Minneapolis/St. Paul - Jan. 9, 2012 - Team USA Minnesota will send eight distance runners to Houston this weekend, with six competing in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials on Jan. 14 and two athletes running in the Aramco Half Marathon on Jan. 15.

Competing in the Olympic Marathon Trials will be Jason Lehmkuhle, Matt Gabrielson, Andrew Carlson, Josh Moen, Katie McGregor and Meghan Peyton.  This will be the first time that the men's and women's marathon trials will be held on the same day in the same location. 

The men's race will begin at 8:00 a.m. and the women will start at 8:15.  Both groups will run a 2.2 mile inner loop through downtown Houston followed by an outer 8-mile loop which the athletes will run three times (for a total 26.2 miles).

The event will determine the three men and three women who will represent the United States in the marathon at the 2012 Olympic Games that will be held in London this August.  NBC will broadcast same-day taped coverage of the marathon trials from 2-4 p.m. Central time Jan. 14.  Over 300 athletes will compete in the marathon races.

Lehmkuhle will be competing in his third marathon trials, having finished ninth in 2004 and then fifth at the qualifying race for the 2008 Olympics.  He has a best in the distance of 2:12:24.  During 2011 he won the Ohme 30 km Road Race in Japan, ran the London Marathon last April, and was second at the USA 20k Championships.  Lehmkuhle has been training with Team USA Minnesota since it was founded in 2001.

Gabrielson - who also joined Team USA Minnesota in 2001 and was a teammate of Lehmkuhle's at Drake University - has a best in the marathon of 2:13:28 which he set at Grandma's Marathon last June.  He was fifth at the USA 25k Championships in 2011.  In 2008, Gabrielson competed in the U.S. Olympic Track Trials, finishing eighth in the 5000 meters.

Making his debut in the marathon will be Carlson, who qualified for the trials race with a half marathon time of 1:02:21.  Carlson is a two time national champion (15k and 25k).  During 2011, he was a member of the U.S. World Cross Country team and placed third at the USA 25k Championships.

Moen has completed one marathon back in 2008 in a time of 2:23:16 and qualified for the trials with a half marathon time of 1:02:52.  He has been a four-time member of the U.S. Chiba Ekiden team, including in 2011, placed second in the 2009 USA 10 Mile Championships with a time of 46:38, and was second at the 2011 USA 25k Championships.

Competing in the women's marathon trials will be seven-time national champion McGregor (10,000 meter, 10k road twice, 15k, 10 mile, 25k twice).  She has a best in the distatnce of 2:31:01, which she set in 2010 while placing second at the USA Women's Marathon Championships held at the ING New York City Marathon.  During 2011, she finished second in the USA 10k Championships, third in the 20k Championships, and fourth in both the USA 10 Mile and Half Marathon Championships.  McGregor competed in both the 2004 and 2008 U.S. Olympic Track Trials in the 10,000 meters, finishing fourth both times.  She has been a member of Team USA Minnesota since 2001.

Peyton will be debuting in the marathon distance at the trials, having qualified with a half marathon time of 1:13:43.  During 2011, she finished fifth at both the USA 5k and 15k Championships and was sixth at the USA 10 Mile Championships.

Aramco Half Marathon - Jan. 15

Jon Grey and Matt Llano will make their half marathon debuts at the Aramco Half Marathon, which will be held in Houston Jan. 15.  Grey most recently finished fourth at the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country Challenge men's 8k on Jan. 7, and prior to that won the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships 10k race held in December.  In October he posted 47:59 at the USA 10 Mile Championships.  He has a best in the 10,000 meters of 28:40.

Llano has run 28:43 in the 10,000 meters, 45:12 in the 15k and 49:38 in the 10 mile.  Both athletes joined Team USA Minnesota in Setpember, with Llano competing his collegiate career last spring at the University of Richmond and Grey graduating from the College on William and Mary.

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 athhletes 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 Run (www.lifetimerun.com) and its silver sponsor is Twin Cities In Motion (www.tcmevents.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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