DES MOINES, Iowa — The streets of downtown Des Moines were treated to some fantastic racing at this year’s USATF 1 Mile Road Championships, with Ciattei reclaiming the road mile title on the men’s side in record-setting fashion and McArthur winning the women’s title in her road mile debut. The USATF 1 Mile Road Championships were the fifth stop on the 2024 USATF Running Circuit. Race videos and coverage are available and can be viewed with +PLUS subscription on USATF.TV. The men’s race saw Ciattei take to the lead from the start and never lost sight of first, running wire-to-wire to the finish line in a new course record time of 3:57, just a hair off the world record time of 3:56.13 set by Hobbs Kessler at the World Athletics Road Running Championship in Riga, Lativa on October 1 of last year. “I’m sure in a day I’ll be happy that I won, but that hurt so bad,” Ciattei said. “I’ve been on the wrong side of small margins so often in my career. I thought today might be the day.” Ciattei, representing Under Armor’s Dark Sky Distance, led the field through the first quarter-mile in 57 seconds, then reached the half-mile mark at 1:58, right on pace to match Kessler’s world record time. Right on the heels of Ciattei were Club Northwest’s Mac Franks and Under Armor’s John Reniewicki and Alec Basten through the half-mile as they began to press him before making the wide turn heading into the final 600 meters of the race. As they rounded the turn into the final stretch, Ciattei threw in a surge to move away from Reniewicki, Franks and Basten. With no response, the three trailing Ciattei couldn’t catch him over the final quarter mile. Ciattei’s record-setting time was an improvement by five seconds after finishing third in last year’s field in 4:02.9. “I think I was a lot more confident this year,” Ciattei said. “Last year, I had about seven weeks of training going into this race. This year, I had about seven months, so that makes a pretty big difference.” Reniewicki and Basten finished second and third, respectively, for Under Armor, with Reniewicki running 3:58.5 and Basten running 3:59.9 to make it three men under four minutes. Abraham Alvarado, representing Atlanta Track Club, ran to fourth place in 4:01.04, with Franks rounding out the top five in 4:02.9. Ben Veatch added to Under Armor’s success with a sixth place run in 4:03.8. Shane Streich of Atlanta Track Club ran to seventh in 4:04.1, with Jake Gillum running 4:04.6 for eighth, Caleb Webb clocking 4:05.9 to finish ninth and Nick Randazzo finishing in 10th in 4:08.2. McArthur ran with determination in her road mile debut following a career-best 4:07.28 in the 1500 last Friday at Wake Forest. The former Colorado Buffalo crossed the tape first in 4:32.2 as she outran Adidas’ Anna Camp Bennett to the line in 4:33.7. Racing with patience, McArthur followed the veteran group of women through the first half-mile as Rachel Smith of Hoka, who won the 2021 road mile championships, led the pack through 67 seconds at the quarter mile and 2:17 at the half mile. Just as the race began to pick up, Smith pulled up and stepped off the course, giving McArthur the advantage for the first time. The pack went to 10 women as they rounded the turn into the home straight away, with McArthur up front alongside Camp Bennett and PUMA’s Annie Frisbie as racing began to pick up over the final 400 meters. With 200 meters remaining, McArthur went to the arms and drove her legs away from the pack, creating separation by at least five meters in the closing stages of the race to cross the line eventually in first. “To be honest, I was among a lot of really talented women, so I thought I’d follow them,” McArthur said. “I was just thinking the last 600 meters everyone gets excited because the finish is there, but it’s still 600 meters, so I just tried to stay calm and when I felt good, I felt good.” Michaela Degenero snagged a top-three finish in 4:34.2, outkicking both Tracksmith’s Alexina Teubel and Under Armor’s Dark Sky Distance’s Angelina Ellis, who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in 4:35.4 and 4:36.2. Brooks’ Anna Gibson finished sixth in 4:37 just ahead of Heartland Track Club’s Emma Grace Hurley in 4:37.55. Frisbie fell back to eighth in 4:37.6 after being in the top three into the final turn, with U.S. indoor 800 champion Allie Wilson finishing ninth in 4:40.2 and Oiselle’s Melissa Tanaka rounding out the top 10 in 4:42.8.
The USATF Running Circuit is USATF road series featuring USATF championships from one mile through the marathon and consistently attracts the best American distance runners with more than $500,000 to be awarded in total prize money. The first 10 U.S. runners earn points at each USATF Running Circuit race. For the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships, scoring is set as 15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, with those earning the most points receiving prize money at the end of the series. The missions of the USATF Running Circuit are to showcase, support and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USATF Running Circuit and its races have provided over $7 million to U.S. distance runners. Contributed by Keenan Gray Photo Credit: Robert Rosenberg