Road Rage: Anthony Famiglietti is back for the USATF Road 5k Champs in Providence

Have you seen this man?

It's been a while since Anthony Famiglietti has competed. What better place to return than one where he has won before? Fam won the 2008 USATF Road 5k Championships and will start his drive towards qualifying for a third consecutive Olympic team with another run through the streets of Providence, RI tomorrow, in search of another National Championship at the CVS Caremark Downtown 5k. He's written a blog post about his return as well.

Fam's recently been training in Davidson, NC (right outside of Charlotte) and recently returned to the roads with a tune-up win at the Sunset 5k in Salisbury. Fam also attended Appalachian State for two years (before transferring to Tennessee) and leads a charge of runners with NC ties at Providence. USATF 8k Champion, Bobby Mack, will be among the favorites as he continues to have a breakout season. My friend, Sandy Roberts, will be making his USA Running Circuit debut. Both Mack and Roberts run for The Athlete's Foot Racing, out of Raleigh, NC (my team). Also out of Raleigh is Duke Law student, Lauren Bonds. Bonds has had a great past few years and will be representing Adidas Raleigh TC. All will be skipping out on the Mag Mile tomorrow (NC USATF Road Mile Championship in which Mack is a multiple time winner). Finaly, Stephanie "Pezz" Pezzullo, trained in Charlotte for a while, before relocating to Flagstaff, AZ.

Robert Cheseret, who is Bernard Lagat's brother, will be defending on the Men's side, as he kicked down Ben Bruce last year in the final steps to take the National Championship. An excellent field will challenge for the win, as many have traveled to Providence for the shot at the $30,000 purse. Aaron Braun and Ben True will be favorites, along with Fam, Mack and Cheseret, as Braun is currently 1st in the overall USA Running Circuit standings with True a close second.

Conquering one barrier at a time
(TrackAndFieldPhoto)

Sara Hall will look to improve on her second place performance from 2010 on the Women's side, and has a Fam connection as well, as she's spent some time with him working on her steeplechase technique. She'll likely choose that event to try to qualify for the 2012 London team. Hall is currently ranked fifth in the USA Running Circuit standings and could make a big jump with a win in Providence. An injured Molly Huddle won't be defending her title, but Hall will get plenty of competition from the likes of Julie Culley, Emily Brown, Pezz, Bonds and a strong field from all over. If the Runnerspace race coverage team team remains the same, Chris Nickinson will have the call on the Women's side.

Runnerspace will be streaming the race live tomorrow at 11:05am eastern and more information and interviews are available at http://www.runnerspace.com/USA-5km

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