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Abdi, Torres, Famiglietti Headling US 8k Champs

Posted March 15th, 2007 at 4:00 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results

The 2005 USA 8K and 2006 USA 10,000 meter champion Jorge Torres from Boulder, Colo. leads the field for the USA Men’s 8K Championship in New York City’s Central Park on Saturday, March 17.

Torres, 26, who ran 22 minutes, 47 seconds to win the U.S. title two years ago, will face formidable competition including 2004 Olympians Abdi Abdirahman and Anthony Famiglietti and rising stars Max King, Matt Gabrielson, Fernando Cabada, Ed Moran and Rod Koborsi. Olympians Dathan Ritzenhein and Adam Goucher recently withdrew from the race because of injury and illness respectively.

The New York Road Runners (NYRR) again will host the national championship (the event has not contested in 2006). NYRR also hosted the USA 8K Championship from 2002-05. The prize purse totals $35,000 with $10,000 for the national champion. Additionally, a $25,000 bonus will be awarded to the winning athlete who breaks the current U.S. 8K record of 22:04 set by Alberto Salazar in 1981.

The race course will cover the last eight kilometers (4.97 miles) of the route that will be used when NYRR hosts the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men’s Marathon on Saturday, November 3, 2007.

The USA Men’s 8K Championship is the third stop on the 2007 Men’s USA Running Circuit (USARC), a USA Track & Field road racing grand prix series featuring national championships from 5K to the marathon.

For a complete listing of the men’s field, please click here.

Source: [Running USA Wire]