Women’s Record Set at US 25K Championship

Cherobon-Bawcom takes women’s USA 25 km title in American Record; Joseph Chirlee wins men’s title 

GRAND RAPIDS ‰ÛÒ Janet Cherobon-Bawcom
(Rome, Ga.) ran a pending American Record of 1:24:37 in winning the
women‰Ûªs crown Saturday at the 2012 USA 25 km Championships. Joseph Chirlee (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won the men‰Ûªs title in 1:15:11.

2012 marks the 19th year that the championships were hosted by the
Fifth Third River Bank Run in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Overcast skies and cool temperatures provided the stage for the 35th
annual event, as the championships field once again faced a strong
international contingent.

A 4:51 opening mile saw Chirlee, Brett Gotcher (Flagstaff, Ariz.), Ryan Bak (Bend, Ore.) and Christo Landry (Ann Arbor, Mich.) leading a large pack that included Robert Letting of Kenya and Derege Tadesse of Ethiopia.

After running 5:00 for the second mile, the leaders increased the tempo
to 4:40 pace to break up the pack. At five miles, Letting and Chirlee
opened a small gap on Gotcher, Landry and Tadesse. By 10 miles, the
pair held a lead of more than 30 seconds over the chase pack.

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The remaining miles saw Letting and Chirlee running together but
Letting made his move as they reached downtown, opening a lead that
would take in to the finish line in 1:14:55,  16-seconds ahead of
Chirlee, who still had plenty to celebrate with his first ever U.S.
title. Landry ran 1:15:48 to finish third overall and as the runner-up
in the championships.

The women‰Ûªs race also saw a strong start with Bawcom and Lindsey Scherf
(Fayetteville, N.C.) quickly establishing themselves as the main
contenders for the women‰Ûªs title. After passing the first mile in about
5:20, the pair dueled for much of the race with Scherf setting the
pace.

Scherf tried
several times to break away but Bawcom always maintained contact and
like Letting, made her move in the final miles as she charged to the
finish for her fifth USA title and first American record. Scherf
finished a strong second in 1:25:13.

Video highlights

Video highlights of the USA 25 km Championships are available in
cooperation with RunnerSpace.com at www.USARunningCircuit.com.

About the USARC

The USA 25 km Championships were the fourth stop on the 2012 USA
Running Circuit (USARC) and featured over $30,000 in prize money with
the Chirlee and Bawcom earning $7,000 each. The 2012 USARC is a USA
Track & Field road series, featuring USA Championships from one
mile to the marathon and attracts the best U.S. distance runners. The
circuit features nine events for men and ten for women.

The 2012 USARC is a USA Track & Field road series, featuring USA
long distance running championships and for the first time will include
the USA Cross Country Championships. The USARC attracts the best U.S.
distance runners and has ten events for men and nine for women.

The 2012 USARC will feature more than $909,150 in circuit prize money
with U.S. athletes competing for the right to represent Team USA in
various international competitions.

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 ($6,000, $4,000, and $2,500) for the top
three men and women point scorers overall.

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 $6 million dollars to U.S. distance runners.

For more information on the 2012 USA 25 km Championships visit www.usatf.org.

About USA Track & Field

USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track
& field, long-distance running and race walking in the United
States. USATF encompasses the world’s oldest organized sports, the
World’s #1 Track & Field Team, the most-watched events at the
Olympics, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory
sport, and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States: www.usatf.org.