Sunday, October 02, 2011

Trafeh and Cherobon-Bawcom Win USA 10M

Mo Trafeh and Janet Cherobon-Bawcom won USA 10 Mile titles at today's Medtronic TC 10 Mile.

Trafeh's victory, in 46:46, was his third USA road racing title of 2011. Winning the women's title gave Cherobon-Bawcom her second USA championship of 2011. She ran 54:15.

Trafeh won the event's 10,000 "Equalizer Bonus," making up the seven-minute head-start given the women when he passed Cherobon-Bawcom at the nine-and-a-half mile mark. (Cherobon-Bawcom leads Trafeh in the photo, above.)

Each earned $12,000 for winning USA titles.

Trafeh made his winning move in the final mile of the race, breaking up a large pack of contenders. USA 5K champ Ben True was runner-up in 46:48; Brett Gotcher was third in 46:51.

Defending champ and course record-holder Abdi Abdirahman was sixth in 47:00.

New Team USA Minnesota runner John Grey was the top Minnesota finisher in 12th-place at 47:59. Matt Gabrielson was the top Minnesota finisher in 15th at 48:18.

Cherobon-Bawcom broke up a pack of contenders after 10K. Julie Culley was runner-up in 54:28; 2003 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon champ Blake Russell was third in 54:44.

Six-time TC 10 Mile champion Katie McGregor of Team USA Minnesota, the defending USA champion, was fourth in 55:00.

Watch video replays of the races and find post-race interviews, HERE, on the USA Running Circuit web-site.

The StarTribune's coverage of the race is HERE. My Running USA Wire story is HERE.

Complete results are posted HERE.

Photos by Gene Niemi.

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