Syracuse Festival of Races Chosen to Host
the
USA Masters 5 km Championship Through 2016

Syracuse, NY ‰ÛÓ The Masters Long Distance Running Committee (MLDR) of USA
Track & Field (USATF) has selected the Syracuse Festival of Races (SFoR) to
continue hosting the USA Masters 5 km Championship for both men and women
through at least 2016.  The decision extends to nine years the SFoR’s
current reign as host to the nation‰Ûªs top 40-and-older distance runners as they
race for national titles and records at the world‰Ûªs most popular road race
distance.

“The Masters Long Distance Running Committee of USATF is pleased that Dave
Oja and his team will be hosting our USA Masters 5 km Championship for the next
three years,” said Don Lein, Chair of MLDR.  It has proven to be a
professionally run, athlete friendly event which the athletes, voting with their
feet, have made the most popular event on our road running championship
circuit.”

Masters competition in long distance running in the United States begins at
age 40, and recent editions of the USA Masters 5 km Championship in Syracuse
have attracted finishers from age 40 to age 93.  The 2014 USA Masters 5 km
Championship, scheduled for Sunday, October 5, is expected to attract nearly 300
top age-group athletes to Syracuse to race on the course that routinely hosts
world-class performances along with national 5 km (3.1-mile) age-group records
and single-age bests.

In 2013, the SFoR‰Ûªs renowned out-and-back course along Meadowbrook Drive
between Syracuse University‰Ûªs Lampe Athletic Complex and Euclid Avenue hosted 24
world-class performances.  They included the fastest 5 km road race
performances ever by a U.S. male age-57 (16:22, by Brian Pilcher, of Ross, CA),
and the fastest 5 km road race performances ever by U.S. females age-62 (19:06,
by Kathryn Martin, of Northport, NY), age-69 (22:08, by Jan Holmquist, of
Burlington, MA), and age-71 (23:43, by Sue Gardinier, of Verona, NY and the
Chargers).

In addition to racing for national records and U.S. Championship titles, the
athletes in the 2014 Championship will be competing for a total of $10,000 in
individual and club team prize money.

“The Syracuse Chargers Track Club and our SFoR race committee would have been
delighted with a single-year extension of the Championship designation,” said
Syracuse Festival of Races founder and race director, Dave Oja.  “To have
the Masters LDR Committee ask us to commit to a minimum of three more years is a
wonderful compliment indeed.  It‰Ûªs terrific for Syracuse and for the
Upstate New York runners of all ages and abilities who enjoy this once-a-year
opportunity to run in a road race field of this caliber right here in
Syracuse.”

Along with its separate 5K races for males and females, the Syracuse Festival
of Races includes an enormously popular 3K Fun & Fitness Run, and the
non-profit-centered Tops Friendly Markets Community Walk. The four events of the
SFoR‰Ûªs 22^nd edition are expected to attract approximately 3,000
participants and help to raise thousands of dollars for various participating
non-profit organizations.

To view various lists of the all-time fastest performances on the Syracuse
Festival of Races course, visit www.festivalofraces.com/results.html.

Major support for the 2013 Syracuse Festival of Races was provided by: MVP
Health Care; Tops Friendly Markets; SOSPlus; Nationwide Insurance; USA Track
& Field; the Syracuse Chargers Track Club, Inc.; Dick‰Ûªs Sporting Goods; YNN;
and Cumulus Media of Syracuse.