FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Credit Union Cherry Blossom To Host USATF Ten Mile Championships
at 50th Anniversary Celebration
Potential Prize Money Payout Could Reach $66,250
March 1, 2023, Washington, DC: Organizers of the 50th running of the Credit
Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile (CUCB) announced today that the April 2 event
will serve as the USATF 10 Mile Championships for American men and women.
In addition, the organizers are providing a $50,000* shared bonus available
for any World or American record times set at this year's Runner's Rite of
Spring®.
Race Director Phil Stewart observed: "We are excited to host the USATF
championships with this very special 50th anniversary edition of the race.
We are pleased to support American runners in this manner as the 2024
Olympic year approaches, and we hope that one of them will earn the $50,000
bonus with a new American record."
This will be the fourth time one or more of the USATF 10 Mile Championships
have been hosted by CUCB race organizers: the women's championships were
part of the 2013 event, while Cherry Blossom hosted both the men's and
women's championships in 2014 and again in 2021. USATF champions crowned at
CUCB include Janet Bawcom (2013), Christo Landry and Janet Bawcom (2014),
and Abbabiya Simbassa and Nell Rojas (2021).
This year, the American prize purse totals $25,000. International elite
runners will be part of a field competing for $44,000 in prize money;
American runners placing in the top-10 overall are eligible to receive both
open and American-only prize money.
In addition to the USATF Championships, the event will host the 2023 Road
Runners Club of America (RRCA) National 10 Mile Championships and the 2023
PRRO Circuit Championship.
The RRCA Championship is open to both International and American runners,
with the winners in the open, 40+, 50+ and 60+ age groups earning the title
of 2023 RRCA National Champion.
The Ten Mile will serve as the 2022-2023 Professional Road Racing
Organization (PRRO) Circuit Championship. Winners of the individual
2022-2023 PRRO Circuit events will be eligible for the $10,000 PRRO Super
Bonus by winning the PRRO Championship (the bonus is split if an eligible
male and female win the Championship).
* If World Best times and American Records for men and women are set by the
winners at the event (i.e. four records set), the $50,000 record bonus
would be split into four $12,500 shares. If only one World or American
record is set for either men or women, the athlete setting the record would
get the full $50,000. If an American sets an American record and no other
World or American records are set, he or she would receive the entire
$50,000 as well. Currently, the times to beat are as follows:
- Haile Gebreselassie's (ETH) World Athletics Best of 44:24, run at the
Tilburg 10 Mile in Tilburg, Netherlands, September 4, 2005;
- Keira D'Amato's World Athletics Best in a women's only race of 51:23, run
at the UpDawg 10 Mile in Washington, DC, November 24, 2020;
- Greg Meyer's American Record of 46:13, run at the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile
in Washington, DC, March 27, 1983; and
- Keira D'Amato's previously listed World Best 51:23, which is also the
American Record for a women's only race.
Thanks to Credit Union Miracle Day's title sponsorship since 2002, the
Credit Union Cherry Blossom Run has raised over $10.2 million for the
Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, including $323,000 in 2022.
About the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile:
The Credit Union Cherry Blossom races, organized by Cherry Blossom, Inc., a
501c(3) chapter of the Road Runners Club of America, are known as "The
Runner's Rite of Spring®" in the Nation's Capital. The staging area for
Sunday's 10 Mile is on the Washington Monument Grounds, and the course
passes in sight of all of the major Washington, DC Memorials. In 2023, the
reimagined Saturday 5K will stage on Freedom Plaza and traverse the route
of Presidential Inaugurations down Pennsylvania Avenue before crossing the
National Mall in the shadow of the Capitol Building and returning by the
same route. The Kids Run is staged on the grounds of the National Building
Museum. All events serve as a fundraiser for the Children's Miracle Network
Hospitals, a consortium of 170 premier children's hospitals across North
America. About one-third of the funds raised support Washington, DC's own
Children's National ("Children's Hospital"). The event also funds the Road
Runners Club of America's "Roads Scholar" program designed to support
up-and-coming U.S. distance running talent.
Credit Union Miracle Day, Inc., a consortium of credit unions and credit
union suppliers, is the title sponsor of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10
Mile, 5K, Kids Run and Virtual Run. Current presenting sponsors include
ASICS, REI Co-op and Wegmans; supporting sponsors include CACI, Co-op
Solutions, CUNA Mutual Group, FinisherPix, Gatorade Endurance, Guayaki,
MedStar Health, PSCU, Potomac River Running, Suburban Solutions, The MO
Apartments and UPS.
The 10 Mile is a proud member of the PRRO Circuit (PRRO.org), a series of
this country's classic non- marathon prize money road races with circuit
stops in Washington, DC; Spokane, WA; and Utica, NY. The 2023 10 Mile will
serve as the 2022-2023 PRRO Championship.
In addition to being sanctioned by USA Track & Field and the Road Runners
Club of America, the Credit Union Cherry Blossom races have earned Gold
Level Inspire Certification from the Council for Responsible Sport in
recognition of its legacy of commitment to sustainability and thoughtful
resource management.
To learn more, visit www.cherryblossom.org and follow the event on social
media @CUCB and #CUCB2023.
About Credit Union Miracle Day:
Credit Union Miracle Day is a partnership of over 100 credit unions, CUSOs
and partner organizations united to sponsor the Credit Union Cherry Blossom
races, promoting awareness of the credit union difference and benefitting
Children's Miracle Network Hospitals nationwide.
About America's Credit Unions:
Credit unions are financial cooperatives that provide consumers choices for
financial services such as checking accounts, investments and loans of all
kinds, including mortgages. Funds are federally insured, but unlike banks,
there are no stockholders at credit unions. Earnings are returned to
member-owners in the form of lower loan rates, higher savings rates, and
low or no-fee products and services. The credit union philosophy of placing
members' needs first is why more than 131 million Americans do their
banking at a credit union.
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