ATLANTA – June 29, 2017 – A 2016 Olympian and a three-time U.S. cross country champion are joining the field at the USATF 10 km Championships at the AJC Peachtree Road Race on the Fourth of July in Atlanta.
Marielle Hall (Mt. Laurel, NJ), who represented the United States in the 10,000m at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, will compete for the national title. Hall, a University of Texas graduate, was the 2014 NCAA Champion in the 5,000m. This will be her first appearance at the AJC Peachtree Road Race.
Also making his Peachtree debut is Chris Derrick (Portland, OR). Derrick won the U.S. cross country title in 2013, 2014 and 2015. At Stanford University, he received All-American honors 14 times. “You can’t ask for more as an athlete than to compete at one of the world’s most historic road races against so many of America’s top distance runners,” said Derrick. “I expect a real battle on July 4th. I hope we can give the fans something special.”
Derrick and Hall join a star-studded field highlighted by five-time Olympian Bernard Lagat and 2016 Olympians Leonard Korir and Shadrack Kipchirchir on the men’s side. American road 10K record holder and four-time Olympian Shalane Flanagan and 2:23 marathoner Jordan Hasay lead the women’s field.
The 2017 AJC Peachtree Road Race prize purse of $70,000 will be awarded to top performers in the USA Championship division with the top male and female each earning $10,000.
Men’s Elite Field | Women’s Field |
Bernard Lagat | Shalane Flanagan |
Leonard Korir | Jordan Hasay |
Sam Chelanga | Neely Gracey |
Shadrack Kipchirchir | Aliphine Tuliamuk |
Chris Derrick | Sarah Pagano |
Andrew Bumbalough | Becky Wade |
Futsum Zienasellassie | Tara Welling |
Shadrack Biwott | Bridget Lyons |
Abdi Abdirahman | Jen Rhines |
Kirubel Erassa | Chelsea Blaase |
Jon Grey | Maegan Krifchin |
*Both Natosha Rogers and Christo Landry have withdrawn from this year’s event.
The 48th running of the AJC Peachtree Road Race will take place on Tuesday, July 4, 2017. For more information, visit peachtreeroadrace.org.
About Atlanta Track Club
Atlanta Track Club is a nonprofit committed to creating an active and healthy Atlanta. Through running and walking, Atlanta Track Club motivates, inspires and engages the community to enjoy a healthier lifestyle. With more than 27,000 members, Atlanta Track Club is the second largest running organization in the United States. In addition to the AJC Peachtree Road Race (peachtreeroadrace.org) – the largest 10K running event in the world, the Publix Georgia Marathon, PNC Atlanta 10 Miler and Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon, Atlanta Track Club directs more than 30 events per year. Through the support of its members and volunteers, Atlanta Track Club also maintains a number of community initiatives including organizing and promoting the Kilometer Kids youth running program to metro Atlanta youth, honoring high school cross country and track and field athletes through Atlanta Track Club’s All-Metro Banquets and supporting the Grady Bicycle EMT program. For more information on Atlanta Track Club, visit atlantatrackclub.org.
About the AJC Peachtree Road Race
The AJC Peachtree Road Race is a 10K event that takes place every Fourth of July in Atlanta, Georgia. The first Peachtree was held in 1970 and featured 110 finishers. The AJC Peachtree Road Race is now the largest 10K running event in the world with 60,000 participants. The AJC Peachtree Road Race is perhaps most famous for the coveted AJC Peachtree Road Race T-shirt, which is handed out to all the event finishers. For more information on the AJC Peachtree Road Race visit peachtreeroadrace.org or AJC.com/peachtree.
About The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the leading source – both in print and online – of news, information and advertising for metropolitan Atlanta, reaching a total print and online audience of 1.6 million people each week. Every month, nearly 6.9 million unique visitors access the newspaper's websites, including AJC.com, myAJC.com and accessAtlanta.com. Our newsroom is the largest in Georgia with more than 150 journalists. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is part of Cox Media Group, a publishing, digital media and broadcasting subsidiary of Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises.
About USATF
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the country’s No. 1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States. For more information on USATF, visit usatf.org.