PRRO CIRCUIT CONTINUES AT CREDIT UNION CHERRY BLOSSOM 10 MILE ON SUNDAY
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission.
(09-Apr) — The third stop of the 2025/2026 Professional Road Running Organization (PRRO) Circuit, the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile, will take place on Sunday in Washington, D.C., with an $80,600 prize money purse, including $42,600 dedicated to home-country athletes competing in the USATF 10 Mile Championships division. This will be the fourth consecutive year that the Cherry Blossom has hosted the national 10 Mile Championships, and in each of the previous three editions at least one national record was set, including Taylor Roe’s spectacular 49:53 in the women’s division last year, which was also a world best.
“With three consecutive years of an American record being set as well as the women’s world best just last year, the elite field continues to impress year after year,” said long-time event director Phil Stewart, who will be retiring after this year’s race. “We are thrilled to once again host the USATF 10 Mile Championship, setting the course for another exciting and fast weekend.”
Among the USA road running championships, the Cherry Blossom is unique. All of the other championships host USA-only fields, but the Cherry Blossom — as part of the PRRO Circuit — also hosts international athletes, raising the level of competition. In addition, to ensure the fairest competition, the elite women enjoy an early start ahead of the men.
Leading the women’s field are two of America’s top distance runners, Weini Kelati (Nike) and Emma Grace Hurley (Asics). Both are national record holders. Kelati, 29, holds that national record for the half-marathon, 1:06:04, set in Barcelona in February. She has a 10-mile best of 50:05, a mark she set en route at the 2025 Aramco Houston Half-Marathon. Hurley, 28, is the national 8-K record holder (24:29), a mark she set last month in Chicago. She is the top returner to the CUCB this year; she ran a personal best of 51:04 last year.
“I cannot wait to return to one of my favorite courses for another 10 miles of fun!” Hurley wrote on her Instagram page. “The field is looking quite a bit spicier than I anticipated, and I’m SO excited.”
Two-time Olympian Karissa Schweizer (Nike) is also in the field, and she’ll be making her 10-mile debut. Her 10,000m personal best of 30:18.05 makes her the fourth-fastest American of all time. Also looking for top places will be reigning national marathon champion Molly Born (Puma), 2023 national cross country champion Ednah Kurgat (U.S. Army), and 2025 national cross country championships runner-up Katie Izzo (adidas).
The top international entrant is Joy Cheptoyek of Uganda, who has a blazing 10 K personal best of 30:03. She is running her first-ever 10-mile race.
The men’s field looks wide open this year as the top two finishers from last year, Charles Hicks (Nike) and Alex Maier (Puma), are both running the Boston Marathon instead. At the top of the entry file is Aidan Reed (Roots Running), who ran a personal best 45:58 at last year’s race. Frank Lara (Altra) has a 46:59 career best, and Graydon Morris (Puma) has run 1:01:09 for the half-marathon. Olympic marathoner Jared Ward (Saucony) is also in the field, and the race’s lone international entrant is Kenyan Kirami Yego, the former Arkansas Razorback who finished tenth in the 10,000m at the 2024 NCAA Championships.
The overall race winners, regardless of citizenship, will receive $6000 in prize money. American athletes competing in the national championships are competing for a first-place championship prize of $10,000, meaning that an American who is also the overall winner will take home $16,000. In addition, the race is offering time bonuses of $5000, $5000, and $3000 for world, American, and event records, respectively. Those bonuses are cumulative.
Race organizers expect about 19,000 finishers (last year there were 19,601 plus another 7197 in the companion 5-K, which is held on Saturday), and they plan to also host the 2027 edition of the USATF 10 Mile Championships.
The race will be broadcast via USATF.tv at this link beginning at 7:15 a.m. EDT (subscription required)
https://usatf.tv/home/events/
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The PRRO Circuit, a nationwide series of premier non-marathon road racing events, is organized and promoted by the Professional Road Running Organization (PRRO), an alliance of race directors. The next race on the circuit is the Lilac Bloomsday Run 12-K in Spokane, Wash., on Sunday, May 3. The 2025/2026 PRRO Circuit will conclude at the PRRO Championship hosted by the Quad-City Times Bix 7 on Saturday, July 25, in Davenport, Iowa.
