USA 1 Mile Road Championships preview

INDIANAPOLIS – Two-time USA 1 Mile Champion David Torrence (Oakland, Calif.) is set to return to Minneapolis to seek his third consecutive 1 mile road title, while Sara Hall (Big Bear Lake, Calif.) is the women’s favorite at Thursday’s USA 1 Mile Road Championships. The event will be hosted for the third time by the Medtronic TC 1 Mile.

Torrence made his mark in 2009 by winning the first ever road mile championship while becoming the first man to break four-minutes for a road mile in the state of Minnesota then returned to repeat his title against a strong field at last year’s championship.

This year Torrence will face Aaron Braun (Flagstaff, Ariz.), the runner-up in the mile at the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships presented by BMW. Also on the line will be Braun’s McMillan Elite teammate Jordan Horn (Flagstaff, Ariz.), who finished third last year.

A late addition to the men’s field will be marathoner Ryan Hall (Big Bear Lake, Calif.), who hasn’t raced a mile since 2006 but recently finished fourth in the B.A.A. Boston Marathon, running 2:04:58 to become the fastest American marathoner in history.

In the women’s race, Hall’s wife Sara will face local favorite Gabriel Anderson (Minneapolis, Minn.), who finished third in the women’s mile at the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships presented by BMW.

The Medtronic TC 1 Mile features a total of $ 20,000 and will once again offer a $ 10,000 bonus for the men’s and women’s champions if they run under 4:00 and 4:32 respectively.