Alan Webb, Nick Symmonds, Gabe Grunewald, Katie Mackey, Laura Thweatt Are All Racing 2015 USATF Club Cross Country Championships – Race Preview

12/11/2015
Press Release from USATF

SAN FRANCISCO – Talented and deep fields line up Saturday morning in San Francisco, California for the USATF Club Cross Country Championships on December 12. The top teams in the country converge on Golden Gate Park seeking end-of-season bragging rights as the participants will race over 6 km, 8 km and 10 km.

Three of last year’s individual winners will be competing Saturday, including both masters champions, Team Red Lizard’s Chris Kimbrough (formerly of Team Rogue) and Bowerman Track Club’s Gregory Mitchell. Boulder Track Club’s Laura Thweatt, also the reigning USATF Cross Country Champion, returns to defend her individual title at this year’s championships, while the open men’s race will see a new individual champion with 2014 victor Ryan Hill not entered alongside his Bowerman Track Club teammates.

Both 2014 team champions are back in full force for 2015. ZAP Fitness Reebok won the men’s team race in 2014 courtesy of three top-10 finishes from Andrew Colley, Tyler Pennel and Joe Stilin. As a team, ZAP Fitness scored 61 points to handedly win the men’s title. On the women’s side, it was the team from the Boston Athletic Association taking the women’s title, scoring 43 points with top-10 finishes from Sarah Pagano, Juliet Bottorff and Elaina Balouris. B.A.A. just edged the Boulder Running Company by five points.

No American has gone sub-3:50 since Webb in 2007

Shifting from the track to the mud, Brooks Beasts teammates Gabriele Grunewald, Casimir Loxsom, Katie Mackey and Nick Symmonds will compete Saturday, and Alan Webb, American record holder in the mile, will aid his triathlon training by participating in the 10 km open men’s race for Bowerman Track Club.

Open and masters entries can be found on the event page, and fans can see more about the course and weekend’s events on the championship home page. Live results can be found here.

Action kicks off at 9 a.m. PT with the masters women’s 6 km, followed by the masters men’s 8 km at 9:45 a.m. and masters men’s 10 km at 10:45 a.m. The open women’s 6 km begins at 11:45 a.m. followed by the open men’s 10 km races at 12:30 p.m. and 1:15 p.m.

Event Coverage

The USATF Club Cross Country Championships will be available on demand at USATF.tv. Race video, results, post-race interviews and photos will be available shortly after the race. Join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #clubxcnats.