GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Fifth Third River Bank Run brought in over 17,000 people to downtown Grand Rapids on Saturday for the largest 25K race in the country.
In the Women's 25K, Aliphine Tuliamuk took home the title for the third straight year and also held off a number of male elite runners to win the race within a race. She hopes she can inspire young women everywhere with her performance.
"For all of the little girls watching I just want them to know that they can do whatever they want to do.They can be the greatest athlete and you know what, we have a great community. It is so amazing to be a woman right now, even to be a little girl running at this age. It's just awesome."
In the Men's 25K, it was Sam Chelanga who came in first and said it was his lackluster performance in the London Marathon last month that pushed him through until the end on Saturday morning.
"It feels awesome, it was really awesome," Sam smiled. "I'm very thankful because I think we have a lot of really talented guys in every race. So if you get a win, you take it and be very very happy about it."
