USATF Selects Location, Date For .US National Road Racing Championships
By Chris Lotsbom
(c) 2013 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
July 2, 2013
Nearly five months after announcing the creation of the .US National Road Racing Championships, USA Track & Field selected a date and location for the inaugural event that will serve as the conclusion to the USA Running Circuit (USARC) series. In a press release, USATF announced the event to be held in Alexandria, Va., on Sunday, November 17, 2013, over a 12-kilometer distance.
“We are excited to bring the .US National Road Racing Championships to Alexandria and to the D.C. metro area,” said USATF CEO Max Siegel in a prepared statement. “This region has a very robust running community, and the backdrop of the capital is perfect for USATF’s first season-finale national championship road race.”
The event is set to be a “season-capping finale to the USA Running Circuit” series, where only athletes who have finished in the top ten at USARC events are eligible for part of the $100,000 prize purse ($20,000 for race winners). The race will also feature an open event for “everyday runners,” according to the release.
“We are very proud to host America’s best runners in Alexandria, as well as celebrate the many members of our local community who run for sport, fitness, and fun,” said Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille in a statement. “Alexandria is home to outstanding running routes and trails and is a frequent setting for some of the region’s favorite road races. We look forward to sharing our beautiful city with runners from across the country.”
When the event was first announced as the newest USA Road Racing Championship on February 13, it lacked a date, location, and course, baffling fans and media alike. What it did have was a sponsor, Neustar, an information and analytics company based in Northern Virginia.
“Neustar is thrilled to support the .US National Road Race Championships,” said Jim Rogers, vice president of marketing of Enterprise Services at Neustar. “As the administrator of the .US top level domain and an information services company based in Northern Virginia, Alexandria is the ideal place to promote the power of America’s top level domain to the running community with this one-of-a-kind race in our own backyard and just a few miles from our nation’s capital.”
Alexandria, Va., is located less than ten miles southwest of the United States capital of Washington, D.C. The .US National Road Racing Championships joins a solid list of elite races to be held in the D.C. metro area, including the venerable Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-Mile which hosted the USA Womens’ 10-Mile Championships last April and boasted a total of 17,530 finishers.
USATF noted that athletes who currently qualify –but are not officially signed up to race– include Olympic medalists Deena Kastor, Meb Keflezighi, Shalane Flanagan and Leo Manzano, and dozens of others.