Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women
The Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women is a major 10 kilometer (6.2 mi) road race held annually in Boston, Massachusetts, on Columbus Day, popular as both an elite world-class competition and a women's running event promoting health and fitness. In 2013, the race drew nearly 6,000 participants[1] and tens of thousands of spectators.
Since 1994, the race has doubled as the USA Women's 10 km Championship (USA Track & Field) 18 times.[2] It has attracted many of the world's top distance runners, including Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson, who won three times, and Lynn Jennings, a six-time winner.
Begun in 1977 as the Bonne Bell Mini Marathon, the race took on its current name when the Tufts Health Plan became its sponsor in 1985.[3] For several years it was the largest women-only 10K in the US, most recently in 2011.[4]
The race course[5] starts on Beacon Street near the Boston Common, crosses the Charles River via the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge into Cambridge near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, forms a loop along the river on Memorial Drive, and crosses back over the bridge and into Boston down brownstone-lined Commonwealth Avenue. The finish line on Charles Street returns the runners to the Boston Common for celebration.
The race has become a Boston tradition. "With Tufts now a holiday fixture, Columbus Day in Boston means thousands of vibrant, healthy women striding up and down the Charles," wrote Don Allison in Runner's World[6] after the race's 20th anniversary in 1996.
Winners
| Year | Winner | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 |  Jordan Hasay (USA) | 31:38.9 |
| 2013 |  Sentayehu Ejigu (ETH) | 31:32.9 |
| 2012 |  Hellen Jemutai (KEN) | 32:29.8 |
| 2011 | Janet Cherobon-Bawcom (USA) | 32:46.4 |
| 2010 | Molly Huddle (USA) | 31:59.9 |
| 2009 | Molly Huddle (USA) | 32:06.6 |
| 2008 | Molly Huddle (USA) | 32:51.2 |
| 2007 | Deena Kastor (USA) | 32:01.0 |
| 2006 | Kathryn McGregor (USA) | 32:37.5 |
| 2005 | Kathryn McGregor (USA) | 32:25.2 |
| 2004 |  Marie Davenport (IRL) | 32:47.4 |
| 2003 | Elva Dryer (USA) | 32:33.3 |
| 2002 | Marla Runyan (USA) | 31:45.4 |
| 2001 | Colleen deReuck (USA) | 32:11 |
| 2000 | Catherine Ndereba (KEN) | 32:46 |
| 1999 | Libbie Hickman (USA) | 32:49 |
| 1998 | Libbie Hickman (USA) | 31:57 |
| 1997 | Gladys Ondeyo (KEN) | 32:46 |
| 1996 | Gladys Ondeyo (KEN) | 32:47 |
| 1995 | Collette Murphy (USA) | 32:30 |
| 1994 |  Elana Meyer (RSA) | 31:39 |
| 1993 | Lynn Jennings (USA) | 32:02 |
| 1992 | Lynn Jennings (USA) | 32:22 |
| 1991 | Lynn Jennings (USA) | 32:12 |
| 1990 | Lynn Jennings (USA) | 32:39 |
| 1989 | Lynn Jennings (USA) | 31:57 |
| 1988 |  Anne Hannam (NZL) | 31:38 |
| 1987 |  Nancy Tinari (CAN) | 32:22 |
| 1986 |  Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 31:40 |
| 1985 | Joan Benoit Samuelson (USA) | 31:49 |
| 1984 | Betty Jo Geiger (USA) | 31:51 |
| 1983 | Joan Benoit Samuelson (USA) | 31:36 |
| 1982 | Anne Audain (NZL) | 31:42 |
| 1981 | Jan Merrill (USA) | 32:04 |
| 1980 | Patti Catalano (USA) | 32:24 |
| 1979 | Margaret Groos (USA) | 32:47 |
| 1978 | Joan Benoit Samuelson (USA) | 33:15 |
| 1977 | Lynn Jennings (USA) | 34:31 |
References
- ↑ "Massachusetts Race Results,Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women Boston, MA, October 14, 2013". Coolrunning.com. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
- ↑ "Tufts Health Plan 10 km Boston MA/USA". Association of Road Racing Statistic. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
- ↑ Singelai, Neil (16 October 1985). "Tufts 10 Takes Over for ‘Bonne’ This Fall". The Boston Globe.
- ↑ "Largest Races, Women-Only". runningusa.org. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ↑ "Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women Race Course". Tufts Health Plan 10K for Women. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ↑ Allison, Don (January 1997). "Tufts Turns 20 With a Non-Lynn Win". Runner's World 32 (1): 92.
- List of winners
- "Tufts Health Plan 10 km". Association of Road Racing Statistics. Retrieved 27 November 2013.