Women's 8K Invitational[USA Men's 8K Championships] [Women's 8K Invitational] [NYRR 8000]
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 The Women’s Invitational, part of the Central Park Challenge, brought some of the best distance runners in the world to New York to test their fitness in an Olympic year. |
 Members of the Rabbits USA, a youth running team that is supported by the NYRR Foundation, escorted the top entrants to the starting line. |
 As the sun struggled to break through morning clouds, the field of 30 top international runners began their 4.97-mile loop of Central Park. The race followed the USA Men’s 8K Championship. |
 Shalane Flanagan of Pittsboro, NC, the 2008 USA Cross Country champion and a 2004 5000-meter Olympian, moved quickly to the front. |
 Flanagan extended her lead; only Katie McGregor of St. Louis Park, MN, the 2007 USA 25K champion, gave chase. |
 While Flanagan and McGregor each ran alone, other women formed tight packs, including this group featuring two-time U.S. Olympian Amy Rudolph and Bronx resident Aziza Aliyu. |
 A speedy final mile took Flanagan well clear of McGregor, and she broke the tape in 25:40. Flanagan is planning an assault on the American 10,000-meter record in May. |
 McGregor, a strong contender to make the U.S. Olympic team at 10,000 meters, finished second in 25:56, just a week after another runner-up finish, at the USA 15K Championships. |
 Third place went to Molly Huddle of Providence, RI, who ran 26:07. Huddle is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where she was the most decorated female athlete in that school’s history. |
 Huddle’s training partner Rudolph finished fourth in 26:25. One of only three athletes in the field to have broken 15:00 for 5K, she will attempt to qualify for her third Olympic team this year. |
 Carmen Douma-Hussar (fifth) of Canada and Erin Donohue (sixth) of Chapel Hill, NC, finished just inches apart; both were timed in 26:28. |
 Just 18 years old, Firehiwot Tesfaye of Ethiopia finished seventh in 26:32. Newly arrived in the New York area, she represents West Side Runners. |
 Liliya Shobukhova, the 2008 New Balance Games mile champion and the former indoor 3000-meter world record-holder, was eighth in 26:34. |
 Aliyu, who won the Coogan’s Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks 5K on March 2, placed ninth in a time of 26:44. |
 Tenth place went to Julia Lucas, a member of Team Running USA, a professional distance running camp in Mammoth Lakes, CA. Her time was 26:46. |
 Melissa Cook of Flower Mound, TX, finished 11th in a time of 26:47. |
 Lyudmila Biktasheva of Russia, who lives in Gainesville, FL, was 12th in 26:48. |
 Princeton University grad Cack Ferrell finished 13th in 26:49. She lives in Eugene, OR, and is coached by Frank Gagliano. |
 On the comeback trail from major abdominal surgery last year, 2004 Olympian Carrie Tollefson of St. Paul, MN, was 14th in 26:54. |
 Carrie Messner-Vickers of Vail, CO, grabbed the final prize-money place, 15th, stopping the clock at 27:14. |
 Flanagan, McGregor, and Huddle wore the stars and stripes as they exchanged high fives with spectators following the race. |
 With a big year ahead of them, the top three finishers hope that their performances today are an indication of even faster times to come. |
