Jordan Bendura Wins 25th Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K to Earn Collegiate Running Association 10K Road Race National Championships Title

Event celebrates participation increase by over 4,500

RICHMOND, VA – The Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k presented by Kroger celebrated an amazing race day on Monument Avenue with over 24,000 participants taking part in the landmark 25th running of the event. This year marked the event’s third year of growth. The milestone day kicked off at 8 a.m. with the Atlantic Union Bank 10k Mini youth running event for kids age 4-12, which was sold out with 1,200 participants.

Race day continued with the first waves of the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k starting at 8:30 a.m. The 10k again hosted the Collegiate Running Association (CRA) 10k Road Race National Championships, which drew over 1,700 college athletes to the streets of Richmond to compete for prize money provided by the CRA.

Jordan Bendura, 22, of Glen Allen, and current cross-country standout at the University of Richmond, took first place with a time of 30:19. Bendura is a senior at UR, and has run for them since 2020. He’s a graduate of Deep Run High School. Last year he finished 3rd in the CRA 10k Road Race National Championships. He finished ahead of Stuart Terrill who came in at 30:26.

In the women’s race, Ryen Frazier, 27, of Raleigh, crossed the finish line first with a time of 34:44. Frazier is a graduate student at NC State. She’s been running track and cross country with them since 2015. Frazier won the CRA 10k Road Race National Championships last year as well. She was followed in second place by Bethany Sachtleben who had a time of 34:49.

Collegiate Running Association 10k Road Race National Championship

Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k – Open Division

Awards were also presented to the top three male and female participants that are Richmond region residents. On the men’s side, Jordan Bendura took first place, followed by Evan Leach and Ryan McCracken. On the women’s side, Laura Labuschaigne took first place, followed by Bridget Stacy and Melissa Assalone.

Richmond Region 10k Championship

The littlest runners started the day by participating in the Atlantic Union Bank 10k Mini kids run, a one-mile fun run for kids age 4-12 that kicked off race festivities. The first finisher was Chase Levermore, 12, with a time of 6:14. Annabelle Ever was the first female finisher with a time of 6:34.

Many of the Atlantic Union Bank 10k Mini participants take part in regular programming from Kids On The Move, a Sports Backers program that promotes physical activity to youth across the Richmond region and encourages kids to view exercise as fun. Kids On The Move currently has near 60 run clubs in schools across the Richmond region, with close to 3,000 kids taking part in daily and weekly activities. Sports Backers Youth Programs and the VCU Massey Cancer Center are the official event charity partners of the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k presented by Kroger.

Through their partnership with the event, VCU Massey Cancer Center raised over $221,000. Massey celebrated their 50^th anniversary this year and saw continued success through their long-standing partnership with the 10k. They had over 62 fundraising teams participate in the event with 545 individual fundraisers (double last year’s number), 460 first time fundraisers, and 2,410 unique donors. You can still support those that ran for Massey, and have it counted in the final total by donating at MasseyChallenge.com by May 1.

With the 25^th anniversary being top of mind, Sports Backers put an emphasis on on-course entertainment. More than 25 groups including bands, spirit groups, and porch parties participated in the 10k Spirit Contest presented by The Richmond Experience. Cash prizes were handed out for Best Porch Party, Judges Choice, Most Spirited, and Best Theme. This was in addition to thousands of spectators providing entertainment throughout the event.

Full results will be available at www.sportsbackers.org. The 2025 Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k presented by Kroger race will take place on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Registration for the 2025 event opens on Monday at https://www.sportsbackers.org/events/monument-ave-10k/.