Fiona O’Keeffe, Hillary Bor Claim Record Setting USATF 10 Mile Road Championship Titles

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn - Front running racing was the name of the game on perfect fall Sunday morning in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis & St. Paul, MN. at the USATF 10 Mile Road Championships presented by Toyota, as Fiona O’Keeffe and Hillary Bor claimed national titles in course record times.

O’Keeffe also claimed a $10,000 gender equalizer bonus as the first athlete, woman or man, to cross the finish line. The women had a five minute, 57 second head start on the men.

Taking advantage of the cool weather and the opportunity of the extra bonus money, the women’s race got off to a quick start with O’Keeffe and Emily Durgin quickly heading to the front and pushing the pace through the first half of the race. 

By mile 5 the pack was down to just six athletes with O’Keeffe, Durgin being joined by Aliphine Tuliamuk, Ednah Kurgat, Annie Frisbie and Lauren Goss hitting the timing mats in 25:44.

O’Keeffe would continue to push the pace, putting nearly 20 seconds on Annie Frisbie by mile 8 before pulling into the finish line 28 seconds of the locally trained Frisbie.

Her winning time of 51:42 bested Molly Huddle’s course record of 51:44 (2015).

Annie Frisbie (52:10), Emily Durgin (52:16), Nell Rojas (52:20), and Aliphine Tuliamuk (52:35) rounded out the top five women’s finishers. 

Starting 5 minutes, 57 seconds after the pro women, the pro men’s field got underway with a large pack led by Hillary Bor and Shadrack Kipchirchir through the first few miles.

The field would start to separate after four miles with just eight athletes being in contention through the five mile split with Biya Simbassa leading the charge - 23:15.

Bor and long-time USARC fixture Sam Chelanga would push the pace through the next three miles, eventually separating themselves from the pack putting a 14 second lead on Simbassa by mile eight.

With the women’s leaders in sight and the potential of claiming gender equalizer, Bor continued to surge, putting eight seconds between himself and Chelanga. 

Bor’s efforts would not be enough to catch the women’s winner O’Keeffe but his winning time of 46:06 would obliterate Shadrack Kipchirchir’s 2018 course record by 26 seconds.

Sam Chelanga (46:14), Biya Simbassa (46:29), Shadrack Kipchirchir (46:40), and Reed Fischer (46:40) rounded out the top five men’s finishers.

The USATF 10 Mile Championships presented by Toyota was the ninth stop on the 2022 USATF Running Circuit.

The next stop on the 2022 USATF Running Circuit are the USATF 5 km Road Championships, which take place on Saturday, November 5 in New York City, hosted by the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K.

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 $81,000 in prize money will be awarded at the USATF 10 Mile Championships.

The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USATF Running Circuit race. For the USATF 10 Mile Championships, scoring is set as 22.5 for first, 18 for second, 15 for third, 10.5 , 9, 7.5, 6, 4.5, 3 and 1.5, 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 Chris Nickinson