FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Janet Bawcom Sets American Record To Win USA Women's
10 Mile Championship, Presented By America's Credit Unions
Men's Top-Two Finishers Separated by Less than a Second at the 42nd
Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile; Christo Landry Places
Sixth Overall to Win USA Men's 10 Mile Championship Title
April 6, 2014, Washington, DC: U.S. Olympian Janet Bawcom ran 10 miles in
52:12 this morning to set the single-gender American record at the Credit
Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run, pending verification by USA Track &
Field officials at their annual meeting in December. In doing so, Bawcom,
from Flagstaff, AZ, broke the record she set here a year ago by a whopping
1:16, and pulled American Sara Hall under her former record time as well;
Hall ran 52:54, in a very impressive debut over the distance.
Both the Men's and Women's USA 10 Mile Championships Presented by America's
Credit Unions were held in conjunction with the 42nd Credit Union Cherry
Blossom 10 Mile Run and, as such, took place amidst highly competitive
international races.
After leading the overall women's race early on, Bawcom fell off the pace
of Mamitu Daska of Ethiopia and Aliphine Tuliamak of Kenya about six miles
into the race, before storming back to pass Tuliamak in the final half
mile, coming within seven seconds of winning the race outright. Daska's
winning time was 52:05; Tuliamak's third place time was 52:16; Hall
finished fourth and Makida Abdela rounded out the top five in a time of
53:54.
In the men's event, Kenyans Stephen Sambu and last year's Credit Union
Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run champion Daniel Salel finished in the same time
of 45:29, with Sambu being the clear winner-unlike last year when it took
the judges quite some time to declare Salel the winner over Allan Kiprono,
who finished third here today in a time of 45:47. Edwin Kipyego, also of
Kenya placed fourth in 46:19, Tolossa Gedefa of Ethiopia was fifth in
46:38, followed closely by Christo Landry in sixth place-first American and
winner of the 2014 USA Men's 10 Mile Championship.
When asked what it was like to win his first-ever USA Championship title on
the roads, Landry said he was "thrilled to finally get that monkey off his
back." Needless to say, Bawcom was thrilled as well, both with her
record-setting time and late race surge to overtake Tuliamak claim her
fourth consecutive USA Women's 10 Mile Championship.
From a total pool of $81,800 in prize money and bonuses, Stephen Sambu and
Mamitu Daska each won $8,000, while Janet Bawcom won a total of $12,000
($4,500 for her second place finish overall, $5,000 for the USA
Championship, and $2,500 for setting the American record). Six other
American women placed among the top-ten overall to "double-dip" in prize
money: Sara Hall (Flagstaff, AZ) placed 4th /2nd U.S. and earned $4,000
total; Frances Koons (Philadelphia, PA) placed 6th /3rd U.S. and earned
$2,900; Susanna Sullivan (Falls Church, VA) placed 8th /4th U.S. to earn
$2,200; Brianne Nelson (Golden, CO) placed 9th /5th U.S. and won a total of
$1,400; and 40-year-old three-time U.S. Olympian Jen Rhines (Lexington, MA)
placed 10th /6th U.S. to take home $1,300. To round out the top-ten
American women, Heather Cappello (Arlington, MA) earned $600 as 7th U.S.
finisher, Meghan Peyton (Richfield, MN) won $500 as 8th U.S. finisher, Sara
Slattery (Phoenix, AZ) 9th U.S. won $300 and Blake Russell (Pacific Grove,
CA) earned $200 for her 10th U.S. placing.
Top-placing American men were also able to take home both overall and top
American prize money: Christo Landry (Ann Arbor, MI) earned a total of
$5,900 ($5,000 for the USA Championship and $900 for 6th place overall) and
Girma Mecheso (West Chester, PA) took home $3,000 ($2,500 for 2nd U.S. and
$500 for 10th overall). The remainder of the USA 10 Mile Championship prize
money was distributed as follows: Mo Trafeh (Duarte, CA) $2,000 for 3rd
U.S.; Ben Bruce, (Flagstaff, AZ) $1,500 for 4th U.S.; Tim Young,
(Fredericksburg, VA) $1,000 for 5th U.S.; Matt Tegenkamp (Portland, OR)
$800 for 6th U.S.; Joseph Gray (Colorado Springs, CO) $600 for 7th U.S.;
Tyler McCandless (Boulder, CO) $500 for 8th U.S.; Ian Burrell (Tucson, AZ)
$300 for 9th U.S. and Lucas Meyer (Washington, DC) $200 for 10th U.S.
A complete listing of men's and women's results as well as prize money
payouts are available on www.CherryBlossom.org.
On the fundraising front, a total of $487,000 was raised for Children's
Miracle Network Hospitals this year. Since the Credit Unions became the
title sponsor of the race in 2002, over $6.5 million has been has been
raised for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.
About the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile:
The Credit Union Cherry Blossom is known as "The Runner's Rite of Spring®,"
and is the only truly elite road race in our Nation's capital. The staging
area for the event is on the Washington Monument Grounds and the course
passes in sight of all of the major Washington, DC Memorials. The event
serves as a fundraiser for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, a
consortium of 170 premier children's hospitals across the United States.
About one-third of the funds raised support Washington, DC's own Children's
National Medical Center ("Children's Hospital"). The event also funds two
$5,000 Road Runners Club of America "Roads Scholar" grants designed to
support up-and-coming U.S. distance running talent.
The Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run is a proud member of the
Professional Road Running Organization (PRRO) Circuit. PRRO is an alliance
of race directors who together organize the PRRO Circuit, a nationwide
series of premier non-marathon road racing events. The PRRO Circuit races
share a common commitment for a drug-free sport. All the circuit events pay
for elite athlete drug testing in partnership with the United States
Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).Circuit events include the World's Best 10K in
San Juan, PR, the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile, the Lilac Bloomsday
12K in Spokane, WA, the Boilermaker 15K in Utica, NY, and the AJC Peachtree
Road Race in Atlanta, GA. A trip to the PRRO Race of Champions at the Utica
Boilermaker 15K on July 13, 2014 will be awarded to the first local man and
woman.
Credit Union Miracle Day, Inc., a consortium of credit unions and credit
union suppliers, is the title sponsor of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom
Ten Mile Run and 5K Run-Walk. PSCU is the lead financial partner of Credit
Union Miracle Day, Inc. Supporting sponsors include New Balance, Gatorade,
Navy Federal Credit Union, Larabar, Potomac River Running and BAE Systems.
Complete information about the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run and
5K Run-Walk can be found at: http://www.cherryblossom.org
About America's Credit Unions:
Credit unions 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, low or no-fee products and services. The
credit union philosophy of placing members' needs first is why more than
98.9 million Americans do their banking at one of America's 6,800 credit
unions. Credit unions are for everyone-no matter where you live, there is a
credit union to meet your needs.
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