The USATF Running Circuit resumes racing following the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field with the USATF Women’s 6 km Championships being contested this Saturday from Canton, Ohio. The USATF Women’s 6 km Championships are the seventh stop on the 2024 USATF Running Circuit, with racing beginning at 8 a.m. ET. On-demand viewing of the USATF Women’s 6 km Championships will be available shortly after the race concludes on USATF.TV. Annie Rodenfels and Emma Grace Hurley return to Canton seeking a championship of their own after both falling a few seconds short of the title in last year’s race. Both women were within four seconds of champion Ednah Kurgat, who won in 18:31, with Rodenfels finishing third in 18:33 and Hurley finishing fourth in 18:35. Hurley will be competing in her fourth USATF Running Circuit competition of the year, with her best performance being a second-place finish at the USATF Cross Country Championships back in January in Virginia. Rodenfels raced the women’s 3000m steeplechase at the Olympic Trials, where she led the final for four laps of the race before settling for eighth overall in a personal best of 9:22.66. Rodenfels was also the 2022 runner-up at the USATF 6 km Championships. Allie Ostrander, Abby Nichols, Natosha Rogers, and Amanda Vestri are among other Olympic Trials competitors set to race. Ostrander elevated to No. 14 on the U.S. all-time steeplechase list after finishing seventh at the Olympic Trials in 9:21.82. In the 10,000 final Vestri finished in fifth and Rogers finished twelfth. Nichols took tenth in the 5,000 final. Ostrander, Nichols, and Rogers have also appeared on the USATF Running Circuit this season. Ostrander and Nichols both represented the U.S. at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships and finished fourth and sixth, respectively, at the USATF Cross Country Championships in January. At the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Marathon, Rogers placed 28th out of 117 competitors. Rachel Smith will be eyeing a second national title this year on the USATF Running Circuit, having won the USATF 15 km Championship back in March, while Emily Durgin is hoping to capture her first-ever title after finishing top four in the three USATF Running Circuit races she’s contested in this year. NC State’s Amaris Tyynismaa and Northern Arizona’s Annika Reiss are a pair of top collegiate athletes in the field. Tyynismaa and Reiss were both All-Americans in cross country for their respective programs last fall. About the USATF Running Circuit The USATF Running Circuit is a USATF road series featuring USATF championships from one mile through the marathon and consistently attracts the best American distance runners with more than $500,000 to be awarded in total prize money. A total of $20,100 in prize money will be awarded at the USATF 6 km Championships. The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USATF Running Circuit race. For the USATF 10 Mile Championships, scoring is set as 15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, with those earning the most points receiving prize money at the end of the series. The mission of the USATF Running Circuit is to showcase, support and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USATF Running Circuit and its races have provided over $7 million to U.S. distance runners. Contributed by Keenan Gray