Brooks to start Seattle-based middle distance program...

BOTHELL--Bothell-based Brooks announced in a release Thursday that it will deepen its commitment to the sport through continued support of the Hansons-Brooks Original Distance Program (ODP) and the creation of a Seattle-based middle distance team.

Brooks’ increased dedication to the Hansons-Brooks ODP will allow the program to continue to develop up-and-coming talent and recruit rising stars. It will also expand its support of internationally successful athletes like Desi Davila, who qualified for the 2012 Olympics after training with the Hansons-Brooks team since 2005. The renewed commitment comes just shy of the program’s 10th anniversary.

Recent Hansons-Brooks signees include Neely Spence, the first American woman to win the Zatopek 10,000m run; Bellingham native and Stanford alum Jake Riley, who recently won the USA Track & Field Club Cross Country Championships; and Colby Lowe, whose impressive college running career makes him a strong addition to the team. The most recent addition, Bobby Curtis, is the 7th fastest U.S. male ever in the 10,000m with a 27:24 personal record (PR). Riley, Lowe, and Curtis all hope to add to the history and growing success of the Hansons-Brooks team.

Brooks will deepen its commitment to the sport of running by creating a Seattle-based middle distance team. This team will be modeled after the successful Hansons-Brooks ODP. While the Seattle program is in its infancy, four high-caliber athletes have already signed on to participate. Current Brooks’ athlete Katie Mackey and longtime runner Matt Scherer will join the team, along with former Seattle Pacific and Colorado All-American Jessica Tebo and Mark Wieczorek (left/photo by Paul Merca), who placed seventh at the 2012 Olympic Trials in the men’s 800m, and will no longer wear the multi-striped T-shirt this season.

“Investing in running and supporting athletes is part of the DNA at Brooks,” said Jesse Williams, Brooks’ sports marketing manager. “Our hope is to inspire people to run longer, faster, farther, and in order to do that we must help provide opportunities for athletes to practice and develop their talent. We hope that our professional athletes will help inspire other runners to set goals, push themselves and keep running.”

NOTE:  Brooks Sports media relations contributed to this report.