Emily Venters and Aidan Troutner Win U.S. 10K Titles in St. Paul

Emily Venters and Aidan Troutner won national 10K titles in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Saturday, and both did it in the fastest times ever run at the USATF 10K Championships, held this year at the TC 10K on the eve of the Twin Cities Marathon.

Troutner’s title came out of a finish that could have gone to any of six men. Dillon Maggard was one second behind him in 27:41 and Ryan Ford was another second back in 27:42, with Reid Buchanan, Creed Thompson and Joel Reichow all across the line before the clock reached 27:46.

For most of the race nobody got away. An 18-man pack went through two miles in a little over nine minutes and reached 5K together in 14:12, according to USATF’s race report. Reichow went to the front in the fourth mile as the pace dropped to 4:23, but a 4:27 and a 4:20 after that only shook off one runner, and the title was decided in the last few hundred meters. Troutner, a 27-year-old former BYU runner, held a narrow gap to the line.

His 27:40 took nine seconds off the championship record Dirk Lakeman set in 1986, a mark that had lasted 40 years.

“It was fast. People were pushing the pace throughout,” Troutner told USATF. “I was lucky to come away with the win.”

He goes into the New York City Marathon next month with a 2:10:23 marathon best, as listed in the NYRR professional field announcement.

Venters led the women’s race from the first step and was never caught. She ran the first mile in 5:15, led by 16 seconds at 5K in 15:51, and still had a 4:56 and a 5:00 left for the final two miles, finishing in 31:09. Kassie Parker was second in 31:57, with Allie Ostrander third in 32:02 and Amanda Vestri fourth in 32:16.

That time beat the championship record of 31:40 that Jess McClain set in 2024 by 31 seconds. It also brought Venters within 13 seconds of the women-only American record of 30:56, which Taylor Roe ran as a split on the way to her 10-mile world best at the Cherry Blossom race in 2024. Her 10,000m best on the track is 31:48.35 from 2023, according to World Athletics, so she was 39 seconds quicker on the road in St. Paul.

The win is her third national road title in under three months. The former Utah All-American took the 6K in Canton, Ohio, on July 11 and then the 8K in Kingsport, Tennessee eight days later, and she raced a 5K at Boulderthon only six days before St. Paul, finishing second, according to Utah Athletics.

“This is the most nervous I have been in a while, but I think the nerves carried me through,” Venters told USATF. “I just ran with joy like my mom texted me this morning to do.”

One race remains in this year’s USATF Road Circuit. Parker leads the women’s standings ahead of Ostrander and Emma Grace Hurley, while Ahmed Muhumed leads the men from Graydon Morris and Andrew Colley. Parker and Ostrander are both set to run their first marathons at the USATF Marathon Championships, held at the California International Marathon in Sacramento in December.

Results

Women

1. Emily Venters, 31:09 (championship record)
2. Kassie Parker, 31:57
3. Allie Ostrander, 32:02
4. Amanda Vestri, 32:16
5. Amy Davis-Green, 32:20
6. Cailie Logue Hughes, 32:30

Men

1. Aidan Troutner, 27:40 (championship record)
2. Dillon Maggard, 27:41
3. Ryan Ford, 27:42
4. Reid Buchanan, 27:43
5. Creed Thompson, 27:44
6. Joel Reichow, 27:45