April 3, 2016, Washington, DC: Thirty-one year-old Sam Chelanga, a naturalized American citizen who was born in Kenya, won the 44th Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile in a time of 48:25.1 today. The last American male to win Cherry Blossom was Chris Fox in 1990. Twenty-six year-old Kenyan Veronica Nyaruai Wanjiru won the women's race in a time of 53:11.6. Conditions were less than ideal, with temperatures in the mid-30s and winds gusting up to 40 miles per hour during the race, thus slowing all runners' times considerably.

 

After the race, Chelanga told reporters: "My coach said, 'just do the race, don't worry about the wind,' so that's what I did."

 

In fact, everyone in the men's race seemed worried about the wind as they ran in a pack as big as 10 runners for much of the first seven or eight miles. Then, Chelanga and two other runners surged and opened a gap. With a mile or so to go, Chelanga threw down his gloves and the gauntlet, but only prevailed by a second over Kenyan Silas Kipruto (48:26.3), and three seconds over fellow American Martin Hehir (48:28.4) at the finish line. Chelanga took home $8,000 for the victory and an additional $5,000 as first American; Kipruto won $4,000; Hehir was awarded $2,000 for third place as well as an additional $2,500 for second place among Americans.

 

Rounding out the men's top-10: Terefa Debela Delesa of Ethiopia (48:49.8) won $1,500; Philemon Cheboi of Kenya (48:51.7) won $1,000; Nelson Oyugi of Kenya (48:55.1) won $900; Tolossa Gedefa Fufi of Ethiopia (48:58.8) won $800; Philip Langat of Kenya (49:01.0) won $700; American Christo Landry (49:04.7) won a total of $3,100 ($600 for ninth overall and $2,500 for second American); and Tom Anderson of Great Britain (49:26.3) won $500.

 

For the first time in 10 years, the elite women started with the men today, and surely benefited from running in the larger pack. The change in starting procedure was one of many concessions made on account of the weather conditions. Among the other changes were an elimination of all signage on the course, no clocks at mile markers and no start/finish scaffolding.

 

Women's winner Veronica Nyaruai Wanjiru led the women throughout the race, followed closely by eventual second place runner Buze Diriba of Ethiopia (53:19.4). Maegan Krifchin (55:00.0), first American and third place overall, had to work her way through the field after being out of the top five in the first few miles. Krifchin was a late entry into the race, getting a call from her agent after 8 p.m. last night, and was she happy about that.

 

"I love to race," said Krifchin, "but certainly wasn't expecting this. I had no preconceived notions about how the race would go, because I didn't have a lot of time to think about it, so I just went out to have fun."

 

Wanjuri took home $8,000 for the victory, Diriba won $4,000 and Krifchin doubled-dipped to take home $2,000 for third overall and $5,000 for first American.

 

Rounding out the women's top-10: Three-time champion Lineth Chepkurui (`08, `09, `10) of Kenya (55:26.9) won $1,500; Sarah Kiptoo of Kenya (55:30.4) won $1,000; American Serena Burla (55:57.1) who was another late entry, won a total of $3,400 ($900/$2,500); Etaferahu Temesgen of Ethiopia (56:23.3) won $800; Gladys Cheboi of Kenya (56:34.8) won $700; American Allie Kieffer (56:42.6) was the last to double-dip to take home $2,100 ($600/$1,500); and Veronica Maina of Kenya (57:20.2) won $500.

 

With American prize money being paid to the top-10 Americans, the following men and women enjoyed the windy payday: Spencer Gardner (51:03.5) won $1,000 as fourth American; Malcolm Richards (51:15.5) won $800; Carlos Jamieson (51:16.7) won $600; Andrew Weaver (51:18.0) won $400; Brian Flynn (51:19.1) won $300; Christopher Sloane (51:26.3) won $200; Andrew Brodeur (52:00.0) won $200; Julia Roman-Duval (58:29.2) won $1,000 as fourth American woman; Caroline Bauer (59:24.5) won $800; Heather Cappello (59:55.9) won $600; Mary Dell (59:58.9) won $400; Kerry Allen (1:00:14.4) won $300; Perry Shoemaker (1:00:55.5) won $200; and Katie O'Regan (1:01:16) won $200.

 

Other notable finishes included: 40-year-old Meb Keflezighi, who chose to run with the six minute pace group and finished in 1:00:40.5; 58-year-old Joan Benoit Samuelson, who ran a hard-fought 1:07:27; and 66-year-old Ben Beach, who ran 1:40:24 to finish his 44th consecutive Cherry Blossom Ten Mile. The 5K Run-Walk winners were Sylvain Clarenne (18:31) and Melanie Nakagawa (22:47).

 

In addition to the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile and 5K Run-Walk races, there is typically a 1K Kids' Run, which was cancelled because of the high winds and cold temperatures.

 

Over 26,000 runners submitted applications to participate in the 2016 Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile and 5K Run-Walk, and the list of accepted runners represented all 50 states and 14 foreign countries. The official number of starters this morning was16,340. 

 

Since 2002, the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile and 5K Run-Walk have raised over $7.5 million for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. The 2016 event will mark the 15th year of title sponsorship by Credit Union Miracle Day.