Miller and Kampf take respective men’s and women’s titles at USA 1 Mile Road Championships

MINNEAPOLIS – Craig Miller (Madison, Wis.) and Heather Kampf (Minneapolis, Minn.) took the respective men’s and women’s titles at the USA 1 Mile Road Championships Thursday evening in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Warm, windy conditions met the competitors for the fourth annual championships, causing both fields to take a conservative approach to the early stages of the race. Kampf used a late burst to outrun the field in the last 400 meters, propelling herself to a decisive win over Alisha Williams (Colorado Springs, Colo.). Kampf was timed in 4:36.9 with Williams following in 4:39.6. Danielle Tauro (Manahawkin, N.J.) took third in 4:40.0.

The men’s race saw the majority of the field still tightly packed with 250 meters to go when Aaron Braun (Flagstaff, Ariz.) made his bid for his first U.S. title but Miller, who Braun outkicked for second in 2011, had one more gear, pulling ahead of Braun in the final 100 meters. Miller took his first U.S. title, running 4:04.3 with Braun less than a second behind in 4:05.1. Scott Smith, Braun’s McMillan Elite teammate, took third in 4:06.9.

The championships were hosted for the fourth year by the Medtronic TC 1 Mile and featured a total of $20,000 in prize money with Miller and Kampf each earning $4,000 for their titles.

Video Highlights

Video highlights of the USA 1 Mile Road Championships are provided by RunnerSpace.com and are available on demand at www.USARunningCircuit.com.

About the USARC

The USA 1 Mile Road Championships were the fifth stop on the 2012 USA Running Circuit (USARC), a USA Track & Field road series, featuring USA Championships from one mile to the marathon and attracts the best U.S. distance runners. The 2012 circuit features nine events for men and ten for women.

The 2012 USARC features more than $900,000 in circuit prize money with U.S. athletes competing for the right to represent Team USA in various international competitions.

The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USARC race (15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1), with a final $12,500 grand prix purse ($6,000, $4,000, and $2,500) for the top three men and women point scorers overall.

The mission of the USA Running Circuit is to showcase, support, and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USARC and its races have provided over $6 million dollars to U.S. distance runners.

For more information on the 2012 USA 1 Mile Road Championships visit www.usatf.org.

About USA Track & Field

USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track & field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, the World's #1 Track & Field Team, the most-watched events at the Olympics, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport, and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States: www.usatf.org.