USATF 15 km Championships – News

USATF Release

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – American marathon record holder Emily Sisson and reigning USATF half marathon champion Jacob Thomson take on talented fields Saturday morning at the USATF 15 km Championships in Jacksonville, Florida.

The USATF 15 km Championships are the third stop on the 2023 USATF Running Circuit. The event will be streamed live on USATF.TV beginning at 7:45am ET, with fans having access to both the live event and on demand races with a +PLUS subscription.

Sisson has raced sparingly so far this year, but her 1:06:52 Aramco Houston Half Marathon runner-up effort improved her American half marathon record and makes her a pre-race favorite heading into the TCS London Marathon next month. Sisson, who won the USATF 15 km title in 2022 and 2021 clearly knows the course well in Jacksonville and enters Saturday’s contest as the heavy favorite. 

Behind Sisson, Erika Kemp is one of the leading contenders. Kemp has two fifth place finishes (in 2021 and 2020) at the USATF 15 km Championships, but even more so she claimed the USATF 15 km title in 2019. Kemp placed seventh at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon back in January in an impressive time of 1:10:14.

After Sisson, Annie Frisbie is the next top returnee, having placed sixth at the 2022 USATF 15 km Championships. Frisbie had a strong 2022 USATF Running Circuit season. In addition to her sixth place finish in Jacksonville, she also earned a runner-up finish at the USATF 10 Mile Championships and third at the USATF 10 km Championships. 

Emma Hurley is another top challenger. The Atlanta Track Club standout placed fifth at the USATF 10 km Championships in 2022, as well as tenth at the USATF 10 Mile Championships. She’s already run 8:51.34 for 3000m indoors this season and enters Saturday’s contest in top racing form.

Bridget Lyons Belyeu placed fifth at the 2019 USATF 15 km Championships and is coming off a ninth place showing last weekend at the USATF Half Marathon Championships in Fort Worth. She’s joined by Bria Wetsch, who placed ninth at the 2022 USATF 15 km Championships, Dakotah Lindwurm, who won the Grandma’s Marathon last fall and placed third at the USATF 25 km Championships, and veteran Allie Ostrander, as other notable athletes capable of challenging for top five finishes.

In the men’s race, Thomson returns to racing a mere six days after besting a strong field for his first USATF title at the USATF Half Marathon Championships. Thomson sprinted away from the…