The TEN: World Women's 10k

Since its inception The TEN has annually been the most competitive 10k domestically and one of the most competitive 10ks in the world for both men and women. Jesse Williams, the mastermind behind this event, has once again assembled world-class fields with the athletes chasing World Championship/Olympic standards of 27:10(27:00 Oly) & 30:40 for men and women, respectively. For those a bit more ambitious, national records might fall as well. The following is a breakdown of the women's field assembled with a focus on those athletes that have the best chance of meeting the qualifying standards.

World Women's 10k

At last year's edition of The TEN, Elise Cranny of the Bowerman Track Club put on a masterclass on how to run the 10k as she chased the American record of 30:13 set by Molly Huddle at the Rio Olympics. Cranny only had a pacer for the first 3k before she gave chase to the American record on her own. Despite her best effort, she ended up falling just short of the record running 30:14.66. At that point it was assumed that if any athlete was going to break the women's American 10k record it would be her. Little did we know how the following months would unfold. After that race, Cranny began to feel the effects of REDS (relative energy deficiency syndrome), and the momentum she had built through the winter dissipated a bit before her body rebounded just in time for the US Championship. While she still ran at a world-class level last summer, she didn't quite reach the heights she might of had she not had the setback. The loss of momentum for Cranny allowed another athlete more time to close the gap and eventually surpass Cranny. Enter Alicia Monson...

Running times of 30:51.09 for 10k, 14:31.11 for 5k and 8:26.81 for 3k, Monson went on a tear last summer. More importantly, she gained the confidence that she can compete with the best in the world. This newfound confidence coupled with a seemless fall build has allowed Monson to pickup right where she left off. Opening up her indoor season in 4:23.55 with a wire to wire win in the mile at the Dr. Sander Invitational Monson wasted no time in making a statement... If you come at the queen, you best not miss. She followed that performance with an American record run at the Millrose Games, running 8:25.05 for 3000 meters. In the process of which, broke Cranny who had hung with Monson most of the race, as she decided to assert her will closing the last 1000 meters in a blistering 2:45.19. This being the first time they had raced each other since last summer in Lausanne over the same distance.

On March 4th these two women will once again step up to the line to do battle, this time over 10,000 meters. Provided that both Monson and Cranny haven't run into any speed bumps since racing at Millrose, this is going to be a race for the ages. Adding a bit of international flair to this event is Eilish McColgan. A late addition, McColgan is a bit of a wild card coming into The TEN. Having run 14:28.55 for 5k and 30:19.02 for 10k, her personal bests match up well with the likes of Monson and Cranny. Alas, she has not raced at all this indoor season, thus it begs the question, how fit is she? Paced by Josette Andrews of the OAC, Monson is looking to come through 5k at 15:00. I imagine Cranny and McColgan will go along for the ride. This sets them up to not only break the women's American and British 10k records, but there is the possibility of running sub 30 minutes for 10k as well. If so, this would be a race of historic proportions, on par with Chris Solinsky breakingk 27 minutes.

The other athletes in this race to keep an eye on are as follows:

Emily Infeld - Now a member of Team Boss, we are seeing Infeld reemerge as a world class athlete. She earned a spot in the 5000m World Championship final this past summer and recently ran a 15:04.74 5000m at the Boston University Valentine Invitational.

Elly Henes - In her second year on the professional scene, Henes has developed well under Coach Mike Smith. She raced the 3000m at the Millrose Games finishing in 8:36, one second ahead of Elise Cranny. She could definitely surprise some people if you haven't been paying attention.

Natosha Rogers - Much in the same vein as Infeld, Rogers is one who is reemerging as a world class athlete. She qualified for the World Championship 10k this past summer and recently ran 14:52.21 5000m at the Boston University Valentine Invitational. She now runs for the Puma Elite Running Team.

Fiona O'Keeffe - O'Keeffe, also a member of the Puma Elite Running Team, is an interesting case as she hasn't done anything noteworthy on the track. She did however, set the American half marathon debut record at 1:07:42 at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon in 2022. Having ran that fast for the half marathon leads one to draw comparisons between her and fellow professional runners, Molly Huddle and Emily Sisson. If O'Keeffe fits the same mold than she may be on the cusp of nabbing a World Qualifying mark.

The Ten will be broadcast on March 4th at 6:15 PST on Tracklnd.com for $5.99. Of that $5.99, $4.00 will go into the prize purse.