See the Kentlands/Lakelands 5K Web site

See the Washington Post Web site

Photo by Victah Sailer www.photorun.net: Carrie Tollefson won the 1500m Women's title in July at the USA Track & Field Olympic Trials in Sacramento, CA

Live Chat Thursday, September 9th at Noon
Olympian Carrie Tollefson, will participate in a Washingtonpost.com online chat on Thursday, September 9th at 12:00 noon EST. Tollefson is serving as the Kentlands/Lakelands 5K spokesperson for the road race scheduled for September 11th in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

"This will be a great opportunity for runners to discuss running, general health and fitness and, most of all, the experience of making it to the highest echelons of the athletic world--the Olympics," said Kentlands/Lakelands race planning committee member Marty Horan, who has been arranging to have Tollefson speak at schools and community groups throughout Maryland prior to the race.

Tollefson's appearances are part of the Kentlands/Lakelands 5K commitment to raise awareness about health and fitness issues in America, particularly the obesity epidemic in schools. Last year, distance runner Todd Williams spoke to schools and community groups on these issues, and in 2002, marathon and distance running legend Bill Rodgers was the spokesperson for the program.

"We're depending on a great turnout from runners on the washingtonpost.com live chat on Thursday to help promote the sport of distance running," Horan said. "If enough people participate in the live chat, Washingtonpost.com and other newspapers have indicated an interest in having more distance runners participate in live chats. We're hoping that area runners will spread the word about this important event so that these media outlets will schedule more live chats with runners like Tollefson."

In addition to the live chat on washingtonpost.com Tollefson will be interviewed on Thursday or Friday of this week on the popular Murphy & Cash morning program of Oldies Radio WBIG (FM 100.3), one of the leading sponsors of the Kentlands/Lakesland 5K. Bill Rodgers will also be calling in on this radio interview.

The focus of the interview will be on ways to overcome the obesity epidemic in America, and how sporting events like the Olympics can help motivate individuals to a better general level of fitness by raising the level of general interest in sports like track & field and road racing. Both Tollefson and Rodgers have spoken regularly about these issues in the past. The Kentlands/Lakelands 5K, produced annually by the Kentlands Community Foundation, benefits local charities. This year's proceeds will be shared with the City of Gaithersburg's Dolores C. Swoyer Scholarship Program which helps pay for underprivileged children to attend summer camp.

For further information on the Kentlands Community Foundation, or to register for Kentlands/Lakelands 5K on September 11th, go to www.kentlands.org or call 301-926-6636.

Photo above by Victah Sailer www.photorun.net: Carrie Tollefson (far right) advanced to the 1500m semifinals in the Athens Olympic Games and placed 9th with a time of 4:08.55