2014 USA 10 Mile Championship

April 6, 2014
Cherry Blossom 10 Mile
USA 10 Mile Championship

Time: 50:57
Average: 5:05/mile
Placing:
USA Championship: 20th 
Overall: 32nd

This race is always a good one.  But even better when it's a championship race.  The combination of the East Africans and some of the best US men always makes great competition.  The winning American placed 6th overall in the race.  8 East Africans placed in the top 10 overall, and a total of 12 East Africans were of the first 28 finishers.

This was a solid race for me.  My "A" goal was sub 50:00, and my "B" goal was sub 51:00.  I felt realistically I was in 50:30 shape, and was on that pace for much of the race, I just wasn't quite sharp yet to hold it the last 2 miles when Kieran and Conrad pulled away at mile 8.  I am glad I got the sub 51 though.  Before the race, I met the friendly Jake Krong, who resides out in Salt Lake City, Utah, and who finished ahead of me at Houston back in January.  He started out at the tail end of the lead pack, as well as Conrad, and I was just behind.  Kieran started out behind us and reeled us in later on.  I kept my sight on Jake, as I knew he was aiming for sub 50:00.  First mile was 4:53-ish, the lead pack had gone out conservatively as I wasn't far behind them.  But I knew it would break up and I hoped there would be people for me to run with.  We stormed across the Arlington bridge, looped back to mile 2 right around 9:59.  From there, I knew I wasn't quite sharp yet to maintain sub-5s, which Jake was flirting with.(you can read his blog post here, http://www.wasatchandbeyond.com, I am enjoying following his blog).  Kieran, Conrad, and I ran together for much of the race, and we went through 5 miles in 25:15.  It was good we worked together, because running alone after the first 5 miles of this race sucks.  There are few people on Haines Point, and it can be quite a grind.  We went through 10K in 31:21(5:02 pace), and we picked up a few runners, including Sergio Reyes(who was obviously having an off day).  Mile 8 I lost some ground on Kieran and Conrad, but kept pushing, trying to maintain contact.  It's hard, very hard at this point during this race.  You turn back to head towards the monument, and it's just a grinder.  The wind slightly went against us, though it was only slight, and thank goodness it wasn't the same conditions as last year.  I passed through 15K in 47:20 or something like that and knew I had to really finish strong if I wanted to finish in the 50:xx territory.  I heard Charlie Ban cheering at that point and he said something like "yell it out sloane"....I took his advice and yelled out loud to give myself an adrenaline rush and began to run as fast as I could without sacrificing my finishing sprint.  I had to run hard up "the hill" at the end too!  That hill is conveniently placed with a 1/4 mile to go.  Your legs are building up with acid yet you are starting to kick which I knew I HAD to do going up that hill and use my momentum going back down.  I hammered like hell up that thing and ran faster than I ever have before towards the end.  I certainly had a great kick.   This is perhaps the best thing that happened for me during this race, because my speed is improving, and it will bode well for Pikes Peek 10K in 3 weeks.  I was happy to cross the line in 50:57, 20th American in the championship.  This is my highest placing in a championship, which is also a great feeling.  In addition, it is a course PR for me by 1 minute.  Now I am ready to attack the 10K.  I also feel like with a little bit more sharpening and speed work I can get closer to 30:00 in the 10K right now(PR is 30:43), and, if there is good weather at Pikes Peek, that is the course to do it.    

Below are the top USA finishers:

1 CHRISTOPHER LANDRY 46:41 ANN ARBOR, MI $5,000.00
2 GIRMA MECHESO 47:22 W. CHESTER, PA $2,500.00
3 MOHAMED TRAFEH 47:27 DUARTE, CA $2,000.00
4 BEN BRUCE 47:33 FLAGSTAFF, AZ $1,500.00
5 TIM YOUNG 47:45 FREDERICKSBURG, VA $1,000.00
6 MATT TEGENKAMP 47:57 CONCORD, MA $800.00
7 JOSEPH GRAY 48:04 COLORADO SPRINGS, CO $600.00
8 TYLER MCCANDLESS 48:21 BOULDER, CO $500.00
9 IAN BURRELL 48:42 TUCSON, AZ $300.00
10 LUCAS MEYER 48:46 WASHINGTON, DC $200.00
11 MARK LEININGER 49:09 WASHINGTON, DC
12 BEN SATHRE 49:28 CHASKA, MN
13 CHRISTOPHER BARNICL 49:47 ALBUQUERQUE, NM
14 MARK ALLEN 49:51 WASHINGTON, DC
15 SEAN BROWN 50:03 50:03 AURORA, CO
16 JAKE KRONG 50:12 SALT LAKE CITY, UT
17 KIERAN O'CONNOR 50:30 ARLINGTON, VA
18 CONRAD LASKWSKI 50:32 BETHESDA, MD
19 CHRIS KWIATKOWSKI 50:45 WASHINGTON, DC
20 CHRIS SLOANE 50:57 GAITHERSBURG, MD
21 KEVIN SHIRK 51:31 WINCHESTER, VA
22 BRIAN FULLER 51:38 CAMP HILL, PA
23 DAVID ANGELL 51:41 BLUE RIDGE, VA
24 JERRY GREENLAW 51:44 ALEXANDRIA, VA
25 BERT RODRIGUEZ 51:56 CHARLOTTE, NC
26 EVAN JURKOVICH 52:09 WASHINGTON, DC
27 PAUL BALMER 52:12 WASHINGTON, DC
28 CARLOS RENJIFO 52:16 BALTIMORE, MD
29 MARK BUSCHMAN 52:29 FREDERICK, MD
30 JAKE KLIM 52:32 NORTH BETHESDA, MD
31 PHILLIPE ROLLY 52:37 MCLEAN, VA
32 ANDREW MADISON 52:42 CATONSVILLE, MD
33 DAVID WERTZ 52:46 ARLINGTON, VA
34 SERGIO REYES 52:49 PALMDALE, CA
35 WILSON KOMEN 52:50 WASHINGTON, DC