More than 6,500 register for 27th annual 2016 CVS Health Downtown 5k charity run

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - More than 6,500 people from around the world registered this past weekend for the 2016 CVS Health Downtown 5k – a charitable sporting event that has brought a mix of Olympians, elite and other competitive athletes to Providence, R.I. for the past 27 years. Host to the USA Men's and USA Women's 5k National Championships, the CVS Health Downtown 5k provided races and inspirational events for participants of all ages and raised funds for charities throughout Southern New England.

 

Approximately 4,000 people registered for the main 5k race, including five 2016 Olympic Game finalists. Nearly 1,600 children registered for the event’s youth races, which included 21 different races for children – pre-kindergarten through eighth grade – including a CVS Health “All Kids Can” Inspirational event for children of all abilities. The athletic activities offered through the CVS Health Downtown 5k included a 3k high school inspirational event that drew nearly 1,000 high school students from the region. CVS Health also awarded one randomly selected team a $500 grant for their school’s physical education program.

 

Ryan Hill of Portland, Ore. became the men’s overall and national 5k champion with a time of 13:57. Hill, who graduated from North Carolina State University, earned ten-All American honors throughout his college career and gained national attention in 2016 when he ran the third fastest 3,000m ever by an American at the Meeting de Paris IAAF Diamond League with a time of 7:30.

 

The women’s overall and national 5k champion was Aliphine Tuliamuk of Albuquerque, N.M. with a time of 15:22. Tuliamuk, who graduated from Wichita State University, seized five college records and earned nine All-American NCAA titles throughout her college career. Most recently, Tuliamuk took eighth in the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 10,000m run.

 

Hill and Tuliamuk each won $7,000 in prize money for the USA Track & Field Championship.

 

Other top three 5k men's runners include 2016 Rio Olympian Shradrack Kipchirchir, who placed second with a time of 13:58, and Sam Chelanga who placed third with a time of 13:58. Kipchirchir participated in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games as a member of the Army’s World Class Athlete Program based in Fort Carson, Colo. Kipchirchir joined the Army as a financial management technician after graduating from Oklahoma State University in 2014. Chelanga is a four-time NCAA champion and returned to the CVS Health Downtown 5k after taking fourth in 2015 and second in 2011. He is a graduate of Liberty University and lives and trains in Tuscon, Ariz.

 

Other top three 5k women's runners include Providence resident Emily Sisson, who placed second with a time of 15:42, and Jordan Hasay, who placed third with a time of 15:48. Sisson earned the NCAA Champion titles in the 5,000m indoor and outdoor runs during her final year at Providence College and placed third in the 2015 CVS Health Downtown 5k.