FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Elite Field Announced for Minnesota Mile
2012 Champions Return to Defend Titles
(Duluth, Minn.) A premier class of one-mile runners is assembled for
Sunday's Minnesota Mile in downtown Duluth.
Among those entered are defending champions Craig Miller (4 minutes, 1.4
seconds) and Heather Kampf (4:36.5). They will be racing in an elite
division that features a $20,100 prize purse with the men's and women's
winners each receiving $3,000. Both Miller and Kampf are the 2012 USA 1
Mile Road national champions.
Miller – also the Minnesota Mile champion in 2011 (4:03.8) – was the 2013
USA Indoor Mile runner-up (3:58.90 - March 3, Albuquerque) and won the 2013
Big River Festival of Miles (3:59.23 – May 30, St. Louis).
Also in the men's field is former University of Minnesota standout and
Stillwater, Minn. native Ben Blankenship, who won of a pair of mile races
last month (3:56.27, Falmouth Mile – Falmouth, Mass./4:06, Michigan Mile –
Flint, Mich.). Two-time 1500-meter Olympian (Canada, 2008 and 2012) Nate
Brannen will make his first appearance at the Minnesota Mile.
Kampf has won numerous mile races in 2013, including the Bermuda Mile, the
Ryan Shay Mile, the Liberty Mile and the Michigan Mile. She'll be joined in
the women's division by Team USA Minnesota teammates Gabriele Anderson and
Jamie Cheever. Anderson has placed in the top five at the past three
Minnesota Mile races, including a second-place finish a year ago (4:37.5).
Cheever was sixth in 2012 (4:44.1). All three ran collegiately at the
University of Minnesota.
Making her debut at the mile distance is Kenya's Sarah Kiptoo, who won the
2013 Grandma's Marathon on June 22 in a course record time of 2 hours, 26
minutes, 32 seconds.
The races begin one block east of Fitger's on Superior Street and finish
past the Holiday Center. In addition to the elite race, the event includes
races for children, recreational and semi-elite runners.
The Minnesota Mile is the 14th stop on the nationwide inaugural Bring Back
the Mile Tour 2013. For more on the Bring Back the Mile Tour, visit
www.bringbackthemile.com.
The Minnesota Mile is presented by Advantage Emblem & Screen Printing,
American Family Insurance, Duluth Running Company, Duluth News Tribune,
ESPN Radio 560 WEBC, Fitger's, Holiday Inn & Suites, Kemps, KBJR 6 & Range
11, Super One and Verizon Wireless.
For more information, visit GrandmasMarathon.com or call (218) 727-0947.
Grandma's Minnesota Mile
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Duluth, Minnesota
Elite Division - $20,100 Purse
Open Division – Men and Women
1st Place: $3,000
2nd Place: $2,000
3rd Place: $1,500
4th Place: $1,000
5th Place: $800
6th Place: $600
7th Place: $400
8th Place: $250
Masters Division – Men and Women
1st Place: $500
Schedule of Events
9:00 a.m. Verizon Wireless Kids Mile – Free for Children ages 8 to 14
9:20 a.m. All City Mile - Recreational
10:00 a.m. Duluth Mile - Semi-Elite
10:20 a.m. Grandma's Minnesota Mile - Elite ($20,100 prize purse)
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