RUNNING USA – Wine Country Half Marathon Attracts All-Star Field to Napa-Sonoma

Highlighting the elite field is Ryan Hall, the American Half Marathon course record holder in 59:43, and US Olympian in the marathon at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympic games.  Hall will be running in his first Wine Country Half Marathon at Napa-to-Sonoma. Tesfaye Alemayehu, the 4-time defending champion and Napa-to-Sonoma course record holder (1:02:38) returns, as does Sergio Reyes, winner of the 2014 Flying Pig Marathon and 2014 Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon.  Ben Bruce and Craig Leon, who finished 13^th and 27^th respectively in the USA Half Marathon Championships earlier this year, will also challenge. 

Not to be overshadowed, the women’s elite field includes Lauren Fleshman, two-time USA champion in the 5,000. Fleshman is a profound elite runner, writer and entrepreneur. She is a regular columnist to The Fast Life in Runners World Magazine and RunnersWorld.com. She will be a guest speaker at the race expo along with competing in the race.  Fleshman makes her half-marathon debut at Napa-to-Sonoma against former Stanford teammate Sara Hall, who broke the course record (1:14:33) in her first half marathon at the 2013 Healdsburg Wine Country Half Marathon.  Laurie Knowles, Jane Kibii, and Rowan Torckler are also in contention for the coveted women’s title.

Napa-to-Sonoma features a scenic 13.1-mile course that starts at Cuvaison Estate Winery in Napa, runs through the Carneros wine appellation and finishes in historic Sonoma Plaza, site of Destination Races trademark Wine & Music Festival.  Registration for the 2014 Napa-to-Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon sold out in 35 minutes when registration opened in November.  The race was recently selected as one of the top half marathons in the world by Women’s Running Magazine, and is featured on the exclusive “must-do races” lists.  Runners World Magazine chose Napa-to-Sonoma as “Best Half Marathon Finish”. 

The race Expo will be held on Saturday, July 19 at Hanna Boys Center.  It’s open to the public and includes informational seminars, exhibits, product sampling, packet pickup, food, wine tasting and music. The half marathon starts at 7:00am and the GunBunFunRun 5K, presented by Parkpoint Health Club, starts at 8:00am.  Check the event website https://destinationraces.com/runn2s for more information on seminar times for Meb Keflezighi, Lauren Fleshman, and other headlining speakers.

All half marathoners (21+) receive a shirt, finisher’s medal, and wine glass with entry into the Wine & Music Festival tasting. The festival is held in Sonoma Plaza from 9:30am until 12:00pm. Twenty-eight local wineries along with Lagunitas Brewing will be on hand to pour, while the band, T-Luke & the Tight Suits will play Zydeco/Funk in the plaza starting at 9:30am. The awards ceremony is held at 10:30am on the band stage. First place men’s and women’s finishers receive prize purse of $1000 plus a 3L bottle of wine, a Riedel decanter trophy, Red Fox Wireless Headphones, and a wine country gift basket.

“Everyone is so excited for the race,” said Matt Dockstader, President and founder of Destination Races.  “With the fast sell-out, this stellar elite field, and all the publicity the race has been receiving lately, the anticipation is off the charts this year. This will be fun to watch.” 

Four thousand runners are signed up for the race, and over 10,000 people are expected to see the finish in Sonoma Plaza.

For more Information on the event series and Destination Races, go to destinationraces.com

RUNNING USA