INDIANAPOLIS — Athletes from more than 90 nations will take to the streets of Riga, Latvia, on October 1 for the inaugural World Athletics Road Running Championships. Some of the world's top distance stars will compete in the mile, 5K and half marathon, and Team USATF will be led by the first men's world record holder in the road mile.
This year's national indoor 1500 and 3000 champion Sam Prakel won the USATF Road Mile Championships at Des Moines in April, and his 4:01.21 has been ratified as the first official world record at the distance. Prakel's mile best on the track came indoors at Boston in 2019 when he clocked 3:50.94, and he was ninth at the World Indoor Championships in the 1500 in 2022. Joining him on the U.S. squad will be 20-year-old Hobbs Kessler, sixth in the 1500 at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships and winner of two road miles this season. Kessler ran the fastest 1500 ever by a U.S. U20 athlete in 2021 with a 3:34.36 and lowered his PB at that distance to 3:32.61 to take third at the USATF LA GP in May. Kenya's Reynold Kipkorir Cheruiyot is the fastest entrant, setting a world U20 record on the track with a 3:48.06 to take fifth at the Diamond League Final in Eugene, while Ethiopia's Teddese Lemi was eighth in the 1500 at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest and has run 3:31.90 for 1500. Other top names include Australia's Matthew Ramsden, a 3:51.23 performer on the track, and Kenya's 1500 national champion Kyumbe Munguti, who set his 1500 PB of 3:34.02 in June and was part of Kenya's winning Mixed Relay at the World Cross Country Championships in February.
One of the most exciting young middle distance athletes to emerge on the U.S. scene, Addison Wiley was third at the USATF Road Mile Championships in 4:30.94 and followed up with stellar performances on the track this summer. Wiley, 19, became the fastest American teenager ever with her 3:59.17 in the 1500 at the Brussels Diamond League meet and she won the NACAC title in Costa Rica. The sixth-place finisher in the 1500 at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, Helen Schlachtenhaufen set her track mile PB of 4:23.94 at the Millrose Games in February. She was 10th at the USATF Road Mile. The U.S. runners will be up against the fastest woman in history, Kenya's Faith Kipyegon, who shattered the world record on the track with a 4:07.64 at the Monaco Diamond League meet on July 21. In June she became the first woman to break 3:50 in the 1500, setting a world record of 3:49.11 at the Florence Diamond League meet, and she added the 5000 world record a week later in Paris with a 14:05.20. A double gold medalist in the 1500 and 5000 at Budapest, Kipyegon most recently ran away with the Diamond League 1500 title in Eugene with a 3:50.72. Ethiopia's trio of entrants includes World Championships 1500 silver medalist Diribe Welteji, who also finished as the runner-up at the Diamond League Final in Eugene, setting a PB of 3:53.93. Welteji was fourth in the 800 at Oregon22 in a PB 1:57.02. Freweyni Hailu was third in the world record race at Monaco, clocking 4:14.79, and placed seventh in the 5000 at Budapest, and Hirut Meshesha has a PB of 4:20.00, set at the Oslo Diamond League meet. Jessica Hull of Australia was seventh in the 1500 at Budapest and set a PB of 4:15.34 in the mile at Monaco. Kenya's other two entrants, Nelly Chepchirchir and Beatrice Chepkoech, are also formidable competitors. Chepchirchir was fifth in the 1500 at Budapest and has a PB of 3:56.72, while Chepkoech is the world record holder in the 3000 steeplechase at 8:44.32.
The fourth-place finisher in the 10,000 at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, narrowly missing a spot on the Budapest roster, Weini Kelati has a track best and PB of 14:53.41 in the 5000 this season. Kelati was fourth at the BAA 5K in April in 15:13 and has a road PB of 15:04 from last year. She placed 21st in the 10K race at the World Cross Country Championships in February. Former Stanford star Fiona O'Keeffe notched lifetime bests on the track in the 5000 and 10,000 this season, going 15:01.34 indoors at Boston and then breaking 31 minutes with a 30:52.77 to win at the Track Fest at Mt. SAC in May. She was two places behind Kelati at the BAA 5K in 15:24 and won the USATF 10 Mile title in 2022. Kanya's Caroline Nyaga tops the entrant list with a 14:35 that places her No. 2 on the 2023 world list. She set that mark in winning at Lille, France, in March. Nyaga captured the African 10,000 title in 2022 and added a bronze in the 5000. She will face a stern challenge from Ethiopian youngster Medina Eisa. The 18-year-old Eisa ran 14:46 to win the adizero race in Germany and followed up with a world U20 record on the track with her 14:16.54 at the London Diamond League meet. She placed sixth at the World Championships in Budapest and was the silver medalist in the U20 race at the World Cross Country Championships. Reigning Olympic 3000 steeplechase champion Peruth Chemutai of Uganda was only seventh at Budapest in that event, but she brings in a 15:05 5K road PB to go with her 9:01.45 steeple credentials. World record holder Ejgayehu Taye of Ethiopia, who ran 14:19 in 2021, has focused on the track this season and was the bronze medalist in the 10,000 at Budapest. She also placed fifth in the 5000 there and has season bests of 14:13.31 and 29:57.45 on the oval. Other contenders for the podium include Ethiopia's Lemlem Hailu, a sub-30 performer on the track in the 10,000, and Kenya's Beatrice Chebet, the bronze medalist in the 5000 at Budapest and the World Cross Country champion. Chebet was second in the 5000 at the Diamond League Final in Eugene with a sizzling 14:05.92. Nozomi Tanaka of Japan and Kenya's Lilian Regneruk are two more women who have run sub-14:30 on the track in 2023.
American hopes rest on the shoulders of Olin Hacker and Ahmed Muhumed. Hacker was the 2022 NCAA 5000 champion on the track for Wisconsin and set his road PB of 13:27 at the BAA 5K in April. He earned bronze in the 3000 at the USATF Indoor Championships and set a PB of 13:09.94 on the track a week after taking seventh at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. Muhumed won the ACC 10,000 for Florida State last year and finished eighth in the 5000 at this year's Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. He set his PB of 13:16.09 at the Track Fest in May, and was sixth in the BAA 5K behind Hacker, also garnering a PB of 13:27. Three men in the field have road PBs under 13:00, including Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha and Berihu Aregawi. Kejelcha, a two-time World Indoor champion in the 3000, is the fastest on the roads for 5K in 2023 with a 12:50 to win at Lille, France, in March, and he was fifth in the 5000 at the World Championships in Budapest. He won the Oslo Diamond League 5000 in a PB 12:41.73 and added the Zurich Diamond League title in 12:46.91. Aregawi has also been superb on the track with a 12:40.45 to win the Lausanne Diamond League meet and a 26:50.66 10,000 to win the Ethiopian Trials. He clocked 26:33 for 10K on the road in March and was the World Cross Country Championships 10K silver medalist. Kenya's Nicholas Kipkorir was eighth in the 10,000 at Budapest and ran in the heats of the 5000. He set his road PB of 12:55 in Germany last year and also turned in a 26:51 road 10K a year ago. Kipkorir has a track PB of 12:46.33 and dipped under 27 in the 10,000 with a 26:58.97 three years ago. Budapest 5000 sixth-place finisher Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia set a world U20 record for the road 5K 11 years ago with a 13:14. He lowered his lifetime best to 12:42.18 to win the Monaco Diamond League meet and set a half marathon PB of 58:55 in February.
To say the half marathon is loaded would be an understatement, with nine entrants sporting sub-60 season bests. It may be a tall order for Team USATF to crack the top five, but the U.S. quartet features Biya Simbassa, Jacob Thomson, Futsum Zienasellassie and Reed Fischer, all experienced road racers. Simbassa has the fastest PB at 60:37, set at Valencia last year, and won the USATF 7 Mile Championships in Iowa in July to go with the 10K national title he won in 2022. He was fourth in the USATF Half Marathon Championships at 62:41. Thomson is the reigning USATF half marathon champion, winning the gold by one second at Fort Worth in February with a PB 62:38. He was the runner-up at the USATF 25K and also has top-10 USATF finishes at 15K and 20K in 2023. Finishing third behind Thomson in Fort Worth in 62:39, Zienasellassie was the USATF runner-up in 2022 and set his PB of 61:21 in 2021. He won the USATF 10 Mile title in 2019 and dropped below 2:10 in the marathon in April with a 2:09:40 at Rotterdam to place 11th. Fischer's season best of 61:51 came in Germany, and he won at Chicago in June. He was fifth at last year's USATF Championships and placed ninth in the Chicago Marathon in 2021. Fischer recorded a PB of 61:37 to take 12th at Houston in 2020 and was the NACAC bronze medalist for 10,000 in 2018 after taking fourth at the USATF Outdoor Championships. Ethiopia's Jemal Yimer Mekonnen tops the entries with a 2023 best of 58:38, the second-fastest time in the world this year, but the heavy favorite should be world record holder Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda, a 57:31 performer who has impeccable track and cross country credentials, too. Kiplimo was a bronze medalist in the 10,000 at the Tokyo Olympics and Oregon22 and has a PB of 26:33.93 at that distance, and he also won the Commonwealth Games 5000 last year. He lowered his 5000 PB to 12:41.73 at the Oslo Diamond League meet and won the World Cross Country title in February. In 2020 he won the world half marathon gold. Kenya's Benard Kibet was fifth in the 10,000 at Budapest and won the Ras Al Khaimah half marathon with a PB 58:45, while countryman Charles Kipkirui Langat took top honors at the Barcelona half in a PB 58:53. Another Kenyan, Sabastian Sawe, was seventh in the World Cross Country Championships and won the Berlin half in 59:00. Sawe also was victorious in the adizero 10K in Germany at 26:49. The winner of the Lisbon half in a PB 59:06, Ethiopia's Nibret Melak also dipped under 60 with a 59:49 in Northern Ireland last month. He was an Olympian at 5000 in 2021. Daniel Simiyu Ebenyo earned silver for Kenya in the 10,000 at Budapest and has a half marathon PB of 59:04. He won the Brussels Diamond League 10,000 in 26:57.80 earlier this month. France's Jimmy Gressier is the only non-African in the race with sub-60 credentials, bringing a best of 59:55. Gressier is the French 5000 and cross country champion, and placed ninth at Budapest in the 5000. He set a national record of 12:56.09 at Monaco in July.
Two-time World Cross Country team member and 2019 Pan American Games 10,000 sixth-placer Sarah Pagano leads the U.S. trio and has vast experience on the roads. Pagano has a half marathon PB of 69:41, set in 2021, and had four top-10 finishes on the USATF Running Circuit in 2022. Amber Zimmerman set her PB of 70:58 at Houston in January to place 11th. She is making her international debut and won the Philadelphia Marathon last year in a PB 2:31:35. Rounding out the U.S. squad is Molly Grabill, who placed fourth in the USATF Championships in 71:17. Grabill was on Team USATF's World Cross Country U20 team in 2011 and took 10th in the 10,000 at last year's Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. She has a PB of 70:43, set in winning at Indianapolis in 2021. Irine Kimais of Kenya tops an entry list that boasts nine women with 2023 bests faster than 68:00. Kimais placed fourth in the 10,000 at Budapest and won the Barcelona half in 64:37 in February, a time that ranks her No. 8 on the all-time world performer list. She also won at Prague in 66:00 and has five sub-67 career clockings. Teammate Catherine Relin also set her PB in that Barcelona race with a 65:39 for third, while Margaret Kipkemboi was the bronze medalist in the 10,000 at Oregon22 and took fourth in the 5000 at Budapest. Kipkemboi has a half PB of 65:26 and earned silver in the 5000 at the 2019 World Championships. Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya has also won two world half marathon titles and set a then-world record of 65:06 at Ras Al Kaimah in 2017. She clocked 2:17:16 for her marathon PB at Valencia in 2020 and was third at London in April with a 2:18:38. Germany's Konstanze Klosterhalfen hasn't been in top form in 2023, but her 65:41 PB at Valencia last year can't be overlooked. Klosterhalfen has track speed, as evidenced by her 14:26,76 5000 PB, and was eighth in the Tokyo Olympics 10,000. World Cross Country silver medalist Tsige Gebreselama of Ethiopia has a PB of 65:46 from 2022 and ran 66:13 to take second at Berlin in April. A full schedule of events and live results can be found here.