USATF 10 Mile Road Championships presented by Toyota – Official Website – News

USATF Release

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Two weeks after Abbabiya Simbassa placed first and Nell Rojas placed second at the USATF 10 km Road Championships, the duo is back in action Sunday at the USATF 10 Mile Road Championships presented by Toyota, hosted by the Medtronic TC 10 Mile in downtown Minneapolis, both seeking to defend their titles from 2021.

The USATF 10 Mile Road Championships are the tenth stop on the 2022 USATF Running Circuit presented by Toyota. The webcast for Sunday’s race will be streamed live on USATF.TV beginning at 6:50am CT, available with a +PLUS subscription.

At least year’s USATF 10 Mile Road Championships, Simbassa won by five seconds over runner-up Augustus Maiyo, pulling away to victory in the final mile of the race. This time around, while Maiyo is not entered this year, Simbassa will enter as the favorite, but will find himself with plenty of competition throughout the race. 

Simbassa won the USATF 10 km Road Championships two weeks ago, besting the field by an impressive 22 seconds. Simbassa seeks to build off that momentum this weekend in Minneapolis, along with adding another top finish to his growing total of top five finishes at USATF Running Circuit events, which stands at three at the moment.

Shadrack Kipchirchir and Sam Chelanga are both two-time USATF 10 Mile Road Champions. Kipchirchir won in 2019 and 2018, while Chelanga won in 2016 and 2015. Both are having successful 2022 campaigns, with Kipchirchir having won the USATF Cross Country and USATF 8 km Road Championships. Chelanga has earned third place finishes three times this season, with those performances coming at the USATF Cross Country, USATF 20 km Road, and USATF 10 km Road Championships.

Futsum Zienasellassie is another USATF Running Circuit standout in contention for the win Sunday. Zienasellassie won the USATF 10 Mile Road Championships title in 2019 and has two runner-up finishes this season on the USATF Running Circuit, at the USATF Half Marathon and USATF 25 km Road Championships. 

In addition, Zienasellassie is looking to add to his USATF Running Circuit point total. Leonard Korir currently sits far atop of the standings with 104 points, with Zienasellassie in second with 56.5 points. A win on Sunday would go a long way to try and catch Korir. Chelanga, Kipchirchir, and Simbassa all sit in the top six of the standings as well, with Chelanga in third with 42 points, Kipchirchir fourth with 40.5 points, and Simbassa sixth with 31…