ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The nation’s top distance runners and everyday runners alike will gather near the nation’s capital for the first annual .US National Road Racing Championships on Nov.  17, 2013, in Alexandria, Va., USA Track & Field announced Tuesday.

“We are excited to bring the .US National Road Racing Championships to Alexandria and to the D.C. metro area,” said USATF CEO Max Siegel. “This region has a very robust running community, and the backdrop of the capital is perfect for USATF’s first season-finale national championship road race.”

The .US National Road Racing Championships is a 12-kilometer (12 km) event providing a season-capping finale to the USA Running Circuit (USARC), a series of national-championship races that annually provides nearly $1 million in prize money to American runners. Elite athletes must place in the top-ten at a USARC race to be eligible to compete at the .US National Road Racing Championships. The .US National Road Racing Championships feature $100,000 in prize money, with $20,000 going to the men’s and women’s national champions.

The event also will prominently feature competitive, recreational, and lifestyle/fitness runners from around the region and the country, with USATF members receiving a $10 discount off the cost of registration. The race lineup includes the Championship 12 km, a 12 km open division, 5 km and ½-mile kids’ fun run.

The 12 km course winds through scenic Alexandria and historic Old Town, featuring the beauty of one of George Washington’s hometowns and one of the country’s most vibrant running communities. Starting and finishing on the banks of the Potomac in Oronoco Bay Park, the course includes historic King Street, views of the Masonic Temple, the bustling neighborhood of Del Ray and some of Alexandria’s most historic buildings.

“We are very proud to host America’s best runners in Alexandria, as well as celebrate the many members of our local community who run for sport, fitness, and fun,” said Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille.  “Alexandria is home to outstanding running routes and trails and is a frequent setting for some of the region’s favorite road races.  We look forward to sharing our beautiful city with runners from across the country.”

USATF is proud to partner on the race with the Alexandria Police Foundation, which will serve as the community outreach liaison and volunteer recruiter, and with Alexandria-based Pacers Events, which is managing local planning, logistics and promotion.  The Alexandria Police Foundation currently is raising funds to build a police memorial at police headquarters to honor officers who have given their lives to protect the community. 

The .US National Road Racing Championships will be held virtually in the backyard of Neustar, an information and analytics company based in Northern Virginia that provides domain name registry services for the .US top level domain, the official country code for the United States. Neustar provides critical infrastructure services and policy expertise for .US on behalf of the United States Department of Commerce.

“Neustar is thrilled to support the .US National Road Race Championships,” said Jim Rogers, vice president of marketing of Enterprise Services at Neustar. “As the administrator of the .US top level domain and an information services company based in Northern Virginia, Alexandria is the ideal place to promote the power of America’s top level domain to the running community with this one-of-a-kind race in our own backyard and just a few miles from our nation’s capital.”

Elite athletes currently qualified for the .US National Road Racing Championships include Olympic medalists Deena Kastor, Meb Keflezighi, Shalane Flanagan and Leo Manzano, as well as Desiree Davila, Shannon Rowbury, Matt Tegenkamp, Abdi Abdirahman and many others.

For more information on the .US National Road Racing Championships, including a 12 km course map and online event registration, visit  www.nationalroadracingchampionships.us

Follow the .US National Road Racing Championships on Twitter: @dotUSchamps and Facebook:www.Facebook.com/DotUSNationalRoadRacingChamps

For more information about the Alexandria Police Founcation’s fundraising efforts, visitwww.alexandriapolicefoundation.org

About USA Track & Field
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the country’s #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States. For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org.

About .US
.US is the country code domain name for the United States of America. .US is managed and operated by Neustar, Inc. (NYSE:NSR), an information services company, on behalf of the United States Department of Commerce. Neustar operates the .US global registry in the public interest and provides critical infrastructure services. Visit www.about.us for more information on .US, and visit www.neustar.biz for more information on Neustar.