05.10.2006

Anna Thompson to lead Aussie contingent in inaugural IAAF Road Running Championships

Commonwealth Games representatives Anna Thompson, Lauren Shelley and Martin Dent will join international debutante Lisa-Jane Weightman to form the Australian team competing in the inaugural IAAF Road Running Championships this Sunday.

The university city of Debrecen, situated 230km east of the Hungarian capital Budapest, will play host to the men�s and women�s world championship 20km event, replacing the half marathon distance previously contested.

The Australian team will be led by World Cross Country Championships bronze medallist Anna Thompson.

The 29-year-old primary school teacher from Melbourne played a pivotal role in scoring the first ever team medal at the World Cross Country short course event in Fukuoka, Japan in April 2006, when the Australian women captured the bronze medal. A week earlier she ran a lifetime best at the Commonwealth Games, finishing fifth in the 10,000m in 32:27.74.

Martin Dent has represented Australia in World Cross Country and World Junior Championship competitions. After setting a personal best of 2:15.12 in the Canberra Marathon in 2004, Dent captured the Australian Cross Country title in 2005 before returning to the steeplechase to make the Commonwealth Games team. In Melbourne, the 27-year-old produced a fantastic run to finish fourth behind the Kenyan�s with a new personal best of 8:28.98.

Lauren Shelley had a stellar year in 2005; finishing 21st in the London Marathon, second in the Gold Coast marathon and further improved her personal best when she finished eighth in the Tokyo marathon in November. The 29-year-old physiotherapist from Western Australia finished eighth in the marathon at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, clocking 2:39:13.

Twenty-seven-year-old Lisa-Jane Weightman from Melbourne will make her representative debut in an IAAF world championship event, in what should be a valuable experience for the 2005 Australian Cross Country bronze medallist.

The entry list is headlined by some of the greats of international distance running.

Last year�s winner of the World Half Marathon in Edmonton, Constantina Tomescu of Romania, returns at the head of the women�s line-up, along with 2002 champion Berhane Adere of Ethiopia, who was also the 2003 World 10,000m track champion.

Also toeing the start will be World 3000m Steeplechase champion Dorcus Inzikuru of Uganda, and three-time World Cross Country short course gold medallist, Edith Masai of Kenya.

Heading the men�s field will be Eritrea�s Zersenay Tadesse, the Olympic Games 10,000m bronze medallist. Also in contention will be 2003 and 2005 World Marathon champion Jaouad Gharib from Morocco who took silver at the World Half Marathon in 2002.

Overall, 180 runners are set to contest the men�s and women�s races over the 5km loop course in which the winners will take home a cheque of US $30,000. The IAAF is offering a total prize purse of US $245,000 to the top six individuals and teams finishing in both the men�s and women�s races.

For further media information or to arrange athlete interviews, please contact:

David Culbert � Athletics Australia Media
0417 242 641 or david@jumpmedia.com.au

Michelle Cook � Athletics Australia Media
0430 177 668 or michelle@jumpmedia.com.au