Stellar fields for USATF 1 Mile Road Championships headline elite middle-distance events
Ciattei seeks three-peat; 2024 Olympic 1500m bronze medalist Nuguse highlights Team USA selection race for World Athletics Road Running Championships in Denmark; $50,000 national championship prize purse available
From Drake Relays
DES MOINES, Iowa – A collection of some of the world's top Milers will again descend upon Des Moines as Iowa's capital city is set to present the USA Track & Field 1 Mile Road Championships hosted as part of the Grand Blue Mile presented by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, before featuring competitive World Athletics Continental Tour races in the women's Mile and men's 1500 inside legendary Drake Stadium.
The Grand Blue Mile presented by Wellmark on Tuesday evening, April 21 in downtown Des Moines will again serve as a selection event for the World Athletics Road Running Championships. The top two men's and women's finishers will also automatically qualify for Team USA's trip to Copenhagen, Denmark in September.
In addition, the USA Championship race will award a record $50,000 in ten-deep prize money, $10,000 to each national champion plus U.S. and world record non-cumulative bonus money, $5000 and $7500, respectively.
"The return of the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships to downtown Des Moines is always a tremendous celebration for our city and for the Drake Relays," said Franklin P. Johnson Director of the Drake Relays Blake Boldon. "There's something incredibly special about watching elite Milers race through the heart of downtown to finish on World Record Way, bringing our community together and showcasing Des Moines as a steppingstone to represent Team USA on the international level."
The men's road Mile field is headlined by Yared Nuguse, the 2024 Olympic 1500m bronze medalist and World Indoor Championships 3000m silver medalist. Nuguse holds the U.S. road Mile record of 3:51.9 from 2024 in Düsseldorf, Germany. “The Goose” also owns the American track record in the Mile at 3:43.97 (2023), while ranking second all-time among Americans in the 1500 meters with a best of 3:27.80. Vince Ciattei enters Des Moines as a two-time defending champion, setting the event and U.S. All-Comers records (3:54.55), while also winning the Drake Relays 1500m title again in 2025.
Other road Mile runners include Drew Hunter, who claimed the 2025 NACAC 5000m title and recorded an impressive 8:10 performance for 2 Miles at the Millrose Games, Dylan Jacobs, who placed fifth in the 3000 meters at the 2025 World Indoor Championships, and Brannon Kidder, a 2026 USA Indoor Championships qualifier.
A baker's dozen men's participants will double up at the Drake Relays between the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships and the WACT men's 1500m run on the Blue Oval on Saturday, April 25. Paralympic multi-gold and silver medalist Mikey Brannigan will bring international success to Des Moines. Other returning men's veterans include Shane Streich, who placed third in 2022 GBM, Damien Dilcher, last year's men's 1500 runner-up, Tanner Maier, a member of Minnesota State's title winning sprint medley team at 2022 Relays, and Jack Crull, a former Bradley standout who won on the Blue Oval while representing the Braves.
The USATF 1 Mile Road Championships roster will also feature former collegiate standouts Braxton Bruer, Cooper Cawthra, Sam Ellis, Garrett MacQuiddy and Adam Swanson. Wes Porter, who posted the 10th fastest, legal American indoor Mile of all-time in February, plus Yasin Sado and Joe Waskom, a pair of 2024 Olympic Trials participants, round out the men's road Mile and 1500.
Drake fans will notice a familiar face among the men's 1500 lineup in former Bulldog star Isaac Basten, who holds the Bulldogs' school records in the 800 and 1500 outdoors, and 800 and Mile indoors. Basten was also an All-American during his Drake tenure before placing sixth at the Relays last year.
Basten will be joined by Canadian 1500 and Mile national record holder Aaron Ahl and French national champion Titouan Le Grix to complete the men's 1500 field.
The women's road Mile and stadium Mile will also include crossover athletes in both fields. Another former Drake Bulldog, Emilie Meyer, who won the University / College women's 800 last year, will be back in her old stomping grounds. Another former Relays champion, Kat Larson, who won four Relays golds while at Oklahoma State, will compete in both the road Mile and stadium Mile.
Other double-dipping women will include 2026 USA Indoor Championships top 10 finishers Annika Reiss and Taryn Parks, USA Cross Country Championships fifth-place finisher Cailee Peterson, plus former collegiate leaders Kaylee Beyer (Winona State), Brianna Rinn (Utah), Anna Vess (NC State) and Claire Yerby (Washington).
Angelina Ellis, Eleanor Fulton and Gracie Morris will be back in downtown Des Moines for the USATF Road Mile champs. Ellis took ninth last year and was a 2024 Olympic Trials finalist in the steeplechase, Fulton was fifth in the 2025 race, and Morris was second in the USA Indoor Championships 1500 in March and won the 5th Avenue Mile in 2025, clocking a swift 4:15.5.
The women's road Mile field will be rounded out by former World Championship steeplechase and cross country qualifier Allie Ostrander, 2026 USA Half Marathon fourth-place finisher Kassie Parker, 2023 NCAA Indoor Mile champion Olivia Howell, 2025 USA Championship steeplechase finalist Gracie Hyde, and recent collegiate headliners Alex Carlson of Northern Arizona, Sophie McDonnell of New Mexico and Maya Rayle, a 5000m medalist at Wisconsin and Harvard.
A year ago, the running of the women's Mile inside Drake Stadium marked the 50-year anniversary since legend Francie Larrieu's historic effort in 1975. This year's field will look to upend Krissy Gear's smashing Relays and Drake Stadium record of 4:23.69.
The remainder of the women's Mile field is comprised of two Americans in Dani Jones, the 2025 NACAC runner-up, and Christina Aragon, a 2024 Olympic Trials 1500 finalist, plus a handful of international challengers. Kate Current of Canada, the top-finishing returner after taking fifth in 2025, was an Olympian in Paris. Fellow Canadians Maggie Smith, a former Villanova standout, and Rachel Forsyth, the 2024 World Junior Championships 1500 silver medalist will join the fun.
Maltese national record holder and 2026 World Indoor Championships qualifier Gina McNamara, plus Indian national champion and World University Games steeplechase runner-up Ms. Ankita round out the WACT women's mile roster.
"Fans inside Drake Stadium will be treated to world class competition in both the men's 1500 meters and women's Mile," Boldon added. "Those races have historically been among the most competitive and exciting events of the entire weekend, and that expectation continues in 2026.”
Drake Relays Men's USATF 1 Mile Road Championships Field – Tuesday, April 21
Mikey Brannigan
Braxton Bruer
Cooper Cawthra
Vince Ciattei, three-time USA champion (2022, 2024-25)
Jack Crull
Damien Dilcher
Sam Ellis
Drew Hunter
Dylan Jacobs
Brannon Kidder
Garrett MacQuiddy
Tanner Maier
Yared Nuguse, 2024 Paris Olympics 1500m bronze medalist
Wes Porter
Yasin Sado
Shane Streich
Adam Swanson
Joe Waskom
Drake Relays Women's USATF 1 Mile Road Championships Field – Tuesday, April 21
Kaylee Beyer
Alex Carlson
Angelina Ellis
Eleanor Fulton
Olivia Howell
Gracie Hyde
Kat Larson
Sophia McDonnell
Emilie Meyer
Gracie Morris
Allie Ostrander
Kassie Parker
Taryn Parks
Cailee Peterson
Maya Rayle
Annika Reiss
Brianna Rinn
Anna Vess
Claire Yerby
Drake Relays Women's Stadium Mile Field - Saturday, April 25
Ms. Ankita (IND)
Christina Aragon
Kaylee Beyer
Kate Current (CAN)
Rachel Forsyth (CAN)
Dani Jones
Kat Larson
Gina McNamara (MLT)
Emilie Meyer
Taryn Parks
Cailee Peterson
Annika Reiss
Brianna Rinn
Maggie Smith (CAN)
Claire Yerby
Drake Relays Men's 1500m Field - Saturday, April 25
Aaron Ahl (CAN)
Isaac Basten
Mikey Brannigan
Braxton Bruer
Cooper Cawthra
Jack Crull
Damien Dilcher
Sam Ellis
Titouan Le Grix (FRA)
Garrett MacQuiddy
Tanner Maier
Wes Porter
Yasin Sado
Shane Streich
Adam Swanson
Joe Waskom
Registration is open at GrandBlueMile.com.
The Grand Blue Mile is also a BBTM Featured Event, showcasing America's best Mile races throughout the year.
