KINGSPORT — With a little more than two weeks to go until race day, more elite American athletes have been added to the national championship field for the Ballad Health Crazy 8s 8-kilometer road race.
The event, coming up July 16, will serve as the USA Track & Field men’s 8K road championship presented by Toyota. The winner, to be crowned the national champion, will take home $5,000 from Associated Orthopaedics of Kingsport.
The Regional Eye Center is offering a $10,008 American record bonus. The record is 22:04, set by Alberto Salazar in 1981.
Race organizers on Friday announced the addition of Sam Chelanga, Kirubel Erassa, Eric Jenkins and Ben True to the championship field. Each has an extensive running résumé and should challenge for the USATF title.
“These guys are all amazing, and we’re very excited to have them at Crazy 8s,” said race co-director Hank Brown. “The elite field is shaping up to be the best ever at Crazy 8s.
“I think the crowd is going to be in for a real treat watching these guys run for the national championship.”
CHELANGA MAKES RETURN
Chelanga is no stranger to Crazy 8s, having finished third in 2014 in a very fast 22:45. A Kenyan-born American, he came to the United States on a scholarship to Liberty where he won the 2009 and 2010 NCAA men’s cross country titles and the 2011 NCAA outdoor 5,000-meter championship.
He holds personal bests of 13:09 in the 5,000 and 27:08 in the 10,000 meters.
COWBOYS GREAT COMING TO TOWN
Erassa, who is originally from Ethiopia, came to the United States at an early age and had a storied college career at Oklahoma State.
He has personal bests of 13:12 in the 5,000 and 27:32 in the 10,000. He ran 1:00:44 at the Houston Half-Marathon in January.
DUCK CROSSING
Jenkins is a sub-four-minute miler who ran collegiately at Northeastern and Oregon. Competing for the Ducks, he won the 2015 indoor 3,000 and 5,000 individual titles.
Jenkins has PRs of 13:07 in the 5,000 and 27:22 in the 10,000.
TRUE TO HIS WORD
True has pretty much done it all during his running career. He has represented the United States in several world track and field and cross country championships. In 2015, he broke the American road 5K record when he won the BAA 5K in 13:22.
True is a rare runner who can go fast at any distance from the mile to the marathon. He recently won the Crescent City 10K in 28:15 and finished fourth at the BAA 10K in 28:09.
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I graduated from Abingdon ('13) and King University ('17). I am an Eagle Scout. I love to run, write historical pieces and do anything outdoors related. I've been a sports writer since May 2017.
