If, after the big splash she made at the Drake Relays steeplechase (9:45) and Sunday night's ripping Stanford 5000m (15:19), you're wondering how fast Emily Brown can run a mile (4:28?), you need not wait long.Brown, along with Team USA Minnesota teammate Carrie Tollefson, is the headliner in the strong women's field set for Thursday's TC 1 Mile run down Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. Two-time men's winner Luke Watson, a Stillwater High School and Team USA Minnesota alum, will battle in the men's race.
Brown, Tollefson, and Watson will face strong domestic and international competition in the event which features $25,000 prize purse and a $10,000 bonus if the men's or women's winners break 4:00 or 4:28, respectively. Winners will earn $4000.
The event is also a stop on the 2008 USATF-Minnesota Team Circuit.
In the women's field, Tiffany McWilliams appears the strongest American challenger in the field. The Mississippi State alum is a three-time NCAA champion and finished 4th at the USA Outdoor Championships last summer. Ethiopia's Meskerem Legesse, who sports a 4:03 1500m PR, the fastest in the field, leads the international charge along with Kenyans Margaret Chirchir and Rose Kosgei.
Local international Rasa Troup of Lithuania, who raced well in the Drake steeplechase herself, also needs to be accounted for.
2007 champion Jenelle Deatherage is not scheduled to compete this year.
Watson is joined in the men's field by Team USA Minnesota's Brad Lowery and former Team USA Minnesotan Ryan Kleimenhagen, who now resides in Wisconsin. The leading USA challenger in the field is Steve Sherer who finished 3rd at this year's USA Indoor championships. Jordan Fife, who finished 8th in the same race, could also contend.
Kenyans Vincent Rono and Eliud Njubi are the only runners in the field to have clocked 1500m under 3:40. Rono recently finished 3rd at the Drake Relays.
Full elite startlists can be found HERE.
Action begins at 6:50 p.m. Thursday. The elite waves are set to begin at 7:53 p.m.
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