TC 10 Mile to Feature Equalizer Bonus

When the country’s top male and female distance runners gather in the Twin Cities on October 2 for the 2011 USA Men’s and Women’s 10 Mile Championships, held in conjunction with the Medtronic TC 10 Mile, more than just a pair of USA titles and two $12,000 winners’ checks will be up for grabs.

Thanks to a unique Equalizer Bonus feature, a $10,000 prize will wait at the finish line for the first USA Champion to break the tape -- man or woman. The women’s USA Championship field will start its race ahead of the USA men’s field. In the final strides of the race, race officials hope the top male and female runners will battle in the shadow of the State Capitol for the lucrative bonus.

“The Equalizer Bonus should be a thrilling addition to the USA 10 Mile Championships which have been great events for us in the past,” Virginia Brophy Achman, Executive Director of Twin Cities In Motion said in a media release. “Just imagine the excitement of having our last two USA champions Abdi Abdirahman and Katie McGregor racing each other in the homestretch with $10,000 on the line!"

In December 2010, USA Track & Field awarded Twin Cities In Motion the rights to host both the 2011 and 2012 USA Men’s and Women’s 10 Mile Championships. For the last four years, the Medtronic TC 10 Mile, dubbed the “Shortcut to the Capitol,” has hosted the USA 10 Mile Championship for men or women in alternating years.

“We always look forward to USA Championship races at Twin Cities In Motion events because we know that we'll see great performances,” said Jim Estes, Associate Marketing Director and LDR Programs for USATF. “The Medtronic TC10 Mile will be ideal for a fitness-check for U.S. athletes as they begin their preparations for the Olympic Trials Marathon in January and with the added $10,000 bonus on the line, we're sure to see an exciting finish.”

A total of $74,000 in prize and bonus money is available to USA Championship runners in what will be the richest USA 10 Mile Championship in history. In addition to funding the Equalizer Bonus prize, Twin Cities In Motion has bumped the USA 10 Mile prize purse up to $30,000 for each gender. Two additional $2,000 bonuses are available if the winners break the Medtronic TC 10 Mile course record.

Abdirahman holds the men’s course record at 46:35 set in 2009; Duluth native Kara Goucher holds the women’s record with her 53:16 clocking from 2008.