At left: Lisa Reichmann running in the 2003 Boston Marathon. Photo courtesy of Lisa Reichmann.

Lisa Reichmann of Silver Spring, Maryland, was selected as a member of the United States Half Marathon team set to compete at the 10th Pan American Maccabi Games in Santiago, Chile, December 24, 2003-January 4, 2004, according to Ron Carner, head of the United States delegation. The United States Team, sponsored by Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel, is sending its largest delegation ever to this international competition.

A 1992 graduate of Wootton High School, Lisa began running while in Law School at Duke University. She is a regular on the local running circuit, having placed first woman overall in the annual Oy Vey 10K, sponsored by the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington, in 2001 and 2002. She was also the female winner of the 2002 Walter Johnson 10K and the 2001 Mitzvah 5K in Arlington, Virginia. Lisa has completed seven marathons since 2000, including Marine Corps (2000), Chicago (2001 and 2003), New York City (2002), and Boston (2001, 2002, and 2003).

More than 600 athletes, coaches, medical professionals, staff and sponsors from over 32 states will join more than 2,000 athletes from over 20 countries including Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Great Britain, South Africa, Hungary, Australia, and Israel. The Pan American Maccabi Games, sponsored by Maccabi World Union, are a quadrennial international competition for Jewish athletes from the Americas and invited countries.

Ron Carner, General Chairman of the Maccabi USA team and Maccabi Organizing Committee, said, "Putting the Pan Am Maccabi Games in perspective with other such sporting events, the Maccabi field will make this event larger than the Winter Olympics."

Carner is thrilled to see the support the United States delegation is providing to this event and credits the large delegation to one of support for World Jewry during this most challenging time for Jews around the globe.

"This important time gives Maccabi World Union an opportunity to bring together Jews to stand in solidarity," Carner said. "Due to the turmoil caused by the violence in Israel and ... anti-Semitism throughout certain parts of the world, what better way to show their strength, solidarity, and concern than for Jewish athletes and family members to come together."

The 600-member United States delegation is typically the size of the one that attends the World Maccabiah Games in Israel, the fifth largest international athletic event in the world.

Sports for this year's Pan American Maccabi games include baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, bowling, golf, gymnastics, judo, karate, soccer, softball, squash, swimming, table tennis, tennis, half marathon, volleyball, and water polo. Men's and women's teams for selected sports are organized in age categories of Juniors, Youth, Open, and Masters.

Carner, a leader in the Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel organization since 1987, and currently one of the three Vice Presidents for Maccabi World Union, welcomed the opportunity to lead this year's talented United States team to Chile.

"Chile and all of South America offer a unique opportunity to meet our Latin American Jewish brethren, whose ancestors came from the same towns and villages that ours came from," he said. "The only difference is that ours went straight across the Atlantic to the U.S. and theirs made a left. Often during the past games, in conversation with the South Americans, we find out that some of their parents and grandparents came from the same towns as ours."

Carner described the uniqueness of the athletic competition to unify Jews from around the world. "No one does what we at Maccabi World Union do at an international level," he said. "Where can a kid from Kansas City or Memphis get an opportunity to meet and know a Juilo Ginsberg, a Juan Friedman, a Carlos Cohen from Latin America but at these Games? This is what the whole program is all about. The games are competitive and gold medals are nice but the experience is why we do this. Hopefully, the experience engenders Jewish solidarity and identity."

For more information, contact Jed Margolis, executive director, at (215)561-6900, ext. 21, or see www.maccabiusa.com. The Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel office is located at 1926 Arch Street, 4R, Philadelphia, PA 19103.