FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact (including media credentials):Mark WinitzWin-It!z Sports Public Relations(650) 948-0618 - Direct, (650) 799-3319 - Mobile APPLIED MATERIALS SILICON VALLEY TURKEY TROT / SEAGATE 5KANNOUNCES WORLD CLASS ELITE FIELD SAN JOSE, Calif. - (November 17, 2006) - When the Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot 5K/10K and its companion Seagate Elite 5K road race showcase their new downtown venue at San Jose's Confluence Park East, the event will bring together a confluence of healthy activities for the entire community on Thanksgiving morning. Plus, in only its second year, the soon-to-become San Jose fixture is expected to draw 3,000 participants, and a superb field of world class and nationally ranked distance runners who will vie for a prize purse of more than $22,000. For local and regional class competitors, this year's Turkey Trot/Seagate 5K will host the Pacific Association/USA Track & Field Open Men's 5K Championship presented by Santa Clara Valley National Bank. Event organizers will roll out a spacious, new staging area adjacent to HP Pavilion. Redesigned race courses include a fast, spectator-friendly 3/4-mile loop which runners in the Seagate Elite 5K race will negotiate four times; and a pleasant route, which includes portions of the tree-lined Guadalupe River Park Trail for recreational runners in the Applied Materials Silicon Valley 10K (6.2 miles) Run and 5K (3.1 miles) Run/Walk. Incorporated into the 5K Run/Walk are "SAP CEO/Celebrity," "KB Home Quickest Cop/Fastest Firefighter," and "EMC2 Fittest Firm" divisions. A Kid's Fun Run, sponsored by Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, for two to nine year-old children, encourages the whole family to participate. All events start and finish in downtown San Jose at Confluence Park East on the Guadalupe River (intersection of West St. John and Autumn Streets). The events begin at 9:00 a.m. and run through the morning. U.S. Congressman Mike Honda, who represents California's 15th congressional district (Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties), will serve as Grand Marshal. Best of all, the Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot - Run or Walk for Health, Hope, and a Home benefits several local charities: Santa Clara Family Health Foundation, Second Harvest Food Bank, and the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County. In 2005, its inaugural year, the Turkey Trot raised over $132,000 for these charities. "We all know families less fortunate than our own," said Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO and race founder Carl Guardino. "The Turkey Trot is a fun and healthy way for families to kick-start the holidays by helping themselves while helping others. Already, we expect to substantially surpass last year's charitable contributions." According to an annual survey conducted by USA Track & Field, the national governing body of track and field, road runners and walkers in the U.S. raised approximately $656 million for charitable causes in 2005, a 14 percent increase over the previous year, and the largest increase ever since the survey began in 2002. In 2005, 83 percent of races nationwide raised money for charity. REGISTRATION More information, including registration forms and online registration, is available at www.svlg.net, or call the race hotline: (408) 501-7864. TOP ELITE FIELDS ANNOUNCED Turkey Trot participants and visiting spectators will enjoy watching a Thanksgiving parade of invited professional athletes representing ten nations in the separate men's and women's Seagate Elite 5K races which follow the "all comers" events. The invitational race, particularly on the men's side, is shaping up as one of the most competitive 5Ks in the U.S. this year. The deep men's field includes three Olympians, an NCAA (collegiate) 10,000-meter national champion, and more than a dozen athletes who have run under 14 minutes for the 5K distance. The women's race features several of the most promising and swift young distance runners in the world, one Olympian, and national champions and medalists. The top three men and women will earn $2,500, $1,500, and $500 respectively. $5,000 bonuses are up for grabs for the male and/or female who betters the current U.S. 5K road records. The current U.S. records are held by two Californians: Marc Davis (13 minutes and 24 seconds set in 1996), and Deena Kastor (Drossin) (14:54, 2002). Blake Boldon, 27, a coach at Iowa State University, returns to defend his men's title. Boldon, who topped an excellent men's field last year with a 14:16 win, is coming off a successful track season. This year, however, Boldon will have much stiffer competition: Dan Browne, 31, of Beaverton, Ore. placed 12th for the U.S. in the 2004 Olympic Games 10,000-meter race in Athens. Browne also shares the fastest 5K time (13:16) among the invited men with Ryan Hall, a former Stanford University All-American and NCAA 5,000-meter champion. Hall, 24, has registered a sensational racing year. Last winter, Hall earned the men's title at the USA National Cross Country Championships and, subsequently, led the U.S. men's long course team at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Japan. Last month, Hall set a new U.S. 20-kilometer record (57:54), while again leading the U.S. men's team at the IAAF World Road Running Championships in Hungary. Hall's performances have led to a nomination for USA Track and Field's 2006 Robert E. DeCelle Award, bestowed annually to the outstanding U.S. male long distance runner (award winner to be announced in December). Three-time NCAA individual champion (for Stanford University) Gabe Jennings, 27, of Mendocino, Calif., who competed in the 2000 Olympic Games at 1,500 meters, brings a honed middle distance runner's finishing kick to the Seagate Elite 5K. Uganda's Julius Achon, a 1996 and 2000 Olympian at 1,500 meters, holds Ugandan national records at distances from 800 meters to the mile. Kenya's Josphat Boit is a likely contender for top honors. Boit, 22, is just starting a promising post-collegiate running career after becoming the 2006 NCAA Division I 10,000-meter national champion while competing for Arkansas. Former University of California-Berkeley All-American Bolota Asmerom (USA, Oakland), Celedonio (Cele) Rodriguez (USA, Colorado), who was top American at this year's Bay to Breakers race, and Mexico's Juan Luis Barrios (who has run 13:27 for 5,000-meters) will also be in the hunt. In addition, the Pacific Association USATF Open Men's 5K Championship division will draw the best male distance runners and club teams in the Pacific Association (northern California and northwestern Nevada) region. PA/USATF individuals and club teams will contend for a dedicated $2,500 prize purse plus precious Grand Prix points on the PA/USATF road circuit. The women's elite field is also packed with top talent. Sara Hall (former Stanford standout Sara Bei) has had a breakout year similar to her husband Ryan's. In September, Hall won the USA National 5K Women's Road Championships in Providence, RI in 15:40. The 23-year-old rising star also topped a superb international field at the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile in New York City on September 30th. Hall's personal best at 5,000-meters is 15:24. "We're really excited about racing in San Jose and then spending the Thanksgiving holiday with my family in Santa Rosa," said Hall, who was a prep standout at Santa Rosa's Montgomery High School. Hall's former Stanford teammate, Malindi Elmore, 26, a 2004 Olympian at 1,500 meters for Canada, carries an impressive 4:02 personal best in the metric mile to San Jose. Jenelle Deatherage, 29, of Team USA Minnesota also has impressive middle distance credentials. Deatherage placed third at 1,500 meters at this year's USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, and was eighth outdoors. Romania's Adriana Pirtea brings a strong 15:36 personal best at 5K to the race. All eyes, perhaps, will be on young Kenyan Emily Chebet, who, at 20 years old, appears poised to enter top international ranks. Last summer, Chebet placed high in two of the most talent-laden track and field meets (for distance runners) in the world. After scoring a runner-up 10,000-meter performance (32:27) at the Kenyan National Track & Field Championships, Chebet ran a lightening swift 31:33 for 10K while winning a bronze medal at the African Athletics Championships. Kenya's Magdalene Mukunzi (15:38 for 5,000m) will appear following a string of excellent performances which include a course record 25:24 at the NTELOS 8K in Richmond, Va. last weekend and a third-place at the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in San Jose on October 8th. Newly turned master Sylvia Mosqueda, 40, of Los Angeles, will also join the women's field. Mosqueda, who owns a lifetime personal best of 15:30 for 5K, won the USA Masters National 10K road title in Paso Robles, Calif. on September 24th. The top women will have their targets set on the women's race record of 16:01, set in last year's inaugural event by Blake Russell, who will not defend her title. A full list of top elite contenders is shown below. For Dan Browne, the Turkey Trot's Seagate 5K fits perfectly into his schedule which is focused on making a second consecutive U.S. Olympic team in 2008. "I'm definitely hoping it will kick off a successful winter racing season for me," said Browne, a West Point graduate who is coached by U.S. marathon record holder Alberto Salazar. "I'm healthy, building great mileage and core strength, and getting in 16 miles a day." As for a possible new U.S. 5K national record on the fast and flat San Jose course? Browne said a record effort takes ideal conditions: a fast course, a solid elite field, proper prize money incentives, and, most importantly, racers who are willing to put it on the line with a fast pace. The Silicon Valley Leadership Group, South Bay Labor Council/Working Partnerships, City of San Jose, and Santa Clara County are partnering to present the 2006 Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot and companion events. The race-day schedule is: 9:00 a.m. Applied Materials All-Comers 5K Run/Walk and 10K Run10:20 a.m. Seagate Elite Women's 5K10:40 a.m. Seagate Elite Men's 5K11:00 a.m. Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Kid's Fun Run11:15 a.m. Awards Ceremony The 2006 Silicon Valley Turkey Trot is presented by Applied Materials. Additional gold medal sponsors include Seagate, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, SAP, KB Home, EMC2, and Santa Clara Valley National Bank. TOP ENTRANTS - ELITE FIELDApplied Materials Silicon Valley Turkey Trot / Seagate Elite 5K (As of November 17, 2006) Athlete / Country-State / Age / Affiliation /Personal Best (5K or other) MENBlake Boldon, USA/Ames, Iowa, 27, Kansas City Smoke, 13:58Dan Browne, USA/Beaverton, Ore., 31, Nike, 13:16Ryan Hall, USA/Mammoth Lakes, Calif., 24, Asics, 13:16Bolota Asmerom, USA/Oakland, Calif., 28, Nike, 13:26Juan Luis Barrios, Mexico, 23, Unattached, 13:27Cele Rodriguez, USA/Alamosa, Colo., 26, Reebok, 13:36 Julius Achon, Uganda, 29, Nike Oregon Project, 8K-22:20Gabe Jennings, USA/Mendocino, Calif., 27, Team Running USA, 13:44Josphat Boit, Kenya, 22, Unattached, '06 NCAA 10,000m National ChampionHeron Lagat, Kenya, 23, AmeriKenyan RC, 13:54Jacques Sallberg, USA/Pasadena, Calif., 32, Run With Us, 13:52Dmitri Safronov, Russia, 25, Unattached, 13:57Jerry Ziak, Canada, 30, Kajaks, 13:56Steve Sundell, USA/Redwood City, Calif., 24, Unattached, 13:58Mohamed Trafeh, Morocco, 21, Snail's Pace Pasadena, 14:06Richie Boulet, USA/Oakland, Calif., 33, Transports adidas, 13:32Christian Hesch, USA/Morro Bay, Calif., 27, Nike Los Angeles, 13:58Sergio Reyes, USA/Palmdale, Calif., 25, Asics Aggies, 14:14 WOMENMalindi Elmore, Canada, 26, Asics, 3,000m-8:51Sara Hall, USA/Mammoth Lakes, Calif., 23, Asics, 15:24Adriana Pirtea, Romania, 26, Unattached, 15:36Jenelle Deatherage, USA/Minneapolis, Minn., 29, Reebok, 15:53Magdalene Mukunzi, Kenya, 24, Global Mbio, 15:38Florence Jepkosgei, Kenya, 22, Global Mbio, 16:15Andrea Grove, Canada, 32, Mt. West TC, 15:31Emily Chebet, Kenya, 20, AmeriKenyan RC, 10K-31:34 Iryna Vashchuk, Ukraine, 24, Asics, 16:19 Deirdre Byrne, Ireland, 24, Unattached, 16:25Kirsty Smith, Canada, 22, Kajaks, 16:27Roisin Quinn, Ireland, 24, Greater Lowell TC, 1,500m-4:30 Sylvia Mosqueda, USA/Los Angeles, Calif., 40, See Jane Run, 15:30
