Posted: April 11, 2004

Athletics: Browne Wins U.S. 10 Mile Championship In Record Time

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

Dan Browne, the former West Point star who qualified for his first Olympic Games on 07-Feb when he finished third at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men's Marathon, became the U.S. 10 mile champion today, setting a championship record of 46:32. It was also the third-fastest 10 mile in the world this year.

"Today is going to be a fast day," Browne remembered saying to himself after the third mile was reached in 13:44. "At no point were we taking it easy, there was always a point when someone was willing to take the lead."

At that point five men were in the lead pack: Browne, Justin Young, defending champion Chris Graff, 2003 U.S. 5-K champion Henry Dennis, and 2003 U.S. Marathon Champion, Ryan Shay.

The pack pushed through five miles in 23:18, and in the eighth mile Browne assumed the lead, with Graff just two steps behind; Young, Shay and Dennis would battle for third. Browne didn't leave it for the last mile, pushing mile nine in 4:32, enough to break free from Graff. Browne, 28, ran the last mile solo to get the win, with Graff bettering his own course record set last year, finishing second in 47:02. Shay won the battle for third in 47:11.

Browne's winning time is the fastest 10 mile performance by a U.S. male since Bill Reifsnyder's 46:32 in April 1991 at Cherry Blossom and ties Reifsnyder for #3 U.S. all-time on confirmed, certified courses. At least the top-7 men set personal best times.

"This was a great test of my fitness, I just came off the Olympic Marathon Trials feeling good and want to run a fast 10K in a few weeks and was glad to come to Papa John's to confirm that my training is moving in the right direction," Browne told Jim Estes, reporting for the Running USA Wire. He won his 9th career USA road title and 12th. The victory was also worth $10,000, a handy sum for a man who recently bought a new house.

As part of the 2004 USA Running Circuit, a USA Track & Field national championship road series, the top 10 U.S. runners earned USARC points at Papa John's. With his victory (worth 15 Circuit points), Browne moved into second place in the Men's USARC standings with 35 points. Fellow Olympian Meb Keflezighi of Mammoth Lakes, Calif. sits atop the men's standings with 54 points.

Results:
 1. Dan Browne, 28, Portland, OR      46:32# $10,000
 2. Chris Graff, 28, Palo Alto, CA    47:02 PB   $5,000
 3. Ryan Shay, 24, East Jordan, MI    47:11 PB  $2,500
 4. Justin Young, 24, Boulder, CO      47:21 PB  $2,000
 5. Brian Sell, 25, Rochester Hills, MI      47:23 PB  $1,500
 6. Henry Dennis, 29, Cincinnati, OH          47:31 PB  $1,000
 7. Teren Jameson, 26, Salt Lake City, UT      47:35 PB    $900
 8. Teddy Mitchell, 32, Albuquerque, NM    47:38     $800
 9. Peter Gilmore, 26, Menlo Park, CA    47:41     $700
10. Matt Thull, 29, Milwaukee, WI    47:46     $600
11. Scott Strand, 36, Birmingham, AL    47:52     $500
12. Clint Verran, 28, Rochester Hills, MI      47:53     $400
13. Trent Briney, 25, Rochester Hills, MI      48:45     $300
14. Nic Crider, 27, Louisville, KY    48:47     $200
15. Sean Nesbitt, 29, Boulder, CO      48:50     $100
#USA Championship Record (previous record Chris Graff, 47:09, Papa John's 2003); also personal best

Subscribe to Race Results Weekly: www.raceresultsweekly.com.

Race results Weekly Archive