FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Olympians, Record-Holders To Line Up For
Inaugural B.A.A. Invitational Mile
19 top professional milers, local scholastic stars
will race the day before 113th Boston Marathon
Boston, Mass. -- Six Olympians, a trio of national-record holders and a
three-time U.S. champion are among the professional athletes set to compete
in the debut of the B.A.A. Invitational Mile on April 19, the Boston
Athletic Association announced today.
The Invitational Mile, to be held in conjunction with the inaugural B.A.A.
5K the day before the 113th Boston Marathon, will feature mile races for
professional men and women, plus mile races for scholastic girls and boys
from Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline
and Boston - the eight cities and towns along the Boston Marathon course.
The races, which will be run criterium-style in the Back Bay, will begin
and end at the Boston Marathon finish line.
Headlining the women's professional mile will be 2008 Olympic bronze
medalist Shalane Flanagan, a native of Marblehead, Mass. Flanagan, 27, won
the bronze medal at 10,000 meters in Beijing and holds four American
records.
Flanagan will be challenged by a trio of top American milers: Anna Willard,
a 2008 Olympian in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and reigning U.S. Indoor
Champion at 1,500 meters; Erin Donohue, a 2008 Olympian at 1,500 meters;
and Lindsey Gallo, 1,500-meter runner-up at the 2006 U.S. Outdoor
Championships and 2009 Boston Indoor Games mile champion. Willard is a
native of Greenwood, Maine.
Challenging them for the win will be Amy Mortimer, winner of the 2008
Falmouth Mile; Michelle Sikes, who represented the U.S. at the 2007 World
Championships; Marina Muncan, the Serbian national-record holder; and
Carrie Tollefson, a 2004 Olympian at 1,500 meters.
Leading the roster in the professional men's race are Rob Myers, a
three-time U.S. Indoor Champion at 1,500 meters; Ireland's Alistair Cragg,
a two-time Olympian; and Adam Goucher, a 2000 Olympian and husband of Kara
Goucher, the top American woman in the field for the next day's Boston
Marathon.
Providing tough competition will be Pablo Solares, Mexico's national-record
holder at 1,500 meters; Jon Rankin, winner of the 2008 Falmouth Mile; Steve
Sherer, third at the 2008 U.S. indoor championships; Darren Brown, former
University of Texas star; Bret Schoolmeester, former standout at the
University of Colorado; John Richardson, a top miler just out of the
University of Kentucky; Patrick Tarpy, a local favorite from Providence;
and Jonathon Blackledge of Great Britain, who competes for Oxford
University.
Total prize purse for professional miles is $14,500 divided equally between
men and women, including $3,000 for the champion.
The series of races in the B.A.A. Invitational Mile will begin with the
girls' scholastic race at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, April 19, immediately after the
B.A.A. 5K, a new road race that will begin at 8 a.m. The mile will follow a
three-loop course, beginning on Boylston Street, left on Dartmouth Street,
left on Newbury Street, left on Exeter Street then left onto Boylston. Both
the 5K and Mile will begin on Boylston Street near Copley Square Park, and
end at the Boston Marathon finish line. Registration for the 5K is
available at www.baa.org; the field is limited to 4,000 runners and is
filling up fast.
Additional information about the B.A.A. Invitational Mile, the B.A.A. 5K,
the Boston Marathon and the Boston Athletic Association can be found online
at www.baa.org.
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