BAA Invitational Mile Fields Announced

I wrote last month that road races, especially the large, established ones, were adding additional races at a higher rate that in years past.  Part of this is due to the economy, needing to raise race numbers in order to meet certain financial quotas, but also it draws additional interest to the main event.

This year, the Boston Athletic Association decided to add the BAA Invitational Mile to the Boston Marathon weekend, inviting many of the top 1,500m runners in the U.S. to compete in a road mile the day before the marathon.  Leading the way are such notable athletes as Shalane Flanagan, Erin Donohue, Anna Willard, Adam Goucher, Rob Myers and Alistair Cragg.

Additionally, the BAA Invitational Mile will have other smaller races before hand, as well as a 4,000 person 5k.  The prize purse for the mile is $14,500, which is a nice number for prize money considering the event the next day is the headliner.  Great job by the BAA to draw more attention to their event and stretch out the weekend's professional athlete interest.

Women's Field

• Shalane Flanagan
  
• Erin Donohue
  
• Anna Willard
  
• Lindsey Gallo
  
• Michelle Sikes
  
• Amy Mortimer
  
• Carrie Tollefson
  
• Marina Muncan

Men's Field

• Rob Myers
  
• Alistair Cragg
  
• Jon Rankin
  
• Adam Goucher
  
• Steve Scherer
  
• Bret Schoolmeester
  
• Darren Brown
  
• Pablo Solares
  
• John Richardson
  
• Patrick Tarpy
  
• Jonathon Blackledge