Unheralded American Phil McCarthy of New York City, a pianist who works in the music publishing industry, was the big surprise of the U.S. team's venture to the 6th Annual 24-Hour Run World Championship, held July 28-29 in Drummondville, Canada. McCarthy, a journeyman ultrarunner of only a few years, had already pulled off a surprising 3rd place in the Ultracentric National 24-Hour Run Championship in Grapevine, Texas last November to make the national team.  But his performance (ust under 140 miles) was modest on an international scale, and didn't even put him on the global radar screen.  At last weekend's World Title event in Canada, National Champ Alex Swenson led the Americans early on in extremely humid conditions with daytime high temperatures in the 80's Farenheit. After many of the international stars faltered or retired in the oppressive conditions, Swenson moved into the top 10, with McCarthy shadowing him. During the long, muggy night (after a 2:00PM Saturday start) McCarthy moved past Swenson and then gradually into the top 5, eventually creeping into 4th place in the final hours. Swenson, also done in by the humidity, was forced to retire just prior to the 20 hour mark. Scott Eppelman of Coppell, Texas, after a much more cautious start, gradually made his way from 60th place to 17th.  Even with Swenson relegated to the sidelines for the final 4 hours, McCarthy's shocker at the front, and Eppelman's relentless assault from behind, kept the American men in 3rd place in the national team standings until the final 15 minutes, when the Germans, with three men still moving, creeped past them.  The men's individual race was won by Ryoichi Sekiya of Japan.  The Japanese and French Men's teams finished first and second.

Russian Lyudmilla Kalinina took the women's world title and led the Russian women to a team rout over Japan and France. The American women, led by national champ Carolyn Smith, placed 5th in the team competition.  Rebecca Johnson and Deb Horn completed the American scoring.

RESULTS

MEN

1. Ryoichi Sekiya, JAPAN   263.562km

2. Mohamed Magroun, FRANCE  257.018km

3. Masayuki Otaki, JAPAN  253.814km

4. Phil McCarthy, USA  248.613km

5. Fabien Hoblea, FRANCE  248.505km

.....

17. Scott Eppelman,USA  220.910km

37. Alex Swenson, USA 199.801km

WOMEN

1. Lyudmilla Kalinina, RUSSIA  236.848km

2. Brigitte Bec, FRANCE  233.137km

3. Galina Eremina, RUSSIA  230.288km

4. Yasuke Kanchira, JAPAN  221.383km

5. Monique Muhlen, LUXEMBOURG  217.776

.....

14. Carolyn Smith, USA  195.720km

18. Rebecca Johnson, USA  191.406km

22. Deb Horn, USA  184.909km

MEN'S TEAMS

1. JAPAN  721.842km

2. FRANCE  742.206km

3. GERMANY  673.092km

4. USA  669.324km

5. SPAIN  651.464km

WOMEN'S TEAMS

1. RUSSIA  671.329km

2. JAPAN  641.202km

3. FRANCE  614.488km

4. GERMANY  591.503km

5. USA  572.035km