McGregor, Rudolph, Dryer Headline USA Women's 8K Championship
Posted Thursday, 25 September, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS - (September 24, 2008) - Two-time USA 10K champion Katie McGregor (St. Louis Park, Minn.) leads the field at Saturday's USA Women's 8K Championships in Akron, Ohio. The national road championship race will be an invitation-only event, held in conjunction with the 6th Road Runner Akron Marathon.
McGregor, 31, will face a strong field that includes 2008 USA 20K champion Jill Steffens (Athens, Ga.) and two-time Olympians and 2008 USA 20K runner-up Elva Dryer (Gunnison, Colo.) and two-time USA 8K champion Amy Rudolph (Providence, R.I.).
The runner-up at last weekend's USA 5K Championships, Renee Metivier-Baillie (Flagstaff, Ariz.) will lead additional contenders Molly Huddle (Providence, R.I.), Carrie Messner-Vickers (Vail, Colo.) and Rebecca Donaghue (State College, Pa.), who respectively finished third, fourth and fifth last weekend in Providence.
The depth of the field continues with the addition of 2008 Olympic steeplechaser Lindsey Anderson (Ogden, Utah) and Sara Slattery (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.), the 2005 NCAA 10,000 meters champion.
Sponsored by the Akron Community Foundation, the national championship will start at 7:30am and will offer $23,500 in prize money with $7500 going to the USA champion.
The USA Women's 8K Championship is the seventh stop on the 2008 USA Running Circuit (USARC) for women. The USARC, a USA Track & Field road series, features USA Championships from 5K to the marathon and attracts the best U.S. distance runners. The fourteenth edition for the men and thirteenth for the women, the 2008 circuit has eight events for men and nine events for women. Currently, 2007 USARC champion Deena Kastor tops the women's standings with 45 points, while Dan Browne, 2001-02 USARC champion, leads the men with 44 points.
The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USARC race (15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1), with a final $12,500 grand prix purse ($6000, $4000, and $2500) for the top three men and women point scorers overall. The USARC points at the USA Marathon Championships will be doubled.
The mission of the USA Running Circuit is to showcase, support and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USARC and its races have provided more than $7 million dollars to U.S. distance runners.
For more information on the 2008 USARC, visit: www.USATF.org
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