Inaugural USA 1 Mile Road Championship Attracts Top Field at Medtronic TC

Top runners including 2008 Olympians Shannon Rowbury and Anthony Famiglietti will compete in Minneapolis on May 7 for a chance to break 4:00 mile (men) and 4:28 (women) and win $10,000 time bonus- MINNEAPOLIS - (April 30, 2009) - Some of the nation's fastest professional road and track milers will be in Minneapolis this coming week to race down the Nicollet Mall for the inaugural USA 1 Mile Road Championship title. With proven sub-four minute mile times, a fast race is expected on Thursday, May 7 out of the likes of Anthony Famiglietti, David Torrence, Gabe Jennings, Jon Rankin and Darren Brown.

With an overall prize purse of more than $22,500, the additional $10,000 bounty for the first male to break 4:00 has some real potential on the straight, relatively flat course, with the same opportunity on the women's side for the first place female breaking 4:28. Shannon Rowbury, Sara Hall, Jenelle Deatherage and Team USA Minnesota's Emily Brown and Carrie Tollefson are among the fierce competition in the women's field.

The 2009 course will be run entirely on Nicollet Mall, and has a slight rise for the first three blocks, then maintains a slight downhill for seven blocks before rounding an easy curve and leveling off for the final 200 meters, according to race officials.

"We have an amazing field for this inaugural national championship, many of whom have competed against each other just this past month, and the new course means it's anyone's race and anyone's night to take home an extra $10,000," said Twin Cities Marathon, Inc. race director Brian Mastel. "It will be a fun race to watch. We're hoping the 3,200 participants in the Medtronic TC 1 Mile will join us at one of the Cheers Zones after they run, to watch some of the best middle-distance runners in the country compete."

The Medtronic TC 1 Mile is host to this U.S. championship event. In its 5th year, the Medtronic TC 1 Mile race begins at 6:50pm with a mass wave of about 1,000 participants. Age graded waves and the Corporate Team Challenge wave follow, with the general field finishing just before the women's professional field takes off in the USA 1 Mile Road Championship race at about 7:53pm.

Twin Cities Marathon, Inc. was awarded the bid to host the inaugural USA 1 Mile Road Championships at the annual USA Track & Field meeting in December and will host this race through 2012.

"Championships bring recognition to the true spirit and history of the sport of running." said CEO of USA Track & Field Doug Logan. "As part of our mission to elevate the stars and the sport, USA Track & Field works to partner with events across the nation to show the world the power and benefits of this sport. By hosting the inaugural USA 1 Mile Road Championships, Twin Cities Marathon, Inc. continues to recognize the commitment to promoting running and healthy lifestyles. And as I said in my recent blog on American efforts at the Boston Marathon, 'Game on'. Good luck to every participant at the Medtronic TC 1 Mile."

The professional field with personal records as of Thursday, April 30, 2009 is as follows:

MEN
David Torrence, 23, Oakland, CA, 3:57:04
Gabe Jennings, 30, Eugene, OR, 3:58:25
Kyle Alcorn, 24, Phoenix, AZ, 4:00:58
Jon Rankin, 27, San Diego, CA, 3:54:24
Blake Boldon, 29, Colorado Springs, CO, 3:59:18
Anthony Famiglietti, 30, Knoxville, TN, 3:55:71
Darren Brown, 22, Austin, TX, 3:58:35
John Richardson, 24, Lexington, KY, 4:02:10
Jordan Fife, 26, Bloomington, IN, 3:59:75
Tommy Schmitz, 24, Madison, WI, 3:58:92
Ryan Kleimenhagen, 27, Madison, WI, 3:59:00
Brad Lowery, 26, Brookings, SD, 4:01:67
Adrian Myers, 24, Indianapolis, IN, 3:52:02 (1500m)
Thomas Morgan, 27, Blowing Rock, NC, 4:01:90
Bobby Curtis, 23, Philadelphia, PA, 3:57:20

WOMEN
Shannon Rowbury, 24, San Francisco, CA, 4:20.34
Sara Hall, 26, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 4:25 (road mile)
Jenelle Deatherage, 31, Minneapolis, MN, 4:31.58
Emily Brown, 24, Minneapolis, MN, 4:37:58
Carrie Tollefson, 32, St. Paul, MN, 4:27:95
Jen Rhines, 34, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 4:09.52 (1500m)
Ann Detmer, 24, Madison, WI, 9:24:11 (3000m)
Colleen Newhart, 28, River Forest, IL, 4:19:12 (1500m)
Angee Henry, 33, Omaha, NE, 5:08
Meghan Armstrong, 23, Minneapolis, MN, 4:40.59
Mason Cathey, 27, Indianapolis, IN, 4:49:39
Sara Vaughn, 23, Boulder, CO, 4:22.29 (indoor 1500)

Visit www.MTCmarathon.org for more information.