Fast Milers Headed to Minneapolis
Posted May 6th, 2008 at 2:15 PM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Road Racing
Thursday’s Medtronic TC 1 Mile will give 2600 citizen athletes a chance to test themselves at the sport’s classic distance, while a much smaller group of elite athletes will be running all-out for significant cash prizes. It will be the fourth annual edition for Minnesota’s most important road mile.
The venue will be Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. A mass wave of about 1000 runners will start things of at 6:50 p.m., followed by age-group and championship waves beginning at 7:53 p.m. The elites, running for a $25,000 prize money purse, will bring the show to a rousing close. A special $10,000 bonus is on the line for the first man to break 4:00.00 and the first woman to break 4:28.00.
Steve Sherer (Pictured)leads the men’s entry list. The 27 year-old athlete and former Michigan State Spartan, ran 3:56-flat during the indoor season, and finished third in the AT&T USA Indoor Championships at 1500m.
His top challengers will be Kenyan Haron Lagat, the former Texas Tech athlete who won last Sunday’s Union-Tribune Race for Literacy 8-K in San Diego. Lagat ran 3:58.48 during the 2008 indoor season. Former Notre Dame star Luke Watson also hopes to be in the mix (3:57.83 PB) as do Ryan Kleimenhagen (3:59.00), Vincent Rono (3:59.63), Eliud Njubi (3:56.84), Sean McCabe (4:03.33) and Jordan Fife (3:59.74). Christian Hesch was scheduled to compete, but is unlikely because of a hip injury.
Olympian and Twin Cities resident Carrie Tollefson was to headline the women’s field, but had a recent illness which knocked her out of last Sunday’s Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational. She probably won’t line up for Thursday’s mile. That leaves three-time NCAA 1500m champion, Tiffany McWilliams, as the top entrant. She’s run 4:29.56 for the mile and 4:06.30 for 1500m. Other contenders include Serbia’s Marina Muncan (4:34.67 PB), Kenya’s Rose Kosgei (4:10.64 1500m PB), Ethiopian Meskerem Legesse (4:03.96 1500m PB), and Team USA Minnesota’s Emily Brown (4:37.58 PB).
The first man and woman will each receive $4,000, the second highest road mile first prize in the United States behind the Continental Airlines Fifth Avenue Mile in New York City.
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.
Photo: Courtesy of MSU Athletics
***Note: We encourage EVERYONE to see a doctor before altering their diet, taking a supplement and/or performing athletic, fitness or other strenuous physical activity. It is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of any information, instruction, opinion or advice contained in the content. Please also see our complete disclaimer.***
Tags: Carrie Tollefson, Emily Brown, Haron Lagat, Medtronic, Medtronic TC 1 Mile, michigan state, mile, miler, minneapolis, Minnesota, MSU, nicollet mall, road mile, road running, Rose Kosgei, spartan, Steve Sherer, Tiffany McWilliams, twin cities
Like what you see? Subscribe to our feed!
WordPress database error: [Can't open file: 'wp_comments.MYI' (errno: 144)]
SELECT * FROM wp_comments WHERE comment_post_ID = '6822' AND comment_approved = '1' ORDER BY comment_date
The Final Sprint