INDIANAPOLIS — Some of the nation’s top milers, 5km runners, and half-marathoners are set to hit the pavement at the inaugural World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga, Latvia on October 1.
A veteran across each of Riga’s distances, Sara Hall leads the American squad headed to Latvia with her entry in the women’s half marathon. The 40-year-old Hall set an American record in the half marathon at Houston in 2022 with a 67:15 and has a best of 69:31 this season. She’s joined at the distance by Sarah Buchanan, who set her season best of 70:15 in Japan, along with Molly Grabill, the fourth-place finisher at the USATF Half Marathon Championships in Fort Worth. Amber Zimmerman set her PB of 70:55 at Houston in January and won the Philadelphia Marathon last year.
19-year-old Huntington University sophomore Addy Wiley is set to race the mile alongside 1500m NACAC bronze medalist Helen Schlachtenhaufen. Wiley has been on a tear recently, having won the women’s 1500 at the NACAC U23 Championships in July in 4:05.84 before clocking a 3:59.17 for eighth at the Memorial Van Damme Diamond League meeting in Brussels. On the road, Wiley clocked a PB of 4:31 for third at the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships. Schlachtenhaufen holds an outdoor mile PB of 4:27.09, set in June of 2018 and a road mile PB of 4:29.4, set at the 2018 Fifth Avenue Mile.
Weini Kelati and Fiona O’Keeffe will pair up to take on the 5 km to round out a strong women’s team in Riga. The pair’s 5km road personal bests both were set at the B.A.A. 5K – Kelati’s at 15:04 set as she placed second in 2022, and O’Keeffe’s at 15:24 in 2023. Earlier this summer, Kelati clocked a 14:53.41 for fourth at the Fast 5000 in Montesson, France. O’Keeffe showed some speed during the indoor season, clocking a 15:01.34 at the Boston University Valentine Invitational.
This year’s USATF champion, Jacob Thomson, heads a strong contingent in the men’s half marathon. Thomson edged Leonard Korir by one second to take the U.S. title in a PB 62:38, and Futsum Zienaselassie was third in that race in 62:39. Zienaselassie has a PB of 61:21 and won the USATF 10-mile title in 2019. He placed ninth at the Rotterdam Marathon in April in a PB 2:09:40. Biya Simbassa placed fourth at the USATF Championships and has the fastest PB…
