10/12/2003 — The results have been tabulated and the awards presentation is now over.  

Official Individual Results:  

1. Paul Beckers, Belgium, 270.08km
2. Ryoichi Sekiya, Japan, 267.22km
3. Etienne van Acker, Belgium, 264.96km  

Beckers caught and passed Sekiya with less than 10 minutes to go. Sekiya gave chase, and the pair were locked together until the final 3 minutes, when Sekiya collapsed and fell to the track.  

1. Irina Reutovich, Russia, 237.05km
2. Galina Eremina, Russia, 232.05km
3. Joelle Semur, France, 227.28km  

World record holder and pre-race favorite, Edit Berces of Hungary, finished 4th.  

MEN'S TEAMS
1. Belgian team
2. Russian team
3. Japanese team
...
6. American team
(21 teams took part)  

WOMEN'S TEAMS
1. Russian team
2. French team
3. Japanese team
4. American team
(11 teams took part)  

AMERICAN TEAM RESULTS:  

MEN
1. John Geesler, 11th, 246.15km (152.95 miles)
2. Scott Eppelman, 18th, 230.714 (143.35 miles, personal best)
3. Roy Pirrung, 32nd, 218.38km (135.7 miles)  

WOMEN
1. Pam Reed, 6th, 217.04 (134.86 miles, personal best)
2. Sandy Powell, 20th, 196.27km (121.95 miles)
3. Sue Olsen, 26th, 184.08 (114.38 miles)  

Pirrung suffered from extreme fatigue from 13-15 hours and lost a lot of distance. Olsen pulled a hamstring muscle but hobbled on valiantly for the American team.  

Geesler, Eppelman, Pirrung, and Reed all finished very strongly and moved up through the field in the final two hours. Reed's team-leading late race charge brought the American women from 6th to 4th place during those final hours.  

The American team was sponsored by the American Ultrarunning Association, Natural Ovens, and Ultrafit.  

We will post complete results when they become available beyond the confines of race headquarters.  

— Dan Brannen
American Ultrarunning Association