Studs Brigid Kosgei, Senberi Teferi and Keira D’Amato To Battle It Out At 2022 Peachtree Road Race
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2022 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
(20-Jun) — World record holders Brigid Kosgei of Kenya and Senbere Teferi of Ethiopia will lead a powerful women’s elite field at the 2022 Peachtree Road Race, set for its traditional date of July 4, in Atlanta. Kosgei, the marathon world record holder, and Teferi, the 5-K road world record holder for an all-women’s race (14:29), will clash on Peachtree‘s classic 10-kilometer course in search of not only a victory but a share of $53,000 in bonus money should one of them win the race and break the women’s course record of 30:22. Kosgei set that mark in the 2019 edition, and it’s the fastest 10-K ever run by a woman on USA soil, although the course is not record-eligible because it is point-to-point and slightly downhill.
(Editor’s note: An event record bonus purse of $53,000 (for the 53rd Running) is offered to winners of the men’s and women’s open divisions and men’s and women’s Shepherd Center Wheelchair divisions. If only one athlete sets a record, he or she will take home the full amount; if more than one does so, the bonus will be divided equally)
“I like the course and conditions, plus there is a lot of cheering from fans,” said Kosgei through a statement provided by the Atlanta Track Club which organizes the event. “I will count on them to find more energy during the race to run faster.”
Brigid Kosgei after winning Peachtree in 2019
Kosgei, who races sparingly, has only run two races so far in 2022. On March 6, she ran away with the win at the Tokyo Marathon in 2:16:02, the fastest marathon ever run by a woman in Japan. Then on May 8, she took second at the EDP Meia Maratona de Lisboa, clocking 1:06:46. Teferi has won all four of her road races so far this year, most recently clocking 30:43 at the Mastercard New York Mini 10-K on June 11. She will be making her Peachtree debut.
“I have heard many good things about the Peachtree,” said Teferi, who won world championships silver in the 5000 in 2015 and ran 14:15 last year, through a statement. “I want to come prepared as best as possible to challenge the course record and put my name in the history of the race.”
The top American to be recruited is national marathon record holder Keira D’Amato who is coming off of a third place finish at the Mastercard New York Mini 10-K where she ran a personal best 31:03 on a slightly aided course. In her last Peachtree in 2019, she finished 16th in a modest 33:38, but it’s safe to say she’s a vastly improved as an athlete since then.
“I remember in 2019 I planned to go out conservative, and then crush the hill,” D’Amato said of Cardiac Hill in the middle of the race. “And I did that but there was only so much that I could make up on the hill. This time I’m going to take it out real hard.”
Other top international names include Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui, Rosemary Wanjiru, Viola Cheptoo, Dorcas Tuitoek, and Fancy Chemutai. The other top Americans are Sarah Pagano, Emily Durgin, Nell Rojas, and Annie Frisbie. The last American woman to win Peachtree when the race hosted an international field was Shalane Flanagan in 2015.
American Paralympic medalists Tatyana McFadden and Susannah Scaroni headline the professional wheelchair athlete field. McFadden is the defending champion and has won Peachtree eight times.
The complete elite fields are below with personal best road 10-K times:
OPEN –
Sheila Chepkirui Kiprotich, KEN, 29:46
Rosemary Wanjiru, KEN, 29:50
Brigid Kosgei, KEN, 29:54
Fancy Chemutai, KEN, 30:06
Senbere Teferi, ETH, 30:38
Dorcas Tuitoek, KEN, 30:44
Viola Cheptoo, KEN, 30:55
Keira D’Amato, Oakton, VA, 31:03
Viola Chepngeno, KEN, 31:19
Mary Munanu, KEN, 31:20
Biruktayit Eshetu, ETH, 31:24
Emily Durgin, Flagstaff, AZ, 31:49
Nell Rojas, Boulder, CO, 31:52
Annie Frisbie, Minneapolis, MN, 31:55
Hawi Feysa, ETH, 32:18
Sarah Pagano, San Diego, CA, 32:31
Elaina Tabb, Pittsburgh, PA, 32:40
Maggie Montoya, Boulder, CO, 33:19
Edna Kurgat, Colorado Springs, CO, 33:41
Bridget Lyons Belyeu, Newnan, GA, 34:16
Natalia Sulle, TAN, 34:19
Joanna Stephens, Atlanta, GA, 34:34
Andie Cozzarelli, Raleigh, NC, 34:39
Caroline Sang, Colorado Springs, CO, 34:53
Emma Grace Hurley, Roswell, GA, DEBUT
Kate Sanborn, Raleigh, NC, DEBUT
Amber Zimmerman, Philadelphia, PA, DEBUT
WHEELCHAIR –
Susannah Scaroni, Urbana, IL, 21:10
Tatyana McFadden, Clarksville, MD, 21:27
Patricia Eachus, SUI, 22:48
Jenna Fesemyer, Champaign, IL, 24:50
Yen Hoang, Champaign, IL, 24:53
Hannah Babalo, Newark, NJ, 25:07
Chelsea Stein, Tucson, AZ, 27:15
Emelia Perry, Philadelphia, PA, 33:51
Ivonne Reyes, MEX, 29:48