8 March 2018

Media Contact Information:
(not for publication)

Keith Peters, Media Coordinator
307-690-6803 or [email protected]

Website: www.cherryblossom.org

2018 Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile To Host 2017-2018 PRRO Championship

Garmin, GEICO, and Hood Cottage Cheese Join Roster of Sponsors for 46th Runner's Rite of Spring®

March 8, 2018, Washington, DC: The 46th Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile, to be held on April 8, will serve as the 2017-18 championship event for the Professional Road Running Organization (PRRO). Also known as the Runner's Rite of Spring®, last year's Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile was the opening event for the 2017-18 PRRO Circuit.

The PRRO Circuit showcases world class competition at five classic American road races - the Lilac Bloomsday 12K in Spokane, WA; the Boilermaker 15K in Utica, NY; the EQT Pittsburgh 10 Miler; the Publix Gasparilla Distance Classic Half Marathon in Tampa, FL; and the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile - and offers a $10,000 PRRO Super Bonus to the winners of the five PRRO Circuit races should one of them win the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile this year (this will be split if an eligible man and woman both win the 2017-18 PRRO Championship in our Nation's Capital).

To date, six of the nine athletes eligible to win the $10,000 PRRO Super Bonus have committed to race this year's PRRO Championship: last year's winner of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile women's race, Ethiopian Hiwot Gebrekidan; 2017 Lilac Bloomsday 12K winners, Tanzanian Gabriel Geay and Ethiopian Buze Diriba; 2017 Boilermaker 15K winners, Kenyans Silas Kipruto and Mary Wacera; and 2017 EQT Pittsburgh 10 Miler winner, Kenyan Panuel Mkungo.

"We are excited about hosting the 23rd PRRO Championship," said Event Director Phil Stewart. "The Credit Union Cherry Blossom has a long history of promoting elite competition so staging the PRRO Championship is an outstanding way to continue the tradition of being Washington, DC's only World Class running event."

A total of $100,500 in prize money and bonuses is up for grabs at the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile in 2018, per the following breakdown: $40,000 in prize money, plus a possible $3,500 in bonuses will be awarded in equal amounts to the top 10 international men and women; $25,000 in prize money will be awarded to the top 10 U.S. men and women. There is also a $10,000 American record bonus for the first American man to break Greg Meyer's American record of 46:13, set here in 1983, and for the first American woman to break Janet Bawcom's single-sex American record of 52:12, set here in 2014. And, as mentioned above, qualifying 2017-18 PRRO Circuit athletes are eligible for the $10,000 PRRO Super Bonus, or a $1,500 PRRO Event Champion's Bonus, should they fail to win the race but still place among the top ten runners at the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile.

In other news, three new sponsors have been added for 2018: Garmin, GEICO and Hood Cottage Cheese. In its role as the event's Technology Sponsor, Garmin will present the 2018 Credit Union Cherry Blossom App and the RunPix Graphic Results. Hood Cottage Cheese will be the presenting sponsor of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 5K Run-Walk, and will treat finishers of both the 5K Run-Walk and Ten Mile to tasty Hood Cottage Cheese samples in the post-race area. GEICO will be branding the water bottles used at Saturday's Credit Union Cherry Blossom Kids Half Mile.

The 2018 event will mark the 17th year of title sponsorship by Credit Union Miracle Day. Since 2002, over $8 million has been raised for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.

About the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile

The Credit Union Cherry Blossom, organized by Cherry Blossom, Inc., a 501c(3) chapter of the Road Runners Club of America, is known as "The Runner's Rite of Spring®" in the Nation's Capital. The staging area for the event is on the Washington Monument Grounds, and the course passes in sight of all of the major Washington, DC Memorials. The event serves as a fundraiser for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, a consortium of 170 premier children's hospitals across North America. About one-third of the funds raised support Washington, DC's own Children's National ("Children's Hospital"). The event also funds two $5,000 Road Runners Club of America "Roads Scholar" grants designed to support up-and-coming U.S. distance running talent.

The event is a proud member of the PRRO Circuit (PRRO.org), a series of non-marathon prize money road races in Tampa, FL; Washington, DC; Spokane, WA; Utica, NY; and Pittsburgh, PA. The circuit is committed to a drug-free sport and funds Clearidium to conduct drug testing at all circuit events in compliance with the standards of international and U.S. drug testing authorities.

In addition to being sanctioned by USA Track & Field and the Road Runners Club of America, the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Run has earned Gold Level Inspire Certification from the Council for Responsible Sport in recognition of its legacy of commitment to sustainability and thoughtful resource management. To learn more, visit www.CherryBlossom.org.

Credit Union Miracle Day, Inc., a consortium of credit unions and credit union suppliers in partnership with CUNA Mutual Group and PSCU, is the title sponsor of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run, 5K Run-Walk and Kids' Run. Hood Cottage Cheese is the presenting sponsor of the 5K Run-Walk. Supporting sponsors include E-Trade, Garmin, Gatorade, GEICO, Gold's Gym, Mamma Lucia, MedStar Sports Medicine, Navy Federal Credit Union, Old Ox Brewery, Potomac River Running, Suburban Solutions, and Under Armour.

About America's Credit Unions:

Credit unions provide consumers choices for financial services such as checking accounts, investments and loans of all kinds including mortgages. Funds are federally insured, but unlike banks, there are no stockholders at credit unions. Earnings are returned to member-owners in the form of lower loan rates, higher savings rates, low or no-fee products and services. The credit union philosophy of placing members' needs first is why more than 113 million Americans do their banking at one of America's 5,800 credit unions. Credit unions are for everyone - no matter where you live, there is a credit union to meet your needs.