FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
American Teams Announced for 2024 BOLDERBoulder International
Pro Team Challenge
BOLDERBoulder, America's All-Time Best 10K, announced the rosters of the
American teams that will compete in the 2024 International Pro Team
Challenge on Memorial Day - May 27th. The International Team Challenge,
which was created in 1998, includes professional runners from around the
world competing on three-person teams; in a team-by-country format. The
prize purse for this year's International Team Challenge is valued at
$83,700 before performance bonuses. Last year $111,850 in prize money and
bonuses were awarded.
In the men's race, two teams will represent Team USA - Team USA Red and
Team USA White.
The Team USA Red roster will feature the top three finishers from
February's U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials - Conner Mantz (Provo, UT), Clayton
Young (Springville, UT), and Leonard Korir (Colorado Springs, CO). Both
Mantz and Young have been named to the Paris Olympic team while Korir is
expected to be named in early May. Mantz returns as the defending
BOLDERBoulder champion following his epic come-from-behind win at last
year's race. Young and Korir also return this year following 11th and 8th
place finishes, respectively, at last year's race. Korir will be competing
in his fifth BB10K having won the race in 2022. In 2017 he was second
finishing less than one second behind winner Geay Gabriel. Their marathon
career bests are - Mantz (2:07:47; #4 U.S. all-time), Young (2:08:00; #7
U.S. all-time), and Korir (2:07:56; #6 U.S. all-time)
"Having the three men that will represent our country in the marathon at
this summer's Paris Olympic Games is something we are extremely proud of,"
said BOLDERBoulder Race Director Cliff Bosley. "All three ran here last
year and to have them back is just incredible for the race, the city of
Boulder and, the sport of running."
The Team USA White men's roster will feature Jared Ward (Mapleton, Utah),
Futsum Zienasellassie (Flagstaff, Arizona), and Sam Chelanga (Colorado
Springs, CO). Ward, a 2016 Olympian, will compete in the BB10K for the
sixth time since 2015. In 2022 he finished fourth; his best finish.
Zienasellassie, the 2022 USATF Marathon Champion, will be competing in his
second BB10K (2019, 18th place). Zienasellassie owns a marathon personal
best of 2:09:40. Chelanga finished seventh at last year's race and in 2017
finished third. At the 2023 Chicago Marathon, he ran a career-best 2:08:50
(#9 U.S. all-time).
Like the men, there will be two Team USA women's teams.
Defending champion Emily Durgin (Flagstaff, AZ) will headline the Team USA
Red roster. Durgin's teammates will be Boulder's very own Nell Rojas and
Sara Hall (Flagstaff, AZ). Durgin finished ninth at the Olympic Marathon
Trials in February and recently won the USATF 10 Mile national title, her
first national title. At last year's BB10K, she stormed to victory, winning
24 seconds over Daisy Kimeli. "I can't wait to be back in Boulder for the
best day of the year," stated Durgin. "Competing as teammates with Nell and
Sara will make the experience even better." Rojas, a native Boulderidian,
is no stranger to the BB10K. At last year's race, she and her father Ric,
the winner of the inaugural race in 1979, served as the honorary starters
for the race. In 2019, forty years after her father's win, she won the
citizen's race here. Hall, 42, returns to Boulder after a 10-year hiatus.
In 2014 she finished 16th. At the Olympic Trials in February, she finished
fifth running 2:26:06; a U.S. masters record. She owns a career-best of
2:20:32 in the marathon (#5 U.S. all-time).
The Team USA White roster will be comprised of an all-University of
Colorado alum squad - Makena Morley (Flagstaff, AZ), Sara Vaughn (Boulder),
and Carrie Verdon (Boulder). "Being on an all-CU team is so cool," stated
Vaughn. "I hope we can make all of Buff Nation proud of us." Morley, a 2020
CU graduate, will be making her BB10K debut. Vaughn, a 2008 CU grad, will
be competing in her second BB10K. In 2022 she finished ninth. Her marathon
career best is 2:23:24 (#13 U.S. all-time). Verdon, a 2017 CU grad, will be
competing in her second BB10K, having finished third here last year.
The women's race will start at 11:15 AM and the men's race will begin at
11:26 AM. The start line is at the corner of Folsom and Taft Streets near
the northeast corner of Folsom Field. A crowd estimated at over 40,000
spectators will witness the finish on the stadium floor of CU's Folsom
Field, and the always impactful Memorial Day Tribute will follow it.
###
|
