Defending Champions Highlight International Field at Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run
Posted Friday, 6 March, 2009
WASHINGTON -- Ridouane Harroufi of Morocco and Lineth Chepkurui of Kenya will be returning to defend their titles at the 37th running of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run in Washington, DC on Sunday, April 5, 2009. Harroufi, the first Moroccan champion of the event, earned his title in one of the closest group finishes in event history with top 6 men separated by only 8 seconds. He clocked 46:14 and earned $6,000. Chepkurui made her debut U.S. performance here last year at age 20 and bested Olympic silver medallists Catherine Ndereba and Lidia Simon with a time of 54:21. She would go on the win the Lilac Bloomsday 12k in Spokane, WA and the Bay the Breakers 12k in San Francisco to cap her successful U.S. spring tour.
Three time champion ('01, '03, '05) John Korir is seeking his fourth win, which would tie him with Bill Rodgers ('78, '79, '80, '81) for the most wins in the event. Korir finished 6th last year but went on the win Bay to Breakers and finish 3rd at Bloomsday.
The leading U.S. entrants at this point are the husband and wife team of Jason Lehmkuhle, 5th in the 2007 Olympic Trials Marathon with a 2:12:54 PR, and Kristen Nicolini Lehmkuhle, a 2004 Olympic Trials qualifier at 5000-meters.
The $40,000 prize purse is the largest in the event's history. The top 2 men finishing under 46:00 and top 2 women finishing under 52:00 will receive an additional $750 time bonus. Showing its commitment to keeping the sport drug free, the event funds drug testing of the elite athletes under the auspices of the United States Anti-Doping Agency.
Behind the elite athletes will come 12,000 additional starters running the course in the reverse direction from last year in order to minimize crowding during the early miles. The race starts and finishes on the Washington Monument Grounds and passes by the fabled Japanese cherry trees surrounding the Tidal Basin and in East Potomac Park.
The sponsoring Credit Unions are celebrating the $2.4 million that they have raised since becoming the title sponsor in 2002 for the Children's Miracle Network, a national consortium of 170 children’s hospitals across the U.S. Funds raised in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area, totaling over $900,000, go to the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC. Funds raised from outside the Metropolitan area go to CMN affiliates in the home states of the participating Credit Unions.
Entries to the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run®, known as "The Runner's Rite of Spring," closed out in December. With the large number of runners and spectators, Metro will begin its Sunday operations two hours early -- at 5 a.m. on race day. The Smithsonian Metro stop (Orange and Blue lines) is conveniently located only ¼ mile from the start and finish lines.
The course crosses Memorial Bridge in the first two miles, continues on an out-and-back stretch on Rock Creek Parkway to just past the Kennedy Center, loops the Tidal Basin and circles Hains Point between miles 6 and 9. The entire course is within 2.2 miles of the start-finish line, making it a particularly spectator friendly layout. In addition to the 10-mile, there will be a 5K Run-Walk (also closed) and a 1K Kids Run. Spectators are invited to see all the action starting with the elite women's start at 7:30 a.m. and the 10-mile mass wave start at 7:40 a.m. (Both are 10 minutes earlier than last year.)
The event is part of the Professional Road Running Organization Circuit and the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The National Cherry Blossom Festival is an annual two-week, citywide event celebrating spring. The 2009 Festival is March 28 - April 12, and will feature daily cultural performances, sporting events, arts and crafts, demonstrations and other special events. The National Cherry Blossom Festival celebrates the 97th anniversary of the gift of the cherry blossom trees and the enduring friendship between the citizens of the United States and Japan.
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