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The USATF has made the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon the national championship for the distance on May 7
USA Track & Field, whose headquarters are in Indianapolis, will have two of its events in Indianapolis, Ind this year.
Most notable is USATF has made the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon the national championship for the distance on May 7.
The half-marathon championship is a stop on USATF’s running circuit, a series of road races from one mile to the marathon offering $500,000 in prize money. The designation could attract the strongest field of elite runners in the history of the Mini, which debuted in 1977.
In a news release, Max Siegel, CEO of USATF, said:
“We are thrilled to bring our USATF Half Marathon Championships to such an incredible weekend of racing in Indianapolis.”
The 13.1-mile course starts and finishes downtown and features a 2.5-mile loop around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The pandemic caused the Mini to be canceled in 2020 and 2021.
Prize money for each gender is $7,000 for first place, $3,500 for second, down to $600 for 10th. Total prize money per gender is $20,000.
Indianapolis runner Noah Droddy, 31, who has run the second-fastest marathon ever by a native Hoosier, posted on Twitter that timing of the announcement was inappropriate.
"For reference most races assemble their professional athlete field MONTHS in advance," Droddy wrote. "I would have loved to race at home, but how can you plan for something on this timeline?"
Futsum Zienasellassie, a seven-time state champion at North Central High School, also said he will not race the Mini because of a scheduling conflict.
He is coming off two of his best results: fifth in the USA half-marathon in 1:01:21 at Hardeeville, S.C., Dec. 5, and sixth in the USA 15-kilometer race in 43:28 at Jacksonville March 5. In the latter, he beat seventh-place Galen Rupp, a two-time Olympic medalist. Zienasellassie, 29, who lives in Flagstaff, Ariz., has qualified for the Nov. 13 half-marathon World Championship at Yanzhou, China.
Also, USATF is bringing a street meet to Indianapolis on Sept. 18. It is part of the Journey to Gold Tour, which opens April 9 at Bermuda. A live telecast is scheduled for NBC.
The meet is modeled after similar events held at Boston and Manchester, England. Runners race down a straightaway course on an assembled track surface.
(03/31/2022) Views: 1,188 ⚡AMP
