05-08-2009
Contact:
Jim Estes
Associate Director of LDR and Marketing
USA Track & Field
317-713-4661
MINNEAPOLIS - 2008 Olympian Shannon Rowbury (San Francisco, Calif.) and David Torrence (Oakland, Calif.) took the respective women's and men's titles at the inaugural USA 1 Mile Road Championships Thursday night in Minneapolis, Minn. Rowbury's time was 4:33.4, while Torrence was timed in 3:59.3.
In the women's race Rowbury, the 2008 Olympic Trials 1,500 meter champion moved into the lead with 300 meters to go. Sara Hall (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) attempted to maintain contact but Rowbury extended her lead to win by 5.7 seconds, as Sara Vaughn (Boulder, Colo.) finished third in 4:41.3.
The men's race saw Torrence, Jon Rankin (San Diego, Calif.), Bobby Curtis (Ardmore, Pa.), and Darren Brown (Austin, Texas) break from the pack at 1200 meters with Rankin holding a slight lead. As the course made a slight left turn, Torrence made his move to the inside to take the lead, hitting the finish line as the first man to break four-minutes for a road mile in the state of Minnesota and collect a $10,000 bonus. Rankin held on for second in 4:01.7, Curtis was third in 4:02.0 and Brown was fourth in
The championships featured a total prize purse of $22,500, with the men's and women's USA Champion earning $4,000 each.
Video highlights
Video highlights of the USA 1 Mile Road Championships and pre- and post-race video interviews with top athletes are available in cooperation with Flotrack.org.
About the USARC
The USA 1 Mile Road Championship was the third stop on the 2009 USA Running Circuit (USARC). The 2009 USARC is a USA Track & Field road series, featuring USA Championships from one mile to the marathon and attracts the best U.S. distance runners. The 2009 USARC has ten events each for men and women.
The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USARC race (15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1), with a final $12,500 grand prix purse ($6,000, $4,000, and $2,500) for the top three men and women point scorers overall. The USARC points at the USA Marathon Championships will be doubled.
The mission of the USA Running Circuit is to showcase, support, and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USARC and its races have provided over $6 million dollars to U.S. distance runners.
For more information and video highlights from the 2009 USA 1 Mile Road Championships visit www.usatf.org.
