That is what is happening tonight in downtown Minneapolis at the Medtronic TC 1 Mile. A field including 2,600 average joes (or citizen runners) will compete before two waves of elite runners go for the gold. Well the gold in this case is $4,000 for the winners and a $10,000 bonus to the first male runner to go sub-4 and the first female to go sub-4:28. Can you do it?

This is part of the USATF circuit and I’m looking forward to racing a mile. It is an odd distance one that I have touched really since high school. Most of the college meets I was at only had the 1500 and since I was an 800 specialist I didn’t jump up much. How does one train for a mile race? Especially one that falls 3 weeks after a half-marathon and 2 weeks after a 10K. Who knows would be my answer! I did a lot of easy running with some strides so we’ll see what my body is capable of.

However there are a lot of athletes who are training for these middle distance events on the track and they will be in top form. The race has received a lot of publicity, especially since they have upped the ante with prize money. Race director Brian Mastel says, “The fields include two Olympians, a three-time NCAA Champion, an age group world record holder and nine men who have broken the four-minute barrier.”

12 men and 10 women will be competing in the elite fields including:

Joining two-time champion of the event, Luke Watson, will be Team USA Minnesota runner Brad Lowery, in addition to former Team USA Minnesota runner, Ryan Kleimenhagen. The field also includes two runners who’ve recently been added to the list of sub-four minute milers, Steve Sherer, ranked second in the United States at the mile indoors and Jordan Fife, ranked 6th in the United States at the mile indoors, as well as several runners from Kenya, including Haron Lagat, Vincent Rono, Josephat Kithii, Eliud Njubi, and Benson Chesang.
The women’s field will feature 2004 Olympian Carrie Tollefson, her Team USA Minnesota teammate Emily Brown, former NCAA 1500 meter champion Tiffany McWilliams, and the top returning runner from last year’s race, Colleen Newhart. This year’s race will also have a strong international field with such runners as, Rose Kosgei, Margaret Chirchir, Meskerem Legesse, and Marina Munca.

Two of the runners are from Indiana: Luke Watson and Jordan Fife and three from Minnesota: Brad Lowery, Carrie Tollefson, and Rasa Troup.

It should be a fun night! Hopefully i won’t be so exhausted after my race that I will get to enjoy watching the elite race.  Waves start at 6:50pm with the championship male wave at 7:58.

HT: Down the Backstretch The Final Sprint Cool Running

[tags] mile, Medtronic, TC One Mile [/tags]