North American 5K Championships

The North American 5K Championships, also known as the North American 5 km Team Challenge,[1] was an annual road running competition over 5 kilometres between three North American countries: Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The event was created in 2002 and held as part of the Arturo Barrios Invitational races each October in Chula Vista, California. It would be the permanent host of the competition, until the final edition in 2005. The competition had three elements: a men's 5K run, a women's 5K run, and a team competition. The team scores were decided by combining the finishing places of the top two men and top two women for each nation. The lowest overall score was the team winner. A total of three athletes could be entered per nation in each race.[2][3][4]

All three participating nations won a team title over the competition's four-edition history, with Mexico winning the first, the United States the second, and Canada the final two titles. Mexico was the most successful in the men's race, having three wins, and Alejandro Suárez was the most successful male athlete with his back-to-back wins in 2003 and 2004. Canada was the most successful in the women's race, courtesy of Émilie Mondor's three straight wins from 2003 to 2005 and a runner-up place in 2002. The United States failed to win an individual title, despite being the host nation.[2] Mondor set the women's championship record of 15:16 minutes in 2004 (also a Canadian national record),[5] while Mexico's David Galván inaugural winning time of 13:47 minutes was never bettered.[2]

Editions

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Edition Year Host city Host country Date No. of athletes
1st 2002 Chula Vista, California United States 27 October[6] 18
2nd 2003 Chula Vista, California United States 26 October[7] 18
3rd 2004 Chula Vista, California United States 24 October[8] 18
4th 2005 Chula Vista, California United States 23 October[9] 17[nb]

Medallists

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Men's individual

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Year Gold Silver Bronze
2002   David Galván (MEX) 13:47 CR   Bolota Asmerom (USA) 13:54   Kevin Sullivan (CAN) 14:00
2003   Alejandro Suárez (MEX) 14:01   Pablo Olmedo (MEX) 14:03   Ahman Dirks (USA) 14:05
2004   Alejandro Suárez (MEX) 13:56   Rafael Sánchez (MEX) 13:59   Reid Coolsaet (CAN) 14:03
2005   Paul Morrison (CAN) 13:58   Juan Luis Barrios (MEX) 14:08   Reid Coolsaet (CAN) 14:10

Women's individual

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Year Gold Silver Bronze
2002   Dulce María Rodríguez (MEX) 15:30   Émilie Mondor (CAN) 15:32   Adriana Fernández (MEX) 15:36
2003   Émilie Mondor (CAN) 15:23   Elva Dryer (USA) 15:43   Sylvia Mosqueda (USA) 15:54
2004   Émilie Mondor (CAN) 15:16 CR   Malindi Elmore (CAN) 16:00   Collette Liss (USA) 16:03
2005   Émilie Mondor (CAN) 15:37   Amy Yoder Begley (USA) 16:04   Tara Quinn-Smith (CAN) 16:07

Team

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Year Gold Silver Bronze
2002[11]   Mexico
David Galván
Julio Valle
Dulce María Rodríguez
Adriana Fernández
10   United States
Bolota Asmerom
Clint Wells
Sylvia Mosqueda
Libbie Hickman
16   Canada
Kevin Sullivan
Jeremy Deere
Émilie Mondor
Lucy Smith
21
2003[12]   United States
Ahman Dirks
Pete Julian
Elva Dryer
Sylvia Mosqueda
13   Canada
Bruno Mazzotta
Joël Bourgeois
Émilie Mondor
Leah Pells
15   Mexico
Alejandro Suárez
Pablo Olmedo
Estela Chavez
Esly Quijano
17
2004[5]   Canada
Reid Coolsaet
Ryan McKenzie
Émilie Mondor
Malindi Elmore
12   Mexico
Alejandro Suárez
Rafael Sánchez
Angelica Sánchez
Elisa Cuellar
16   United States
Jonathon Riley
Chad Johnson
Collette Liss
Amy Mortimer
19
2005[10]   Canada
Paul Morrison
Reid Coolsaet
Émilie Mondor
Tara Quinn Smith
8   United States
Pete Julian
Ian Connor
Amy Yoder Begley
Amy Mortimer
16   Mexico
Juan Luis Barrios
Teodoro Vega
America Mateos
Gisel Bautista
20

References

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  1. ^ 2005 North American 5 km Team Challenge. USATF. Retrieved on 2015-03-20.
  2. ^ a b c North American 5 Kilometres Challenge. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-03-20.
  3. ^ Selection Procedures. USATF. Retrieved on 2015-03-20.
  4. ^ Canadians will North American 5K Team Championship[sic]. ESPN (2005-10-23). Retrieved on 2015-03-20.
  5. ^ a b 2004 North American 5K Team Championship Results. USATF. Retrieved on 2015-03-20.
  6. ^ 2002 North American 5 km Team Championships. USATF. Retrieved on 2015-03-20.
  7. ^ 2003 North American 5 km Team Championships. USATF. Retrieved on 2015-03-20.
  8. ^ 2004 North American 5 km Team Championships. USATF. Retrieved on 2015-03-20.
  9. ^ 2005 North American 5 km Team Championships. USATF. Retrieved on 2015-03-20.
  10. ^ a b 2005 North American 5 km Team Challenge Results. USATF. Retrieved on 2015-03-20.
  11. ^ 2002 North American 5 km Team Championships Results. USATF. Retrieved on 2015-03-20.
  12. ^ 2003 North American 5K Team Championships Results. USATF. Retrieved on 2015-03-20.
Individual medalists