FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2018 Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile To Host
2017-2018 PRRO Championship
Garmin, GEICO, and Hood Cottage Cheese Join Roster of Sponsors for 46th
Runner's Rite of Spring®
March 8, 2018, Washington, DC: The 46th Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten
Mile, to be held on April 8, will serve as the 2017-18 championship event
for the Professional Road Running Organization (PRRO). Also known as the
Runner's Rite of Spring®, last year's Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile
was the opening event for the 2017-18 PRRO Circuit.
The PRRO Circuit showcases world class competition at five classic American
road races - the Lilac Bloomsday 12K in Spokane, WA; the Boilermaker 15K in
Utica, NY; the EQT Pittsburgh 10 Miler; the Publix Gasparilla Distance
Classic Half Marathon in Tampa, FL; and the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten
Mile - and offers a $10,000 PRRO Super Bonus to the winners of the five
PRRO Circuit races should one of them win the Credit Union Cherry Blossom
Ten Mile this year (this will be split if an eligible man and woman both
win the 2017-18 PRRO Championship in our Nation's Capital).
To date, six of the nine athletes eligible to win the $10,000 PRRO Super
Bonus have committed to race this year's PRRO Championship: last year's
winner of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile women's race, Ethiopian
Hiwot Gebrekidan; 2017 Lilac Bloomsday 12K winners, Tanzanian Gabriel Geay
and Ethiopian Buze Diriba; 2017 Boilermaker 15K winners, Kenyans Silas
Kipruto and Mary Wacera; and 2017 EQT Pittsburgh 10 Miler winner, Kenyan
Panuel Mkungo.
"We are excited about hosting the 23rd PRRO Championship," said Event
Director Phil Stewart. "The Credit Union Cherry Blossom has a long history
of promoting elite competition so staging the PRRO Championship is an
outstanding way to continue the tradition of being Washington, DC's only
World Class running event."
A total of $100,500 in prize money and bonuses is up for grabs at the
Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile in 2018, per the following breakdown:
$40,000 in prize money, plus a possible $3,500 in bonuses will be awarded
in equal amounts to the top 10 international men and women; $25,000 in
prize money will be awarded to the top 10 U.S. men and women. There is also
a $10,000 American record bonus for the first American man to break Greg
Meyer's American record of 46:13, set here in 1983, and for the first
American woman to break Janet Bawcom's single-sex American record of 52:12,
set here in 2014. And, as mentioned above, qualifying 2017-18 PRRO Circuit
athletes are eligible for the $10,000 PRRO Super Bonus, or a $1,500 PRRO
Event Champion's Bonus, should they fail to win the race but still place
among the top ten runners at the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile.
In other news, three new sponsors have been added for 2018: Garmin, GEICO
and Hood Cottage Cheese. In its role as the event's Technology Sponsor,
Garmin will present the 2018 Credit Union Cherry Blossom App and the RunPix
Graphic Results. Hood Cottage Cheese will be the presenting sponsor of the
Credit Union Cherry Blossom 5K Run-Walk, and will treat finishers of both
the 5K Run-Walk and Ten Mile to tasty Hood Cottage Cheese samples in the
post-race area. GEICO will be branding the water bottles used at Saturday's
Credit Union Cherry Blossom Kids Half Mile.
The 2018 event will mark the 17th year of title sponsorship by Credit Union
Miracle Day. Since 2002, over $8 million has been raised for the Children's
Miracle Network Hospitals.
About the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile
The Credit Union Cherry Blossom, organized by Cherry Blossom, Inc., a
501c(3) chapter of the Road Runners Club of America, is known as "The
Runner's Rite of Spring®" in the Nation's Capital. The staging area for the
event is on the Washington Monument Grounds, and the course passes in sight
of all of the major Washington, DC Memorials. The event serves 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 two $5,000 Road Runners Club
of America "Roads Scholar" grants designed to support up-and-coming U.S.
distance running talent.
The event is a proud member of the PRRO Circuit (PRRO.org), a series of
non-marathon prize money road races in Tampa, FL; Washington, DC; Spokane,
WA; Utica, NY; and Pittsburgh, PA. The circuit is committed to a drug-free
sport and funds Clearidium to conduct drug testing at all circuit events in
compliance with the standards of international and U.S. drug testing
authorities.
In addition to being sanctioned by USA Track & Field and the Road Runners
Club of America, the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Run has 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.
Credit Union Miracle Day, Inc., a consortium of credit unions and credit
union suppliers in partnership with CUNA Mutual Group and PSCU, is the
title sponsor of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run, 5K Run-Walk
and Kids' Run. Hood Cottage Cheese is the presenting sponsor of the 5K
Run-Walk. Supporting sponsors include E-Trade, Garmin, Gatorade, GEICO,
Gold's Gym, Mamma Lucia, MedStar Sports Medicine, Navy Federal Credit
Union, Old Ox Brewery, Potomac River Running, Suburban Solutions, and Under
Armour.
About America's Credit Unions:
Credit unions 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. Earnings are returned to member-owners in the form of lower
loan rates, higher savings rates, low or no-fee products and services. The
credit union philosophy of placing members' needs first is why more than
113 million Americans do their banking at one of America's 5,800 credit
unions. Credit unions are for everyone - no matter where you live, there is
a credit union to meet your needs.
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