Posted: February 21, 2007

Athletics: 10-K In Richmond Breaks Entry Record

From David Monti © 2007 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com One of the fastest-growing road races in the United States has set an new entry record, with time to spare to grow even larger. Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10-K, scheduled for Saturday, March 31, in Richmond, Va., has recorded 20,400 entries as of this morning, according to Richmond Sports Backers, which organizes the event. That broke last year's entry record of 20,119. The Sports Backers have capped entries at 24,000 in what will be the 8th annual edition of the race. In terms of finishers --a more reliable indicator of event size-- this race has grown from 11,333 in 2004, to 12,944 in 2005 to 16,460 in 2006, an increase of 45% in just two years. The individual most responsible for the growth, former race director Tracey Russell, left the Sports Backers at the end of last year to take over the executive director's job at the Atlanta Track Club. Organizers also said that their "Cingular Dash for the Cash" promotion would be held again this year. In this contest, a randomly selected race entrant will be placed by race officials well ahead of the regular start based on his or her ability as demonstrated in recent race results. This athlete will then run, alone, from the starter's gun at 8:30 a.m. and hope to hold off the elite men's field. The athlete who breaks the finish line tape first will receive a bonus of $2500. Last year's race was won by Kenyans Nicodemus Malakwen and Magdalene Makunzi in 28:31 and 32:33, respectively. Malakwen won the $2500 bonus in the "Dash for Cash," beating recreational runner Nancy Fabian who was permitted to start at the 2.4 mile (3.7 km) mark. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest