WASHINGTON — Fending off the rains amidst Washington's famous cherry blossoms April 6, Ridouane Harroufi of Morocco and Lineth Chepkurui of Kenya, both new to the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Run, took the wins at the 36th annual running of the world-class road race.
Harroufi, 26, finished the race with a time of 46:14. Meanwhile 20-year-old Chepkurui, broke away from a pack of six runners around mile seven, winning the women's division in a time of 54:21. Runners competed for the largest purse in event history–$35,500 in prize money.
But the real winners were the children benefited by the $1 million raised by Credit Union Miracle Day Inc. for the Children's Miracle Network. "We are cooperatives. We are into volunteerism. We are into our community and this is part of our community," CUMD Chairman Juri Valdov said at the presentation.
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CUMD officials and other credit union representatives presented the check to CMN April 4, at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
PSCU Financial Services stepped up in a big way this year for CMN. CEO David Serlo explained that the company underwrote the race costs, plus provided an easy way for credit unions to contribute from their interchange fees.
CUMD is a partnership of over 70 credit unions and affiliated organizations, partners, and event participants. More than 600 credit union members served as volunteers and over 4,800 race entrants were credit union members.
This year's run featured a new course that allowed 12,000 runners to participate on the April 6 race day, compared to 10,000 in previous years. Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty finished with a time of 1:05:32. Running from NAFCU, President/CEO Fred Becker finished with 1:41:39, with Director of Marketing Alicia Hosmer nipping at his heals with a time of 1:44:45. However, Director of Political Affairs Dillon Shea beat the boss with a time of 1:19:54. Credit Union House Director Jill Jarman Nowacki finished with a time of 1:20:18.
While a CUNA spokesman was unaware of any runners from the organization, the association did its annual volunteer duty of manning the bags booth, keeping runners' possessions safe and dry during the event.
The Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Run also serves as the Road Runner's Club of America's National 10 Mile Championship. The race will be televised on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic in a half-hour special at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 12, with rebroadcasts set for Tuesday, April 15 at 11:30 a.m., Thursday April 17 at 11:30 a.m. and Sunday April 27 at 5:30 p.m.
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