July 4th Races: Emily Brown, Matt Gabrielson to Run Fifth Season 8k in Cedar Rapids; Katie McGregor at Peachtree 10k in Atlanta

Both Brown and Gabrielson have competed at the Fifth Season 8k previously with Brown finishing third last year in a personal best of 26:59.  Gabrielson has raced in the event three times, finishing fourth in 2008 with a time of 23:29, sixth in 2007 in 23:32 and 13th in 2006 in 23:23.  The race starts at 7 a.m. marking its 27th running.  It is the country’s longest continuing 8k road race.

In Atlanta, McGregor will join 60,000 other runners and walkers at Peachtree in the world’s largest 10k, a race that began in 1970.  She previously ran the race in 2007 when she finished third in 32:41 as well as in 2006 when she was 10th in 32:44.

The event starts at 7:30 a.m.

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 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.