USATF 1 Mile Road Championships To Feature Elite Field
The USATF 1 Mile Road Championships return to the downtown Des Moines at the Grand Blue Mile presented by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
DES MOINES, Iowa -- The USA Track & Field 1 Mile Road Championships, hosted as part of the Grand Blue Mile presented by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, will bring the nation's top milers to the streets of Des Moines on Tuesday, April 25 for a $5,000 first place purse and the pursuit of a newly created World Record in the road mile.
The national championship event is set for 7:15 p.m. following the recreational and competitive Grand Blue Mile races. Spots are still available for runners and walkers of all abilities for those races at GrandBlueMile.com.
On November 30, 2022, World Athletics, the international governing body of the sports of track and field and road running, announced that an official world record for the road mile would be introduced beginning on January 1, 2023. The flat and fast Grand Blue Mile course meets all requirements for World Record ratification, quickly distinguishing the 2023 USATF 1 Mile Road Championships as a destination for American athletes aspiring to make history. For immediate ratification, a World Record will require a performance of at least 3:50.00 for the men and 4:19.00 for the women. If the listed standards are not met by September 1, the fastest recorded, record-eligible performances will be recognized as the World Records.
After thousands of recreational and competitive runners have navigated the 1 mile course through downtown Des Moines, more than 40 elite runners will compete for the title of USA Road 1 Mile Champion. Those runners include four former 1 Mile Road Champions in Sam Prakel (2020), Katie Follett (2017), Nikki Hiltz (2019) and the defending men's champion Vincent Ciattei.
Ciattei won last year's race in 4:03 but owns a personal best of 3:51 and was an NCAA runner-up in the mile and 1,500m as a collegian at Virginia Tech.
Prakel claimed the title in 2020 in a COVID pandemic-altered race that finished in Drake Stadium. He aims to add a third national title to his resume this year, as he recently claimed USATF indoor titles in the 3,000m and 1,500m. The men's field also includes faces familiar to the Grand Blue Mile in Shane Streich, who finished third last year, and Abe Alvarado, who was fourth in 2021.
Nikki Hiltz, a champion in the event in 2019, returns to Des Moines fresh from the USATF Indoor Championship in the 1,500m they captured in March. The 2019 Pan-American Games gold medalist was also a 2019 World Championships qualifier.
Sinclaire Johnson joins the field to make her Grand Blue Mile debut after winning the USATF Outdoor 1,500m title in 2022 to earn her a spot at the 2022 World Championships, where she finished sixth.
The women's lineup also includes a pair of Iowa talents returning to Des Moines in Alex Teubel and Abby Kohut-Jackson. Teubel, an assistant coach at UNI, finished third in last year's race, and the Lisbon, Iowa, native was an Olympic Trials finalist in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Kohut-Jackson is a product of Ballard, Iowa, who advanced to the USATF Outdoor Championships finals in the steeplechase and was Big Ten champion in the event at the University of Minnesota.
The fastest road mile ever run on Iowa soil was at the inaugural Grand Blue Mile in 2010, when Boaz Lalang won in 3:54.3. A special incentive has been created for the winner, who eclipses that time or 4:29.3 in the women's championship race.
The full fields are listed below.
Men's USATF 1 Mile Road Championship
Colin Abert
Abe Alvarado
Michael Brannigan
Jacob Brueckman
Luca Chatham
Vincent Ciattei
Casey Comber
Graham Crawford
Owen Hoeft
Austin Dalquist
Jonathan Davis
Kasey Knevelbaard
Nate Mylenek
Craig Nowak
Sam Prakel
Nick Randazzo
David Ribich
Nate Sloan
Shane Streich
Women's USATF 1 Mile Road Championship
Stephanie Brokaw
Katie Camarena
Alli Cash
Anna Connor
Micaela DeGenero
Katie Follett
Eleanor Fulton
Jessa Hanson
Nikki Hiltz
Marisa Howard
Sinclaire Johnson
Abby Kohut-Jackson
Melissa Menghini
Shannon Osika
Angel Piccirillo
Colleen Quigley
Jenn Randall
Emily Richards
Helen Schlachtenhaufen
Alex Teubel
Emi Trost
Addy Wiley
Registration for the 2023 Grand Blue Mile presented by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield is ongoing at GrandBlueMile.com. Registration is $20 for youth and $25 for adults.
