05-07-2009
   
Contact:
Jim Estes
Associate Director of LDR and Marketing
USA Track & Field
317-713-4661

Minneapolis, Minnesota

2008 Olympian Shannon Rowbury (San Francisco, Calif.) and Jon Rankin (San Diego, Calif.) lead the fields for the inaugural USA 1 Mile Road Championships Thursday night in Minneapolis, Minn. The event will be hosted through 2012 by the Medtronic TC 1 Mile.
Rowbury, the 2008 Olympic Trials 1,500 meter champion, leads a women's field that includes local favorite Carrie Tollefson (St. Paul, Minn.), a 2004 Olympian at 1,500 meters. Also in contention for the women's title will be Sara Hall (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) and Jenelle Deatherage (Saint Louis Park, Minn.).

While Rankin owns the fastest time in the men's field (3:54.24), he'll have to contend with six other men with sub-four minute personal bests for the mile. With respective bests of 3:57.04 and 3:57.20 David Torrence (Oakland, Calif.), the 2009 USA Indoor 3,000 meter champion, and Bobby Curtis (Ardmore, Pa.), the 2008 NCAA Division I 5,000 meter champion, will be among the lead contenders for the title along with Darren Brown (Austin, Texas), the recent champion at the B.A.A. Invitational Mile.

Athletes will compete for a total prize purse of $22,500, with the men's and women's USA Champion earning $4,000 each. This year's race will also feature an additional $10,000 bonus for the men's and women's champions if they run faster than 4:00 and 4:28 respectively.