Keflezighi wins fifth USA 15 km title; Russell wins women’s title

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Meb Keflezighi and Blake Russell dominated the men's and women's fields at the USA 15km Championships on Saturday at the 2006 Gate River Run. This year marked the 29th running of the event and the 13th consecutive year that the event has hosted the USA 15 km Championships.

The day dawned with moderate temperatures but very high humidity as the Women's Championships started. Blake Russell from the Big Sur Distance Project went straight into the lead with a 5:03 first mile and was never challenged as she passed 5 km in 16:12, 10 km in 32:48 (16:36) to win with ease in 49:14.

Russell, who won her first USA title at the 20 km at New Haven in September 2005 is already ahead of schedule in 2006 with her second USA title in a month, having won the 8 km title at the USA Cross Country Championships in New York in February.

"I was a little worried running the whole race by myself," said Russell after the race. "I was trying to break 49:00 but I knew warming up when I was pouring sweat that the humidity would be a problem." Running solidly in second place was U.S. Olympian Jen Rhines in her final tune-up for the Rome Marathon.

The Men's race which featured the third offering of the Equalizer Bonus, awarding $5,000 to the first male or female to cross the finish line, started exactly five minutes after the women's race, with Abdi Abdirahman taking the early lead with a 4:39 opening mile, followed by Meb Keflezighi and Matt Gonzales. A 4:31 mile fifth mile opened the gap Keflezighi needed as he ran a very even pace with 5 km splits of 14:38, 29:10 (14:32) and 43:43 (14:33).

"I came in late last night after a hectic week," related Keflezighi after the race. "I wanted to relax and get into the race slowly and work into it. Then I picked it up at a turn and pushed the pace in the middle of the race."