$100,000 Prize Purse set for U.S. Athletes at 2014 AJCPRR

ATLANTA – March 19, 2014 – For the second consecutive year, the AJC Peachtree Road Race will host the USA 10K Championships for both men and women, Atlanta Track Club announced today.

A total prize purse of $100,000 will be awarded exclusively to U.S. athletes, an increase of $40,000 from 2013. The winning U.S. male and female will now each earn $15,000.

“We’re proud that the best runners in America will again be celebrating July 4th in Atlanta,” said Rich Kenah, executive director of Atlanta Track Club. “Playing host to both U.S. Championship races is an honor, and focusing our entire prize purse on U.S. athletes this year seems the ideal way to showcase them at the AJC Peachtree Road Race, the largest road race in the country.”

Founded in 1964, Atlanta Track Club is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year and is looking forward to motivating runners for years to come. In an effort to forge ties to the community that will inspire the next generation of runners, select U.S. Olympic and World Championships athletes who compete in the AJC Peachtree Road Race will visit and work with schoolchildren year-round in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area, focusing on participants in Atlanta Track Club's Kilometer Kids program.

Last year, the USA 10K Championships were won by Matt Tegenkamp of Portland, OR (28:25, sixth overall) and Janet Bawcom of Flagstaff, AZ, and formerly of Rome, GA (32:45, eighth overall). It was the first time the AJC Peachtree Road Race hosted the USA Women’s 10K Championships, while the men also raced for the title in Atlanta in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The 45th running of the AJC Peachtree Road Race will take place on Friday, July 4, 2014. Registration for the 2014 lottery began on Saturday, March 15 and will continue until 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, March 22. The 2014 AJC Peachtree Road Race is capped at 60,000 entrants, making it the world’s largest 10K.

Event registration can be found at www.ajc.com/peachtree.  Additional details about the event are available at www.peachtreeroadrace.org.

 

About Atlanta Track Club

Atlanta Track Club is a nonprofit committed to creating an active and healthy Atlanta. Through running and walking, Atlanta Track Club motivates, inspires and engages the community to enjoy a healthier lifestyle. With more than 19,000 members, Atlanta Track Club is the second largest running organization in the United States. In addition to the AJC Peachtree Road Race (peachtreeroadrace.org) – the largest 10K running event in the world, the Atlanta Marathon (atlantamarathon.org), and the Atlanta Half Marathon and Thanksgiving Day 5K (atlantahalfmarathon.org), Atlanta Track Club directs more than 30 events per year. Through the support of its members and volunteers, Atlanta Track Club also maintains a number of community initiatives including organizing and promoting the Kilometer Kids youth running program to metro Atlanta youth, honoring high school cross country and track and field athletes through Atlanta Track Club’s All-Metro Banquets and supporting the Grady Bicycle EMT program. For more information on Atlanta Track Club, visit atlantatrackclub.org.

About the AJC Peachtree Road Race

The AJC Peachtree Road Race is a 10K event that takes place every Fourth of July in Atlanta, Georgia.  The first Peachtree was held in 1970 and featured 110 runners. The AJC Peachtree Road Race is now the largest 10K running event in the world with 60,000 participants. The AJC Peachtree Road Race is perhaps most famous for the coveted AJC Peachtree Road Race T-shirt, which is handed out to all the event finishers. For more information on the AJC Peachtree Road Race visit peachtreeroadrace.org or ajc.com/peachtree.   


About USATF
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track & field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, the World's #1 Track & Field Team, the most-watched events at the Olympics, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport, and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States: www.usatf.org.