Sisson, Thomson Eye Titles at USATF 15 km Championships

USATF Release

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – American marathon record holder Emily Sisson and reigning USATF half marathon champion Jacob Thomson take on talented fields Saturday morning at the USATF 15 km Championships in Jacksonville, Florida.

The USATF 15 km Championships are the third stop on the 2023 USATF Running Circuit. The event will be streamed live on USATF.TV beginning at 7:45am ET, with fans having access to both the live event and on demand races with a +PLUS subscription.

Sisson has raced sparingly so far this year, but her 1:06:52 Aramco Houston Half Marathon runner-up effort improved her American half marathon record and makes her a pre-race favorite heading into the TCS London Marathon next month. Sisson, who won the USATF 15 km title in 2022 and 2021 clearly knows the course well in Jacksonville and enters Saturday’s contest as the heavy favorite. 

Behind Sisson, Erika Kemp is one of the leading contenders. Kemp has two fifth place finishes (in 2021 and 2020) at the USATF 15 km Championships, but even more so she claimed the USATF 15 km title in 2019. Kemp placed seventh at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon back in January in an impressive time of 1:10:14.

After Sisson, Annie Frisbie is the next top returnee, having placed sixth at the 2022 USATF 15 km Championships. Frisbie had a strong 2022 USATF Running Circuit season. In addition to her sixth place finish in Jacksonville, she also earned a runner-up finish at the USATF 10 Mile Championships and third at the USATF 10 km Championships. 

Emma Hurley is another top challenger. The Atlanta Track Club standout placed fifth at the USATF 10 km Championships in 2022, as well as tenth at the USATF 10 Mile Championships. She’s already run 8:51.34 for 3000m indoors this season and enters Saturday’s contest in top racing form.

Bridget Lyons Belyeu placed fifth at the 2019 USATF 15 km Championships and is coming off a ninth place showing last weekend at the USATF Half Marathon Championships in Fort Worth. She’s joined by Bria Wetsch, who placed ninth at the 2022 USATF 15 km Championships, Dakotah Lindwurm, who won the Grandma’s Marathon last fall and placed third at the USATF 25 km Championships, and veteran Allie Ostrander, as other notable athletes capable of challenging for top five finishes.

In the men’s race, Thomson returns to racing a mere six days after besting a strong field for his first USATF title at the USATF Half Marathon Championships. Thomson sprinted away from the field over the final quarter mile of the race and heads into Saturday with a new level of confidence to work from. 

Olympians Hillary Bor and Leonard Korir are Thomson’s top two challengers on paper. Korir finished second last weekend at the USATF Half Marathon Championships and was runner-up at last year’s USATF 15 km Championships, where he edged Bor for second, 43:13-43:14. In addition, Korir is a three-time USATF 15 km champion, having won the title each year from 2017-2019. His knowledge of the course in Jacksonville is certainly an advantage and he’ll look to improve one spot off of last weekend’s finish. 

For Bor, he’s off to a relatively quiet 2023 season. Bor placed eighth in the World Outdoor Championships 3000m steeplechase final, capping an incredible season. To start this season, Bor placed eighth at the USATF Cross Country Championships. As mentioned, he placed third at the USATF 15 km Championships last year and will use his knowledge of the course to power him along the streets of Jacksonville.

Both Brian Shrader and Reid Buchanan seek top three finishes in Jacksonville, as well. Shrader led the lead pack last weekend at the USATF Half Marathon Championships until the very end, when he was outkicked and finished fifth. He ran a 1:02:17 half marathon at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon in January and will look to build on those performances this weekend. 

Buchanan placed seventh at the USATF Cross Country Championships in January, earning a spot on Team USA at the World Cross Country Championships. Buchanan placed 65th overall in Bathurst, Australia. Buchanan placed fourth at the 2020 USATF 15 km Championships and looks to continue building on an already strong start to his 2023 campaign. 

Other top contenders entered Saturday include Matthew Llano, who placed top 15 at both the TCS New York City Marathon and the USATF Marathon Championships this past fall, Olympian Diego Estrada, and Minnesota Distance Elite teammates Joel Reichow and Kevin Lewis.

About the USATF Running Circuit

The USATF Running Circuit is a USATF road series featuring USATF championships from one mile through the marathon and consistently attracts the best American distance runners. A total of $53,000 in prize money will be awarded at the USATF 15 km Championships

The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USATF Running Circuit race. For the USATF 15 km Championships, scoring is set as 15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7 ,6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, with those earning the most points receiving prize money at the end of the series.

The mission of the USATF Running Circuit is to showcase, support and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USATF Running Circuit and its races have provided over $7 million to U.S. distance runners.

Contributed by Scott Bush