Road Rage: There's a new baller in town; Janet Cherobon-Bawcom is her name

Janet Cherobon-Bawcom will eat your bagels
(courtesy Facebook)

It looks like there may be a shake up in the predicted top three finishers at the 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon in January. Why is that? There's a newcomer on the US scene that is staking her claim on that podium. Her name is Janet Cherobon-Bawcom. Today, Cherobon-Bawcom annihilated the field at the Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women by almost 30 seconds for the win in 32:47. The race served as the USATF Women's 10k Championship. The win also locked in the overall title for the Women's 2011 USA Running Circuit. Oh yeah, she won the BAA Half Marathon yesterday (by over 2:30 in 1:11:58). This all comes just 8 days after winning the USATF 10 mile Championship as well.

The biggest question on American distance running fans minds right now is "Who is Janet Cherobon-Bawcom?" and "Is she eligible to compete for an Olympic spot?" Well... the answer to the latter question seems to be yes, per the New York Road Runners' David Monti and her sponsor, MarathonGuide.com. Per the IAAF, her marathon PR is 2:37:27 from 2008 (in Albany, GA), but judging by her recent success, and her USATF 20k win in September, mid to high 2:20's seems more predictive of her current fitness. As who who is Janet Cherobon-Bawcom? She's from Kenya, has lived in the United States for years and got her citizenship this year. She currently lives and trains in Rome, GA and is finishing up a degree at Jacksonville State in 2012. Here's a link to her post-race interview today with Kevin Ullman from Runnerspace.

What does this mean for the Olympic Marathon Trials in January. If Cherobon-Bawcom can indeed run, it throws another big name in the mix with the three favorites; Shalane Flanagan, Kara Goucher and Desi Davila, along with Deena Kastor, Stephanie Rothstein and Amy Hastings and Magdalena Lewy-Boulet. Here's the list of all the qualifiers.

Congrats to Janet on her recent success and be on the lookout for her on January 14, 2012 in Houston!

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Road Rage: The Black Cactus is back! Abdi Abdirahman wins USATF 20k Championship

Abdi after winning 2008 Olympic Trials 10,000
(TrackAndFieldPhoto)

Abdi Abdirahman aka "The Black Cactus" won his first National Championship in over two years today (last was 2009 10k at Peachtree) in breaking away from a strong field, with a 4:36 fifth mile at the Stratton Faxon New Haven Road Race in New Haven, CT. For his USATF 20k National Championship, Abdirahman will take home the $8000 first place prize. His winning time was 1:00:13.

Finishing second, in 1:00:34 was Team USA Minnesota's Jason Lehmkuhle. Finalizing the podium was Boulder, CO's Fernando Cabada in 1:00:58.

On the Women's side, new American citizen (via Kenya), Janet Cherobon-Bawcom, took the title in 1:08:30 over Clara Grandt, who finished in a near personal best of 1:09:06. USA Running Circuit veteran, Katie McGregor, was third in 1:09:56.

Here are the results, courtesy of Runnerspace. Kevin Ullman and Chris Nickinson did an excellent job covering the race this morning with no finish line mishaps!

Next up will be the 5k National Championships in Providence, RI on September 18th.

For more on the USA Running Circuit, check out: http://USARunningCircuit.com

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