Ben Blankenship And Heather Kampf Win USATF 1 Mile Road Championships
Press Release
May 12, 2016
Minneapolis, Minn. – Ben Blankenship broke the event record at the Medtronic TC 1 Mile with a runaway 3:55.8 victory to claim his first USATF1 Mile Road title. Heather Kampf won her fourth USATF 1 Mile Road title and third event title clocking 4:34.2.
The Minnesota natives each earned $5000 for their victories, with Blankenship pocketing an additional $10,000 for breaking Nick Willis’ 2013 mark of 3:56.1.
“I feel great about it. I wanted to come out here and dominate from the front,” the Stillwater native said. “I was able to execute on the plan. I could kind of guestimate where I was based on the course record. At 1200-meters I knew I had a little bit of leeway, but not enough. I didn’t want to break it by too much, if I come back again next year.”
Defending champion Garrett Heath, a Winona native, finished second in 3:59.7; Travis Burkstrand, originally from Apple Valley, rounded out the all-Minnesota men’s podium in 4:01.4.
Kampf took aim at the women’s event record, herself, and while she didn’t topple Sara Hall’s 2011 standard of 4:30.8, she soundly outdistanced the 2016 competition.
“I had my sights set on the record, but I wasn’t sure what the course would be like,” the former University of Minnesota star said. “I got out quick enough, but it was tough because I didn’t have anyone to chase on the backstretch.”
Christy Cazzola of Marietta, Georgia, finished second in 4:37.2, while Minnesotan Gabriele Grunewald – who lives in a building on the downtown Minneapolis race course – finished third in 4:39.0.
More than 2300 runners registered for the event which ran along the Mississippi Riverfront and finished near the Guthrie Theater. In addition to hosting the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships, the event also served as the second stop on the 2016 Bring Back the Mile Tour, a nationwide Grand Prix with more than $110,000 in total prize money and a $10,000 grand prize purse.
Complete results can be found at tcmevents.org.