Elite Info
Elite Runner Info
The Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile welcomes elite athletes from the United States and around the globe. The event takes great pride in being the only event in the Nation’s Capital offering significant prize money to elite athletes. Supporting elite athletes has been an important part of our mission since the dawn of the prize money era in the early 1980s.
The event has featured Olympic Gold Medalists, World Champions, and World and American Record holders over the years. In fact, since the race started in 1973, the annual Runner’s Rite of Spring ® has been the site of 10 world and nine American records. The first World Record was set in 1986 when Portugal’s Rosa Mota ran 53:09, and the most recent was in 2007 when Ethiopia’s Teyba Erkesso set the Single-sex Women’s World Record with a time of 51:44 (which still stands). The first American Record set at the event was in 1976 by Julie Shea in 57:04, and the most recent by Janet Bawcom with a Single-sex Women’s American Record of 52:12 in 2014. (Note: Credit Union Cherry Blossom committee member Keira D’Amato broke Janet Bawcom’s Single-sex Women’s American Record for 10 Miles at the Up Dawg 10 Miler, presented by the Credit Union Cherry Blossom on November 24, 2020 with a time of 51:23.)
Our elite athlete program consists of travel and lodging for qualified athletes. Our time standards for consideration as an elite athlete are as follows:
Men: Sub 48:00 10-mile time (or equivalent at a similar distance)
Women: Sub 56:00 10-mile time (or equivalent at a similar distance)
Athletes meeting these standards should contact Elite Athlete Coordinator Bill Orr at borr@cherryblossom.org.
Click Here for the Elite Prize Purse at the 2024 Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile
Click Here for a list of the 10 World Records and the 10 American Records set at the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile.