2005 USA 8 km Championships
Hosted by the NYRR 8K

March 26, 2005
Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island - New York City, N.Y.

Running the second fastest women's 8 km in U.S. history, Deena Kastor of Manmouth Lakes, Calf. dominated the women's field, while Jorge Torres of Boulder, Colo. emerged from his professional road racing debut with his first ever USA championship title at the USA 8 km Championships, hosted by the New York Road Runners at Icahn Track and Field Stadium on Randall's Island in Manhattan.

Though conditions where greatly improved over earlier race week forecasts, the cool breezy conditions were not quite ideal for an attempt at Lynn Jennings' American Record of 25:02, but it was clear that Kastor was going to make every effort to make it hers. Running on her own from just before the first kilometer, Kastor was left to deal with a slight wind as she just missed the record with her 25:05 win. Jen Rhines (Penn.) finished second with a time of 25:54 with Amy Rudolph (RI) crossing the line in 26:02 for third place.

In the men's race, Torres took charge of the race just before 5 km to and went on to win in 22:47. He was followed by Abdi Abdirahman (Ariz.) and Anthony Famigliett (N.Y.) who finished with times of 22:56 and 23:02.

The USA 8 km Championship was the first event to take place at the newly renovated Icahn Track and Field Stadium. A total prize purse of $40,000 was paid to U.S. athletes, with both Kastor and Torres earning $5,000 for the championship as well as an addition $500 prime for leading at the 5 km mark.