Kipchirchir Outlasts Field for Victory at the USATF Men’s 8 km Championships

USATF Release

KINGSPORT, Tennessee – Olympian Shadrack Kipchirchir and Conner Mantz battled all the way to the finish Saturday evening in Kingsport, Tennessee, with Kipchirchir taking victory by the slightest of margins at the USATF Men’s 8 km Road Championships presented by Toyota.

Race highlights and coverage of the USATF Men’s 8 km Championships, hosted by the Crazy 8s 8K Run and the seventh stop on the USATF Running Circuit presented by Toyota, are available and can be viewed with a +PLUS subscription on USATF.TV.

The night-time race atmosphere and good racing weather led to a large contingent of runners positioning themselves up front just after the gun sounded. Front runners Sam Chelanga, Mantz, and Olympian Leonard Korir pushed the pace up front, setting an honest pace that whittled down the field to a group of eight runners by the 5 km mark.

As the lead pack moved past the 5 km split, Mantz and Kipchirchir, along with Korir, started to push the pace up front, stringing out the pack. The trio positioned themselves well and were able to pull away leading up to the mile four mark, which they came through in 18:28.

Over the final mile, Kipchirchir and Mantz started to pull away from Korir. The two ran stride for stride, each taking turns trying to edge away from the other. In the dash to the finish, the two standouts refused to concede any distance from one another, with Kipchirchir getting a half step on Mantz in the final stride of the race, winning in 22:42. Mantz placed second in the same time.

Korir was able to outlast the rest of the field over the final mile to claim third in 22:50, building his USATF Running Circuit point total to 74 points. Futsum Zienasellassie, who didn’t race in Kingsport, maintains his second place standing with 43 points, while Kipchirchir’s victory doubled his point total to 30, moving him into third position in the standings.

The battle for fourth remained intense all the way to the final steps of the race, with Chelanga holding off John Dressel by one second, as the U.S. Army runner claimed fourth in 22:57, while Dressel earned fifth overall in 22:58.

Behind Dressel, James Quattlebaum ran an impressive race to claim sixth place in 23:02, well ahead of Jacob Thomson, who crossed the finish seventh in 23:12. Eric Jenkins took home eighth place in 23:16, ten seconds ahead of Josh Izewski in ninth. Benjamin Eidenschink rounded out the top ten with a 23:34 tenth place effort.

The next stop on the USATF Running Circuit is the USATF 20 km Championships presented by Toyota, which take place on September 17 in New Haven, Connecticut, hosted by the Faxon Law New Have Road Race.

About the USATF Running Circuit

The USATF Running Circuit is a USATF road series featuring USATF championships from one mile through the marathon and consistently attracts the best American distance runners with more than $500,000 to be awarded in total prize money. A total of $15,000 in prize money will be awarded at the USATF Men’s 8 km Championships.

The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USATF Running Circuit race. For the USATF Men’s 8 km Championships, scoring is set as 15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7 ,6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, with those earning the most points receiving prize money at the end of the series.

The mission of the USATF Running Circuit is to showcase, support and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USATF Running Circuit and its races have provided over $7 million to U.S. distance runners.

Contributed by Scott Bush