Emerging professional runner and new member of Tinman Elite out of Boulder, Colorado, Katie Camarena tells the story of how it all went down from her viewpoint racing in the 2024 USATF Cross-Country National Championships, which took place January 20, 2024, in Richmond, VA. On the line at this race, in addition to a national championship title, cash awards and series points, racers were vying for a spot on Team USA going to the Cross Country World Championships, which will take place March 30 in Belgrade, Serbia. There was a lot on the line!

This is Katie's first championship race as a member of her first professional team and shortly after moving to Boulder, so the pressure was on.

Katie is a relatively recent college grad. She graduated in 2022. Katie started off her NCAA running career racing for UCSB, the University of California at Santa Barbara, and she finished her collegiate career racing for a short time for Portland State University, in Portland, OR.

Post-graduation, Katie was introduced to seasoned pro and Olympian Colleen Quigley, whose terrific support brought Katie into an outstanding crowd of professional runners in the pro running hub of Flagstaff, AZ. While there, she trained and learned and solidified her determination to race as a pro. After some ups and downs, but steadily building her race ability and speed, Katie landed a spot on Tinman.

This race is a terrific culmination of patience, belief, support, and determination.

Just like last year, you can expect to a Race Report episode for each race of the USATF Road Circuit series of races. Each episode features one top 10 runner telling the story of how the race went down, from her perspective. And because a race is never just about what happens on race day, you will get to know a little bit more about each one of the runners featured and how this race figures into their larger running story.

The USATF Cross-Country National Championships is a part of the USATF Running Circuit championship series of races. These are races that happen throughout the United States all year long and each race serves as a national championship for the distance or the type of race that is being run. Also, at each one of these races, in addition to vying for a national title, runners earn cash prizes and they earn points. And of course all of that is dependent on where they finish. The points go toward the series overall, which is determined at the end of the year. This year, like in years past, the series will finish off in November at the 5k National Championships, which happen in New York City as part of the New York City Marathon Weekend of events.

This was the first race of the circuit in 2024. The next race on the circuit is the 15k National Championships taking place in Jacksonville, Florida on March 2nd. A WRS Race Report will publish shortly thereafter. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss it!

You can catch up on last year's Race Reports on our website or on your favorite podcast app.

Keep Up with Katie Camarena

Instagram: @katieecamarena

Mentioned in this episode:

Tinman Elite: tinmanelite.com

Previous Women's Running Stories Race Report Episodes: https://womensrunningstories.com/podcast/women-running-stories

Ways to Connect and Engage with Women's Running Stories

Instagram: @womensrunningstories

Twitter: @WomenRunStories

Website: womensrunningstories.com

Email host Cherie: [email protected]

Women's Running Stories is a member of the Evergreen network: https://evergreenpodcasts.com/

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