Dan Browne and Sara Wells are set to run the 2005 USA Marathon Championships, hosted by the Twin Cities Marathon October 2. Both should feel quite at home, Wells is a member of the local Team USA Minnesota and Browne will return to the city where he won his first USA marathon title.

After starting off the year with a win at the USA Half-Marathon Championships at Houston in January, Browne has spent most of 2005 recovering from two knee surgeries and an emergency appendectomy.

On the women's side, Wells will be looking to win her second USA Marathon Championship. Wells won the championship, running 2:35:37 in her debut at the distance at the 2003 championships in St. Louis.

The Twin Cities Marathon will be the eighth stop for men and the sixth for women on the 2005 USA Running Circuit (USARC) a USA Track & Field road series, featuring USA Championships from 5 km to the marathon and attracts the best U.S. distance runners. The 2005 circuit has nine events for men and seven events for women.

The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USARC race (15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1), with a final $12,500 grand prix purse ($6000, $4000, and $2500) for the top three men and women point scorers overall. The USARC points at the USA Marathon Championships will be doubled. Currently Abdi Abirahman leads the men's circuit with 33 points and Jen Rhines leads the women's with 27.

The mission of the USA Running Circuit is to showcase, support, and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USARC and its races have provided over $4 million dollars to U.S. distance runners.