THE BROOKS BLOG

ATLANTA, GA. – Melissa White and Nick Arciniaga each had strong showings for Hansons-Brooks at the 40th running of the Atlanta Track Club Peachtree 10-kilometer road race. The Peachtree 10km also served as the 2009 United States men’s 10km road championships and drew a star-studded field of America athletes.

White finished an impressive 17th overall and was the 5th American female to cross the finish line in a time of 33 minutes and 37 seconds.

Arciniaga had a breakthrough performance finishing the race in 29 minutes 45 seconds for a new 10km personal best, bettering his old mark by a full minute. Arciniaga finished 30th overall in the deep men’s field and was the 17th American to finish.

The Hansons Luke Humphrey also had a solid performance, finishing as the 20th American in the field in a time of 29 minutes and 51 seconds.

Sammy Kitwara of Kenyan ran away with the overall title in his Atlanta debut. Kitwara covered the 6.2-mile course in 27 minutes and 21 seconds.

Abdi Abdirahman won the U.S. Championship in a time of 28 minutes and 11 seconds. Abdirahman was seventh overall.

The top seed in the women’s field, Lineth Chepkurui of Kenya, won her first Peachtree race in 31 minutes and 19 seconds.

With more than 55,000 registered participants, the Peachtree race is the largest 10km race in the United States. Participants from 47 states and the District of Columbia competed in this year’s event.

The normally balmy race began at 7:30 a.m. with temperatures in the upper-60’s with low humidity. The coolest starting temperature recorded since the event’s inception was 62 degrees in 1986 and 1989.

Joseph Kimani, of Kenya, holds the course record of 27:04 in 1996. Lorhan Kiplagat holds the women’s course record of 30:32, from her 2002 Peachtree victory.