Credit Union Cherry Blossom To Host USATF Ten Mile Championships at 50th Anniversary Celebration Potential Prize Money Payout Could Reach $66,250.

March 1, 2023, Washington, DC: Organizers of the 50th running of the Credit
Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile (CUCB) announced today that the April 2 event will
serve as the USATF 10 Mile Championships for American men and women.

In addition, the organizers are providing a $50,000* shared bonus available for any
World or American record times set at this year’s Runner’s Rite of Spring®.
Race Director Phil Stewart observed: „We are excited to host the USATF
championships with this very special 50th anniversary edition of the race. We are
pleased to support American runners in this manner as the 2024 Olympic year
approaches, and we hope that one of them will earn the $50,000 bonus with a
new American record.
This will be the fourth time one or more of the USATF 10 Mile Championships
have been hosted by CUCB race organizers: the women’s championships were
part of the 2013 event, while Cherry Blossom hosted both the men’s and women’s
championships in 2014 and again in 2021. USATF champions crowned at CUCB
include Janet Bawcom (2013), Christo Landry and Janet Bawcom (2014), and
Abbabiya Simbassa and Nell Rojas (2021).
This year, the American prize purse totals $25,000. International elite runners will
be part of a field competing for $44,000 in prize money; American runners placing
in the top-10 overall are eligible to receive both open and American-only prize
money.
In addition to the USATF Championships, the event will host the 2023 Road
Runners Club of America (RRCA) National 10 Mile Championships and the 2023
PRRO Circuit Championship.
The RRCA Championship is open to both International and American runners,
with the winners in the open, 40+, 50+ and 60+ age groups earning the title of
2023 RRCA National Champion.
The Ten Mile will serve as the 2022-2023 Professional Road Racing Organization
(PRRO) Circuit Championship. Winners of the individual 2022-2023 PRRO Circuit
events will be eligible for the $10,000 PRRO Super Bonus by winning the PRRO
Championship (the bonus is split if an eligible male and female win the
Championship).
* If World Best times and American Records for men and women are set by the
winners at the event (i.e. four records set), the $50,000 record bonus would be
split into four $12,500 shares. If only one World or American record is set for
either men or women, the athlete setting the record would get the full $50,000. If
an American sets an American record and no other World or American records
are set, he or she would receive the entire $50,000 as well. Currently, the times to
beat are as follows:
 Haile Gebreselassie’s (ETH) World Athletics Best of 44:24, run at
the Tilburg 10 Mile in Tilburg, Netherlands, September 4, 2005;
 Keira D’Amato’s World Athletics Best in a women’s only race of
51:23, run at the UpDawg 10 Mile in Washington, DC, November 24,
2020;
 Greg Meyer’s American Record of 46:13, run at the Cherry Blossom
Ten Mile in Washington, DC, March 27, 1983; and
 Keira D’Amato’s previously listed World Best 51:23, which is also the
American Record for a women’s only race.
Thanks to Credit Union Miracle Day’s title sponsorship since 2002, the Credit
Union Cherry Blossom Run has raised over $10.2 million for the Children’s Miracle
Network Hospitals, including $323,000 in 2022.

About the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile:

The Credit Union Cherry Blossom races, organized by Cherry Blossom, Inc., a 501c(3)
chapter of the Road Runners Club of America, are known as “The Runner’s Rite of Spring®”
in the Nation’s Capital. The staging area for Sunday’s 10 Mile is on the Washington
Monument Grounds, and the course passes in sight of all of the major Washington, DC
Memorials. In 2023, the reimagined Saturday 5K will stage on Freedom Plaza and traverse
the route of Presidential Inaugurations down Pennsylvania Avenue before crossing the
National Mall in the shadow of the Capitol Building and returning by the same route. The Kids
Run is staged on the grounds of the National Building Museum. All events serve as a
fundraiser for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, a consortium of 170 premier children’s
hospitals across North America. About one-third of the funds raised support Washington, DC’s
own Children’s National (“Children’s Hospital”). The event also funds the Road Runners Club
of America’s “Roads Scholar” program designed to support up-and-coming U.S. distance
running talent.

Credit Union Miracle Day, Inc., a consortium of credit unions and credit union suppliers, is the
title sponsor of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile, 5K, Kids Run and Virtual Run.
Current presenting sponsors include ASICS, REI Co-op and Wegmans; supporting sponsors
include CACI, Co-op Solutions, CUNA Mutual Group, FinisherPix, Gatorade Endurance,
Guayaki, MedStar Health, PSCU, Potomac River Running, Suburban Solutions, The MO
Apartments and UPS.

The 10 Mile is a proud member of the PRRO Circuit (PRRO.org), a series of this country’s
classic non- marathon prize money road races with circuit stops in Washington, DC; Spokane,
WA; and Utica, NY. The 2023 10 Mile will serve as the 2022-2023 PRRO Championship.
In addition to being sanctioned by USA Track & Field and the Road Runners Club of America,
the Credit Union Cherry Blossom races have earned Gold Level Inspire Certification from the
Council for Responsible Sport in recognition of its legacy of commitment to sustainability and
thoughtful resource management.
To learn more, visit www.cherryblossom.org and follow the event on social media @CUCB
and #CUCB2023.

About Credit Union Miracle Day:
Credit Union Miracle Day is a partnership of over 100 credit unions, CUSOs and partner
organizations united to sponsor the Credit Union Cherry Blossom races, promoting awareness
of the credit union difference and benefitting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals nationwide.
About America’s Credit Unions:
Credit unions are financial cooperatives that provide consumers choices for financial services
such as checking accounts, investments and loans of all kinds, including mortgages. Funds
are federally insured, but unlike banks, there are no stockholders at credit unions.

Earningsare returned to member-owners in the form of lower loan rates, higher savings rates, and low
or no-fee products and services. The credit union philosophy of placing members’ needs first
is why more than 131 million Americans do their banking at a credit union.

Source: .Credit Union Cherry Blossom, Inc. | www.cherryblossom.org