.US Road Racing Championships Set for Sunday

By Sam Rush

The .US National Road Racing Championships are the brainchild of Creigh Kelly and Jim Estes as USATF's first season-ending US National Road Racing Championship race. Elite runners from the USARC series, who have qualified through series events, will compete to win the overall series championship. The event also attempts to connect the professional runners with the community. 

Athens Olympic bronze medallist in the marathon, Deena  Kastor, spoke at the opening press conference today in Virginia, noting that "the event is more than crowing the king and queen of the 2013 road racing circuit, but about the connecting the running community. . .inspiring the youth. . .the Olympians of tomorrow." She will be cheering and encouraging 30 girls from Mount Vernon Elementary School as they run the 5K. Overall there will be more than 1,200 runners participating in either the 5K or championship race 12K.

The 12Kcaps off the USA Road Circuit, a series of championship races ranging from the mile to marathon. Sunday's winners will win $20,000 with a bonus of $25,000 going to the winners(male and female) of the circuit.

Minnesota has sent five runners, USA 25K champion Meghan Peyton, USA Half Marathon 3rd place finisher Kelly Brinkman, Joe Moore, Mike Reneau, and Ben Sathre. Meghan is the top scoring Minnesotan in the circuit in sixth place with 25 points, 22 points out of first. With triple points available in .US Championship race Peyton has the opportunity to win the women's series.