New Minneapolis Riverfront Course to Host USATF Championship
St. Paul, Minn. - April 7, 2016 - Hometown star Heather Kampf and Winona native Garrett Heath will return to downtown Minneapolis next month to defend the USATF 1 Mile Road Championship and Medtronic TC 1 Mile titles each earned last year. The duo headline the USATF Championship fields racing for a $25,000 prize purse and a pair of $10,000 event record bonuses at the 2016 Medtronic TC 1 Mile on Thursday evening, May 12.
The event is expected to draw more than 2,800 runners to downtown Minneapolis for a full evening of racing. This year the event moves to a new course, starting near the Mill City Museum, racing past Gold Medal Park, and finishing along the Mississippi Riverfront near the Guthrie Theater.
Kampf, a Rosemount native who won an NCAA title representing the University of Minnesota and currently trains with Team USA Minnesota, is a two-time Medtronic TC 1 Mile winner and a three-time USATF 1 Mile Road champion. She outran the Medtronic TC 1 Mile field in 2012 for her first USATF 1 Mile Road title, and earned a third national title winning last year’s rain-soaked race. This season, Kampf finished fourth at the Millrose Games mile in a personal best 4:27.26 and fourth at the USATF Indoor Championships 1500-meters.
Heath, who was an 8-time All-American while competing for Stanford University, will be seeking a USATF 1 Mile Road Championship hat trick - having won the 2014 title in Des Moines prior to last year’s victory in Minneapolis. Heath was runner-up at the Medtronic TC 1 Mile in 2013, clocking the second fastest time in event history at 3:57.1. This season, Heath won his third-straight Great Edinburgh Cross Country title, edging double Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah and finished fourth at the USATF Indoor Championships at 1500-meters.
This year will mark the sixth time the Medtronic TC 1 Mile will play host the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships. The event is also a stop on the Bring Back the Mile Grand Prix Tour which offers a $10,000 tour prize purse. Kampf is a three-time Bring Back the Mile Grand Prix Tour winner.
The Medtronic TC 1 Mile, organized by Twin Cities In Motion, features an evening of races for runners of all ages and abilities. Action kicks off at 6:30 p.m. CDT and culminates with the USATF Championship races at 7:54 p.m. (women) and 8:06 p.m. (men).
In the coming weeks, Twin Cities In Motion will note additions to the USATF Championship field and make other announcements about the event via its Twitter feed, @tcmarathon, or with additional media releases.
About Twin Cities In Motion (TCM): Twin Cities In Motion organizes the region’s premier running events, including the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, a Top 10 U.S. Marathon. With a mission of promoting healthy lifestyles through running events and community outreach, TCM contributes a portion of every race dollar to local youth and professional athletes and helps raise more than $950,000 annually with its charity partners. For more information, visit us at TCMEvents.org, or find us on Facebook and on Twitter @tcmarathon.
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