FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Megan Hogan, Pat Goodwin to Present Clinic at Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Health & Fitness Expo April 2; Four Athletes to Run at Hamline Invitational April 2

Minneapolis/St. Paul – March 29, 2011 – Team USA Minnesota’s Megan Hogan, along with founder and president Pat Goodwin, will present one of the clinics scheduled at the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Health and Fitness Expo on April 2.  The topic for the hour long clinic, which starts at noon, is “Elite American Road Racing in the 21st Century.”  The annual Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run will be held on April 3 in Washington, D.C.

Hogan was a collegiate standout at George Washington University who joined Team USA Minnesota in February.  During her career at GW, she was a two-time Atlantic 10 Cross Country champion and a two-time qualifier at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, including an eighth place finish in November 2010.  On the track, she has a 10,000 meter best of 32:34.95 which she set last spring.

In her professional debut, Hogan placed third in the USA 15k Championships in Jacksonville on March 12 with a time of 49:57.  She is currently preparing for the outdoor track season with plans to compete in the 5000 meters at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 15 and in the 10,000 meters at the Cardinal Invitational on May 1. 

Goodwin founded the Team USA Minnesota Distance Training Center in 2001 as part of a national effort to improve the competitiveness of post-collegiate American distance running.  Since that time, Team USA Minnesota has developed an Olympian (1500m) and national champions on the track (1500, 3000 and 10,000 meters), cross country (4k and 8k), and the roads (10k, 15k, 10 mile, half marathon, 25k and marathon) along with over 50 top three finishes in national championships and 26 spots on world teams.  The center also developed the new www.RunPro.com web site and will host a RunPro Camp this summer for recent post-collegiate distance runners. 

Goodwin was named the 2007 USATF Women’s Long Distance Running Contributor of the Year and has completed 36 marathons.  She was previously president of the Twin Cities Marathon (now Twin Cities In Motion) from 1992-93 and on the marathon board for 18 years.  In addition, she was the long distance running chair for the Minnesota Association of USATF from 1995-98, the running columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune from 1996-99, and has provided promotional and marketing support to numerous road races. 

The Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run was founded in 1973 and is limited to 15,000 participants.  The Health & Fitness Expo will be held at the National Building Museum from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.  A traditional clinic presenter is Bill Rodgers, a four-time winner of the Cherry Blossom race, who will speak at 1:00 p.m.

Hamline Invitational – April 2

Four Team USA Minnesota distance runners – Chris Rombough, Katie McGregor, Meghan Armstrong and Jamie Cheever – will run in the 1500 meter events at the Hamline Invitational on April 2.  The meet will be held at the Klas Center on the Hamline University campus in St. Paul.  The 1500m is scheduled for around noon on the Mondo track. 

All four athletes are using the meet as a tune-up prior to beginning their outdoor track seasons.  Rombough, Armstrong and Cheever are scheduled to compete at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 14-15, with Rombough, Armstrong and McGregor planning to race at the Cardinal Invitational on May 1. 

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 Fitness (www.lifetimefitness.com) and its silver sponsor is Twin Cities In Motion (www.mtcmarathon.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 atwww.teamusaminnesota.org.