Ethiopian Tsegay Kidanu and Ugandan Sarah Chelangat win open races, Hillary Bor and fellow American Sara Hall are both second overall and win USATF 10 Mile National Championships.
April 2, 2023, Washington, DC: With the sun shining and temperatures in the mid-40s, runners in today’s Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile (CUCB) faced stiff headwinds at times, but not stiff enough to keep top American Hillary Bor from breaking the 40-year-old American Record of 46:13, set by Greg Meyer here in the 1983 Cherry Blossom 10 Mile, as Meyer, one of nine past winners in town to celebrate the 50th anniversary, looked on at the finish line. Bor’s time of 46:11 earned him a $50,000 bonus from CUCB organizers and the title of 2023 USATF 10 Mile National Champion.
When asked about seeing his record broken, Greg Meyer had this to say: “It was exciting to see the record fall on the 40th anniversary of my setting it and the 50th anniversary of the race. That capped a perfect race weekend. Hillary ran a spectacular race in tough conditions. I had dinner with him last night and he is such a nice person. I see great things to come in the future for him.”
Bor finished second overall in a very close race with Tsegay Kidanu from Ethiopia, whose winning time was 46:08. The two ran together throughout the race, leaving an ever-dwindling pack of men in their wake, creating a gap to third place of almost a minute by the time they crossed the finish line.
In the women’s race — which started 12 minutes prior to the men’s start to avoid men pacing women and to ensure “women’s only” status for any records set — Ugandan Sarah Chelangat pulled away from her competitors midway through the race to win handily in a time of 52:04. American Sara Hall was second in 52:37 and, like Bor, earned the title of 2023 USATF 10 Mile National Champion. There were no records set in the women’s race.
In addition to the USATF 10 Mile Championships, CUCB organizers celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Runners Rite of Spring® by hosting two other championships: the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) National 10 Mile Championships, and the Professional Road Running Organization (PRRO) Championship.
Open to both international and American runners, Chelangat and Kidanu earned titles of RRCA National Champion
Chelangat and Kidanu were also crowned 2023 PRRO Circuit Champions and earned $2500 each for these titles. No athlete claimed the $10,000 PRRO Super Bonus, which is awarded to the winners of the 2022-2023 circuit events who also win the championship. Defending CUCB champion Susanna Sullivan was the only eligible athlete. Sullivan finished seventh overall and earned $1500 as an eligible athlete finishing in places 2-10 at the PRRO Championship. With the 2022-2023 Super Bonus unclaimed, it will increase to $15,000 for the 2023-2024 PRRO championship at the Lilac Bloomsday Run 12K on May 5, 2024. The PRRO Circuit is comprised of the Boilermaker 15K in Utica, NY; the Lilac Bloomsday Run 12K in Spokane, WA; and the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile.
RRCA prize money totaling $6,000 was awarded to the top three male and female RRCA RunPro Camp Alumni. Abbabiya Simbassa and Sara Hall each earned $1500 as the winners of this subset of elite athletes.
Here’s a compilation of times, prize money, and bonuses earned by the elite runners today, organized in order of top-10 overall, followed by the top Americans who also earned prize money:
Top men:
Tsegay Kidanu 46:08, Ethiopia — $8,000 for the overall victory.
Hillary Bor 46:11, Colorado Springs, CO — $4,000 for second place overall, $5,000 for first American, $50,000 American Record Bonus. Total earnings: $59,000.
Abbabiya Simbassa 47:09, Flagstaff, AZ — $2,000 for third place overall, $2,500 for placing second among Americans, and $1,500 for placing first among RRCA RunPro Camp Alumni. Total earnings: $6,000.
Charles Langat 47:25, Kenya — $1,500 for placing fourth overall.
Jacob Thomson 47:27, Flagstaff, AZ — $1,000 for fifth place overall and $1,500 for third place among Americans. Total earnings: $2,500.
Matthew McClintock 47:30, Flagstaff, AZ — $900 for sixth place overall, $1,000 for placing fourth among Americans, and $1,000 for placing second among RRCA RunPro Camp Alumni. Total earnings: $2,900.
John Dressel 47:32, Chapel Hill, NC — $800 for seventh place overall and $800 for being fifth American. Total earnings: $1,600.
Shadrack Kimining 47:46, Kenya — $700 for eighth place overall.
Emmanuel Bor 48:14, Sierra Vista, AZ — $600 for ninth place overall and $600 for placing sixth among Americans. Total earnings: $1,200.
Colin Bennie 48:18, San Francisco, CA — $500 for 10th place overall, $400 for placing seventh among Americans, and $500 for placing third among RRCA RunPro Camp Alumni. Total earnings: $1,400.
Joel Reichow 48:53, White Bear Lake, MN — $300 for being eighth American.
Cody Baele 48:56, Des Moines, IA — $200 for being ninth American.
Zach Herriott 48:57, Washington, DC — $200 for placing 10th among American men.
Top women:
Sarah Chelangat 52:04, Uganda — $8,000 for the overall victory.
Sara Hall 52:37, Flagstaff, AZ — $4,000 for second place overall, $5,000 for first American woman, and $1,500 for placing first among RRCA RunPro Camp Alumni. Total earnings: $10,500.
Nell Rojas 52:38, Boulder, CO — $2,000 for third place overall and $2,500 for placing second among American women. Total earnings: $4,500.
Emma Grace Hurley 52:41, Roswell, GA — $1,500 for fourth place overall and $1,500 for placing third among American women. Total earnings: $3,000.
Molly Grabill 52:42, Louisville, CO — $1,000 for fifth place overall and $1,000 for fourth place among American women. Total earnings: $2,000.
Amber Zimmerman 53:05, Philadelphia, PA —$900 for sixth place overall and $800 for placing fifth among American women. Total earnings. $1,700.
Susanna Sullivan 53:25, Reston, VA — $800 for seventh place overall, $600 for placing sixth among American women, $1,000 for placing second among RRCA RunPro Camp Alumni, and $1,500 for the PRRO Event Champion’s Bonus. Total earnings: $3,900.
Carrie Verdon 53:35, Boulder, CO — $700 for eighth place overall and $400 for seventh place among American women. Total earnings: $1,100.
Weynshet Weldetsadik 53:47, Ethiopia — $600 for placing ninth overall.
Jessa Hanson 53:47, Flagstaff, AZ — $500 for 10th place overall and $300 for placing eighth among American women. Total earnings: $800.
Jeralyn Poe 54:41, Flagstaff, AZ — $200 for placing ninth among American women and $500 for placing third among RRCA RunPro Camp Alumni. Total earnings: $700.
Breanna Sieracki 55:52, Burnsville, MN — $200 for tenth place among American women.
Non-binary:
Jacob Caswell 56:48, New York, NY
Justin Solle 1:05:52, New York, NY
Emilio Leguizamo 1:06:24, Washington, DC
For a full listing of the 10 Mile Awards, click here.
In the reimagined Credit Union Cherry Blossom 5K presented by REI, which was held on Saturday, lucite awards were given to the top five men and women, and the top three non-binary runners.
Men:
Johan Fagerberg 15:03, Baltimore, MD
Mark Leininger 15:03, Baltimore, MD
Ethan Gonzales 15:32, Baltimore, MD
Tim Hughes (16:21) Washington, DC
Laszlo Wolfe 16:50, Washington, DC
Women:
Casey Greenwalt 18:13, Washington, DC
Rachael Gallap 18:14, Kalamazoo, MI
Marisa Deichert 18:45, State College, PA
Michelle Navarro 19:01, Red Bank, NJ
Natasha Fedkina 19:39, Arlington, VA
Non-binary:
Caity Hines 24:22, Washington, DC
Carolyn Lawrence 26:06, Washington, DC
Aprupa Alahari 26:28, Washington, DC
For a full listing of the 5K Awards, click here.
CUCB organizers invited a number of past champions to join in the celebration of the race’s 50th Anniversary. Kathrine Switzer, who won the very first Cherry Blossom 10 Mile, and two-time victor (1975 and ‘76) Carl Hatfield were unable to participate in either race this weekend. Four-time winner Bill Rodgers (1978, ‘79, ‘80 and ‘81) completed his 23rd Cherry Blossom 10 Mile today in 1:36:30; 1998 women’s champion Colleen De Reuck completed the race for the fifth time in 1:07:01. Three-time 10 Mile champion (1985, ‘89 and ‘90) Lisa Rainsberger (formerly Lisa Weidenbach) ran 26:34 in yesterday’s 5K; twice 10 Mile champion (1982 and ‘83) Eleanor Simonsick ran 27:25 in the 5K; Greg Meyer, who recently had hip replacement surgery, walked the 5K in 38:47, before watching his 40-year-old American Record fall today to Hillary Bor.
Other notable runners in the 10 Mile today included: Ben Beach (2:01:25), the only person to have competed in and completed every Cherry Blossom 10 Mile; 91-year-old George Yannakakis (3:11:28), who has now run the race 30 times; U.S. Senator from Arizona Krysten Sinema (1:23:46); and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (1:57:21).
In a final nod to the 50th anniversary, race organizers will award coffee mugs with the inscription I would have won this race in 1973 to every man and woman who ran faster today than champions Sam Bair and Kathrine Switzer ran that day. Thirty-one men beat Bair’s time of 51:22, and 319 women bested Switzer’s time of 1:11:19.
The credit union-sponsored Capitol Hill Competition had 77 teams this year, with over 658 Capitol Hill staffers participating. The unofficial winner of the Congressional Cup award to the fastest team in head-to-head competition between Senate and House teams was Last Best Place from Senator Jon Tester’s office. 139 members of Congress serve as Honorary Race Chairs (109 Representatives and 30 Senators).
Throughout the National Cherry Blossom Festival (March 20 – April 16), of which CUCB is an official partner event, runners are able to participate in the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Virtual Run. Registration closes on April 9, and the last day to run is April 16th, although runners have until April 30 to submit times and photos. More information about the Virtual Run can be found here.
For the past 21 years, Credit Union Miracle Day has been the title sponsor of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile and 5K, adding the Kids Run to its portfolio when the ½-mile event debuted in 2016. REI Co-op came on board this year to become presenting sponsor of the 5K and Kids Run. Wegmans has been the presenting sponsor of the Health and Fitness expo for two years.
Over the 21 years of Credit Union Miracle Day title sponsorship, the partnership with CUCB organizers and charitable runners has generated over $10.6 million for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. This year’s fundraising effort totaled $450,000, which included $86,000 from direct donations by runners and $115,000 by Charity Race Entrants.
