Pittsburgh Marathon on May 6

INTERNATIONAL MEN RETURN TO UPMC HEALTH SYSTEM/CITY OF PITTSBURGH MARATHON ON MAY 6

The UPMC Health System/City of Pittsburgh Marathon, which served as the
U.S. Men's Marathon Championship and Olympic Trials for the past four years,
welcomes back international men at the 17th edition of the race on May 6.
Men from Algeria, Kenya, Russia, and the United States are expected to
start the race.

"The last year we had an international men's race was 1996," said race
director, Larry Grollman. "Two Venezuelans, Ruben Maza and Carlos
Tarazona, battled each other to the finish. Maza got the win by one second, but
both men qualified for their Olympic team. It was a very dramatic race."

The elite field includes the following athletes (listed by career best times):

Gilbert Rutto, 35, Kenya (2:10:01): Rutto is a name out of Pittsburgh's
past. He has only run the marathon here once, back in 1994. It was early
in his marathon career, and he ran a modest 2:17:42, good enough for 5th
place. But big things were ahead for Rutto. By 1996, he got his personal
best time down to 2:10:01. He went on to finish in the top-7 at the
Berlin Marathon three times, and he finished twice in the top-10 at Boston. Over
the course of his career, he has broken 2:13 seven times, but he has never
won a marathon. Many thought he had retired; he hasn't run a marathon
since 1999. But he has been racing and preparing in his native Kenya, and had a
strong cross country season earlier this year.

Nicholas Kioko, 29, Kenya (2:11:39): A veteran of 16 career marathons,
Kioko has raced the 26.2 mile distance throughout the world. He has notched
victories at Mombasa, Montreal, Hong Kong, and Seville, and recorded his
personal best time of 2:11:39 in Houston in 1996 where he finished 6th.
Kioko was also selected for one Kenyan national team, competing in the
Commonwealth Games marathon in Victoria, Canada in 1994. He finished
sixth. In Kioko's most recent marathons he was seventh in Barcelona (2:18:33) and
Long Beach (2:17:39) last year. He is currently residing in Arizona where
he takes classes at a junior college.

Dan Held, 34, Waukesha, Wisc. (2:13:50): A veteran of two U.S. Olympic
Trials Marathons who has twice competed at Pittsburgh, Held has evolved
from a marathoner to an ultramarathoner. He was honored by UltraRunning
Magazine as their 2000 runner of the year for taking fourth place at his first IAU
World 100-K Championships and winning the U.S. 50-Mile Trail Championship.
After receiving the award, he said, "I am honored. I really enjoy the
ultra races. I am not sure what 2001 will bring. I am running only a couple
ultras again and there is no guarantee of success; given the length of the races,
anything can happen." In his two efforts at Pittsburgh, Held finished
third in 1997 (2:16:52) and dropped out in 1999. He set his personal best at
Boston in 1994.

Dennis Simonaitis, Draper, Utah (2:14:14): Simonaitis will be joining his
wife of six years, Michelle, who is also a top competitor at Pittsburgh
this year. Dennis is her coach. A former track runner --he finished 16th at
the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials at 10,000m-- he set his marathon personal best in
1989 at the Twin Cities Marathon. Simonaitis has won the Deseret News
(Salt Lake City) Marathon twice. He is a two-time U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon
qualifier (1996 & 2000) and finished 29th at Pittsburgh in the latter year.
In his most recent marathon in Austin last February, he placed 11th in
2:19:42.

Mikhail Khobotov, 27, Russia (2:15:13): Back at home in Abakan, Siberia
where Khobotov lives, his next door neighbor is two-time Olympic gold
medalist, Svetlana Masterkova. Khobotov has done some pretty good running
of his own. He's won four marathons since 1999 in Omsk (Russia/twice),
Echternach (Luxemburg), and Orleans (France). He's never run a marathon
in the United States.

Reuben Chesang, 38, Kenya (2:16:15): Chesang has really had two running
careers. In the early 1990's, he was a top track runner, doing his best
running at 800m (1:46.1), 1500m (3:36.70) and the mile (3:58.7). He was
the Commonwealth Games gold medalist at 1500m in 1994, and earned the silver
medal at the African Championships the following year in the same event.
He was still running world-class times at 1500m as late as 1997, and acted as
a pacemaker on the track in 1998. Chesang didn't run his first marathon
until 1999, at 37 years-old. He's now run eight. In 1999 he ran four
marathons, getting his personal best down to 2:16:15. He also ran four last year,
finishing third at Hartford (2:20:01) and fourth at Providence (2:16:19).

Gennady Temnikov, 39, Russia (2:16:59 recent): Temnikov, who has a fast
1:01:37 half-marathon to his credit, was second at the Marathon of Reggio
Emilia in Italy in 1999 and third at Nantes in France in 2000.

John Mwai, 30, Kenya (2:17:00): Mwai came to the sport of distance running
late; he's only been running seriously for about five years. He's only
run one marathon (Hartford, 2000), but he was the winner and came within one
second of the course record! Mwai has excelled at shorter distances, too.
He won Philadelphia's Broad Street Run 10-Mile in 1997 and has run 13:29
for 5-K.

Randy Ashley, 35, Brevard, N.C. (2:19:24): A two-time U.S. Olympic Trials
qualifier, Ashley has run at Pittsburgh twice. He was fourth in 1999
(2:19:24) and 49th at the hot and humid Olympic Trials last year. He has
been preparing for this race at altitude in Brevard with his training
partner, Bill Baldwin, who is also running in Pittsburgh. Ashley was the
Naples Half-Marathon champion in 1999 (1:05:10).

Craig Lawson, 30, Sandy, Utah (2:19:50): A four-time All-American at
Brigham Young, Lawson finished 13th at last year's U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in
Pittsburgh. Still relatively new to the marathon, he's only run the
distance five times. Lawson won two marathons last year in Salt Lake City
and Moline. He set his personal best at St. George (Utah) in 1998. Given
that he has run 28:53.96 for 10,000m, he's certainly got more potential in
the marathon. Holding a masters degree in accountancy, he works for
Deloitte & Touche.

Bill Baldwin, 28, Brevard, N.C. (2:28:01): Baldwin is a marathoner looking
for a breakthrough. He first tried the distance when he ran Pittsburgh in
1999, but was unable to finish. He's run two marathons since in Chicago,
where he set his personal best, and at Niagara Falls, Canada. He trains
on the trails in Brevard with Randy Ashley, who is also competing. Easy to
spot with his thick gotee, he once killed a rattlesnake on a training run.

Chris Ciamarra, 30, McKeesport, Pa. (2:29:27): The top regional runner in
the field, Ciamarra won the Houston Marathon earlier this year, setting
his career best time. He helps manage a bagel shop in Pittsburgh.

Tayeb Kalloud, Algeria (debut): Like many Algerians, Tayeb got his start
in professional racing in France. In 1998 he won the Tours 10-K, and he runs
for a French club, AS Saint-Junien. He finished third in this year's
French Cross Country Championships. Although he's never run a marathon, Kalloud
has run 44:42 for 15-K and 1:01:03 for 20-K which points to a 2:15 marathon.

The men's race winner will receive at least $7,500, and $10,000 if he
breaks two hours and 14 minutes. The remaining open finishers will receive
$5,000, $2,500, $2,000, $1,500, $1,000 and $500, respectively. The top U.S.
finishers --who can also win open prize money-- will receive $2,500,
$2,000, $1,500 and $1,000, respectively. Therefore, a U.S. winner running under
2:35:00 will receive $12,500.

The course record of 2:10:24 was set by John Kagwe of Kenya in 1996.

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