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MINNEAPOLIS - Two-time U.S. 10 mile champion Abdi Abdirahman (Tucson,
Ariz.), will face some of the country's top athletes in defense of his
USA Men's 10 Mile title this weekend at the Medtronic Twin Cities 10
Miler. Sunday's race will see more than 30 of the top men in the United
States on the line, many of whom are using this year's championship as
the final tune-up before the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men's Marathon
next month in New York.
Two former USA Men's 10 Mile champions, 2003 champion Chris Graff
(Crofton, Md.) and 2004 champion Dan Browne (Portland, Ore.) will
compete in hopes of regaining the 10 mile title. Browne comes to
Minneapolis on a high note, having won the USA 20 km Championship as
well as the USA 5 km title in the span of two weeks last month.
Also challenging for the title will be local favorites Andrew Carlson
(St. Paul, Minn.), fourth at the 2006 10 Mile championships, and his
Team USA Minnesota teammate Jason Lehmkuhle (Minneapolis, Minn.) who
finished third at the 20 km championships on Labor Day.
The list of contenders continues with James Carney (Boulder, Colo.),
runner-up to Browne at the 20 km championships; and Matthew Downin
(Madison, Wis.), fifth at the 2005 edition of the 10 Mile Championships;
Mbarak Hussein (Albuquerque, N.M.), the 2006 USA Marathon Champion; and
Ryan Sheehan (Rochester Hills, Mich.) and Ryan Shay (Flagstaff, Ariz.)
who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, at the 20 km championships
last month.
The USA Men's 10 Mile Championship is the seventh stop for the men on
the 2007 USA Running Circuit (USARC) and pays a total of $25,000 in
prize money, with the winner earning $10,000.
The USARC, a USA Track & Field road series, features USA Championships
from 5 km to the marathon and attracts the best U.S. distance runners.
The thirteenth edition for the men and twelfth for the women, the 2007
USARC has nine events for men and seven events for women.
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 over $4 million dollars to U.S. distance runners.
http://www.usatf.org.
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