Race record of more than 13,300 participate in 33rd edition
By Jim Estes, USATF
JACKSONVILLE - (March 13, 2010) - Mohamed Trafeh (Duarte, Calif.) took control from the gun to win his first U.S. title, running 42 minutes, 58 seconds Saturday morning at the USA 15K Championships in Jacksonville, Florida. After finishing as runner-up the past two years, Katie McGregor (St. Louis Park, Minn.) easily took the women's title in 49:51 at the 33rd Gate River Run.
With this year's race once again featuring the "Equalizer Bonus", the professional women's race started five minutes before the rest of the field. At the start, clear, cool conditions met a race record of more than 13,300 runners as McGregor and two-time national 15K champion Jen Rhines (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.), 2006 race and U.S. champion Blake Russell (Monterey, Calif.), 2008 Olympian Magdalena Lewy Boulet (Oakland, Calif.) and four-time Olympian Colleen De Reuck (Boulder, Colo.) led more than 45 of the top U.S. women through the opening miles.
By five miles, McGregor and three-time Olympian Rhines had pulled away from the field and were in a duel for the national title. Approaching six miles, McGregor made her move and began to pull away from Rhines.
As she made her way up the famous Hart Bridge, McGregor, 32, steadily extended her lead and cruised to win her 5th USA title - 36 seconds ahead of Rhines. Lewy Boulet held on for third in 50:39 as evergreen De Reuck, 45, took fourth in 50:51 and Rebecca Donaghue (State College, Pa.) finished fifth (51:13).
In the men's race, Trafeh, 24, jumped to an early lead, building a 10 second lead by the time he passed the first mile in 4:22. As his lead grew with each mile, the 2009 USA 20K Championship runner-up had only McGregor to chase for the $5000 Equalizer Bonus.
Shortly after passing 10K in 28:19, Trafeh passed the lead women and went unchallenged to the tape with a 54 second win over Tim Nelson (Corvallis, Ore.), the national runner-up again. 2010 USA Half-Marathon champion Antonio Vega (Minneapolis, Minn.) took third in 43:56, while his Team USA Minnesota teammate Jason Lehmkuhle (Minneapolis, Minn.) finished fourth in 44:00. Sean Quigley (Braintree, Mass.) rounded out the top-five in 44:06.
2010 marked the 17th year that the national championships have been hosted by the Gate River Run and featured a total prize purse of $58,000, with Trafeh and McGregor each earning $12,000 for their U.S. titles.
In addition, Trafeh earned the Equalizer Bonus of $5000 for being the first male or female to cross the finish line. The 5 minute "head start" was based on the time differential of the U.S. 15K records: 42:22 for the men (Todd Williams, 1995) and 47:15 for the women (Deena Drossin, 2003), both set on the Gate River Run course. The men now hold a 6-1 lead in the Equalizer Bonus.
Trafeh also produced the first sub-43 minute time at the race since 2002 when Meb Keflezighi ran 42:48.
Video highlights of the USA 15K Championships and pre- and post-race video interviews with top athletes are available at USATF.org in cooperation with RunnerSpace.com.
33rd Gate River Run: USA 15K Championships
Jacksonville, FL, Saturday, March 13, 2010
MEN
1) Mohamed Trafeh (CA), 42:58, $17,000*
2) Tim Nelson (OR), 43:52, $5000
3) Antonio Vega (MN), 43:56, $3000
4) Jason Lehmkuhle (MN), 44:00, $2000
5) Sean Quigley (MA), 44:06, $1000
6) Ryan Vail (OR), 44:37, $900
7) Patrick Smyth (MN), 44:42, $800
8) Nicholas Arciniaga (CA), 44:51, $700
9) Charlie Serrano (CA), 44:54, $600
10) Stephan Shay (MI), 44:54, $500
*includes $5000 "Equalizer Bonus"
WOMEN
1) Katie McGregor (MN), 49:51, $12,000
2) Jen Rhines (CA), 50:27, $5000
3) Magdalena Lewy Boulet (CA), 50:39, $3000
4) Colleen De Reuck, 45, CO, 50:51, $3000#
5) Rebecca Donaghue (PA), 51:13, $1000
6) Renee Metivier-Baillie (CO), 51:37, $900
7) Blake Russell (CA), 51:46, $800
8) Amy Hastings (CA), 51:55, $700
9) Lindsey Anderson (UT), 51:56, $600
10) Kelly Jaske (OR), 51:58, $500
#includes $1000 first Masters prize money
Complete results and more at: www.gate-riverrun.com.
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