RAAM 2001 Press Release
04/26/01

The 20th running of the Race Across America, the toughest endurance event in the world, will start in Portland, OR. On Saturday, June 16, Peter Lekisch and Jim Pitre will start in the age 60 and over division, each trying to be the first 60 year old to finish the race.

On Sunday, June 17 fifteen solo men and women, and a two-woman relay team will start. The men's solo field includes six veterans and seven rookies. Rob Kish, in his 16th RAAM, is trying for his fourth win. Cassie Lowe, who won the 2000 women's race, will be competing against Katie Lindquist, who raced tandem in RAAM 2000.

Six two-man relay teams will start on Tuesday, June 19. The two-person race should be hot. Nine of the two-man racers are RAAM veterans. Ricardo Arap, one-half of the two-man team that set the transcontinental record in 1998, is racing with Luiz Milano. The two-person format was a big success last year. Dwight Bishop said, "Doing RAAM as a two person team is the most fun I have had in a long time." Also starting on the 19th are a four-man team and four-woman team.

RAAM 2001 will travel 3,000 miles and climb 100,000 feet. The race starts off as a giant roller coaster with 70% of the climbing in the first half of the race: Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. The longest climb is from Ogden, UT 36 miles to the top of the Monte Cristo Mountains at 9,000 ft. Leaving Manila, UT riders face a series of brutal climbs through the Flaming Gorge Scenic Area. Then in Colorado, racers climb 17 miles to Tennessee Pass (10,424 ft.) The remainder of the RAAM route goes through rolling country in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The race finishes in Gulf Breeze, FL. Most riders are expected to finish between Monday, June 25 and Thursday, June 28.

The course is virtually the same as the 2000 route, which was widely praised by riders and crew. "The course was great. Most of the roads were smooth with very little traffic. There was more climbing than this Florida flatlander could have imagined and almost as much scenic beauty," said Kish.

RAAM is an all out test of "first one there wins." Each rider's crew will bring together the corners of the country and tie them together in a hobo's bundle ready for traveling. The most extreme athletes in the world will be tested against the obstacles of a continent. You race hard or you stay home. RAAM will find a rider's weakness and pick at it all the way across the country. The strongest make it to the finish line. Everyone else is left scattered emotionally and physically across the country. RAAM is for the best riders who save nothing for beyond the finish line.