 for open men and women.  An open men's 8k follows the women's race at 10:30 a.m.

Armstrong is preparing to compete at the USA Cross Country Championships in San Diego on Feb. 5.  In 2010, she finished fourth at both the USA 5k and USA 10 Mile Championships.  She has a best in the 5000 meters of 15:41 and placed 13th at last year's USA Cross Championships.

Bupa Great Edinburgh International Cross Country Meet - Results

The U.S. men's team placed second and Matt Gabrielson finished in 18th place in the men's team challenge 8.2k at the 2011 Bupa Great Edinburgh International Cross Country meet held in Scotland on Jan. 8.  Gabrielson was one of eight runners selected for the U.S. team, which ran on a snow-covered course in Edinburgh.

"The course was not as difficult as I initially thought," said Gabrielson.  "The first 3600 meters was done in three loops around a field with a couple dips in the terrain.  The final three miles of the race included the three loops but added on 400 meters or so including grass which reminded me of a hayfield and a very short, steep hill where walking could have been an option, followed by a blazing downhill.  While I have run on more difficult courses, the snow was an element that would classify it as true cross country.  There was just a lot of slipping and sliding.

"I loved the course and the concept of the team challenge.  I was running with Ed (Moran) and Bobby (Mack) early on and fell flat on my face right into the snow.  My extremely long spikes caught the part of a small dip in the course and I went down hard.  After the split second of shock wore off, I just got up and started running again.  Luckily nobody put a 5/8ths inch spike in my back.

"I was very pleased with my race.  While it wasn't a total peak performance, based on how I felt, not getting any side stiches for the first time in a long while in a race and my positive competitive mindset, I would say it was the best start to a year of racing that I have had in a long, long time.  I was very fired up for the coming year afterwards.

"Andy Caine, Peter Riley and all the folks who organized the event did a fantastic job.  The guys on the team truly made the event for me though.  Everyone was there to run a race as hard as possible and our attitudes reflected it.  I think it showed as we were only beaten by three points by the best that the continent of Europe has to offer.  I would do it again in a heartbeat."

Based on his experience at the Bupa Cross Country meet, Gabrielson has decided to compete at the USA Cross Country Championships on Feb. 5 instead of at the USA Half Marathon Championships on Jan. 29.  He has been a three-time member (2005-07) of the U.S. team that competed at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.  In 2010, Gabrielson finished ninth at the half marathon championships in a personal best 1:03:43 and was 10th at the cross country championships.  He has been with Team USA Minnesota since 2001.

"I have never had a great race in the three times I have represented the U.S. at World Cross," he said.  "My career is nearing the end, and it would be wonderful if I could have one more shot at a top 40 finish or even better at this event.  I had such a fantastic time last weekend and felt very happy with my result, so I just want to run another cross country event rather than 13.1 miles at this point.  That was the first thing that crossed my mind when I finished in Edinburgh."

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 the competitiveness of 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 team's web site at www.teamusaminnesota.org.

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Contact:

Pat Goodwin

952-924-1081

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