GRAND RAPIDS Sally Meyerhoff (Tempe, Ariz.) won her first at the USA 25 km Championships Saturday in Grand Rapids, Mich. This marks the 16th year that the championships have been hosted by the Fifth Third River Bank Run.
In a field that also included open international athletes, Meyerhoff finished second overall in the respective women's division. Meyerhoff ran 1:27:28. The overall title were won by Kenya's Genoveva Kigen in 1:27:16.
The women's race saw Kigen jump to an early lead as Meyerhoff ran with 2008 U.S. Olympic marathoner and pre-race favorite Magdalena Lewy Boulet (Oakland, Calif.).
Just past 11 miles Meyerhoff made her move and pulled away from Boulet, who had been dealing with a side-stitch. As Meyerhoff pressed the pace, she closed on Kigen slightly but was only able to close the gap to 12 seconds at the finish. Boulet held on for third overall and second in the championships, running 1:28:14. Tera Moody (Colorado Springs, Colo.) took fourth overall to round out the top-three U.S. finishers in 1:28:41.
Masters Championships
This year's event once again served as the USA Masters 25 km Championships Susan Empey (Mercer Island, Wash.) winning the women's title in 1:35:55.
The USA 25 km Championships featured more than $45,000 in prize money with the men's and women's champions earning $4,000 each, and the men's and women's masters champions earning $1,500 each.