USA Track & Field Foundation announces 2009 Distance Project Grant recipients

INDIANAPOLIS - At a time when sport sponsorship and fundraising sources are fast disappearing, the USA Track & Field Foundation, running event organizations and generous fans have come together again to make possible a significant investment in USA distance running.

Thanks to support from the following sponsors, grants totaling $282,000 will be directed to the development of elite and “up and coming” American distance runners via the USA Distance Project:

• New York Road Runners – Presenting Sponsor
• Twin Cities Marathon, Inc. – Major Sponsor
• Houston Marathon Foundation, Inc. – Major Sponsor
• MarathonGuide.com – Major Sponsor
• Individual Donors

Following a rigorous evaluation process, the following seven comprehensive post-collegiate training groups will receive grants in 2009:

• Mammoth Track Club, Mammoth Lakes, CA
• Marathon Performance Group, Eugene, OR
• McMillan Elite, Flagstaff, AZ
• Team Indiana Elite, Bloomington, IN
• Team USA Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
• Tempo Sports, Boulder, CO
• ZAP Fitness, Blowing Rock, NC

These group distance centers collectively qualified 60 athletes for last year’s USA Olympic Trials.

“There is universal agreement,” said Jack Wickens, USATF Foundation Board member, “that premier group training centers like these, have not only fueled the surge in USA distance running performance, but have enabled many of our country’s top young distance runners to pursue their dreams and inspire America’s youth.”

The Distance Project will also award grants to individual athletes later in the year. For many of these elite athletes, the grants will provide a primary source of income.

For more information, or to contribute to the Distance Project, please visit the USA Track & Field Foundation website at www.usatffoundation.org.