MERRIE MILE OFFERS BUMPED-UP PRIZE MONEY & NEW RECORD BONUSES

HONOLULU (04-Dec) — Already one of the prestigious street mile races in america, the Kalakaua Merrie Mile is now essentially the most profitable. Race organizers introduced Tuesday that the winner of the December 7 occasion will obtain $7,500, the best first-place prize for any American street mile.That caps a complete prize pool of $18,000 –up from $10,000 in 2023– for the distinctive mixed-sex pursuit race, showcasing 11 Olympians. The skilled girls’s area can have a 32-second head begin over the lads, and prize cash is awarded primarily based on the general order of end for the highest 5. The runner-up receives $5,000, adopted by $3,000 for third, 1,500 for fourth, and $1,000 for fifth. (A lady has but to win the occasion, however that would change with this 12 months’s head begin being the longest but.)

Along with the general prize cash, the race affords bonuses of $10,000 for a world file and $5,000 for a USA file. The present world data are 3:51.3 by Nice Britain’’ Elliot Giles, set this previous September, and 4:20.98 by Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji whereas successful the 2023 World Athletics Highway Working title. Yared Nuguse (3:51.9) and Nikki Hiltz (4:28.0) maintain the U.S. data.

“The rise in prize cash within the Kalakaua Merrie Mile acknowledges the unimaginable contributions that world-class athletes have made to this unimaginable occasion,” mentioned Dr. Jim Barahal, president of the Honolulu Marathon Affiliation, which places on the race. “As we start a brand new period of this occasion with a worldwide streaming broadcast, we wish to reward and proceed to work with the highest athletes on the planet for a few years to come back.”

The race was first held in 2016 at the side of the Honolulu Marathon and has rapidly turn into a well-liked occasion, attracting Olympians and worldwide stars from around the globe. 9 months after successful final 12 months’s race, Nuguse gained the bronze medal within the 1500-meter Olympic competitors in Paris.

“I actually love bringing athletes right down to Honolulu for the KMM; it’s one of the simplest ways to finish our 12 months and have fun a profitable 12 months,” mentioned coach and agent Stephen Haas, representing 5 athletes racing this 12 months. “The Honolulu Marathon group actually has helped my athletes develop within the sport by offering them an incredible alternative to race a number of the greatest athletes on the planet down right here yearly. We’re enthusiastic about this 12 months’s race and have been trying ahead to placing on a very good present for everybody popping out to look at.”

The race encompasses a World Athletics-certified out-and-back course alongside Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki. Along with the skilled area, about 2,500 citizen runners will take part. A stay stream will start at 7:30 a.m. native time on Saturday (12:30 pm Japanese time) on the Honolulu Marathon’s YouTube channel (12:30 p.m. EST).

Hiltz –the reigning USA Monitor & Subject indoor and out of doors champion within the 1500 meters– will line up at this 12 months’s Merrie Mile after ending fifth general final 12 months. The ladies’s area additionally contains Susan Ejore-Sanders of Kenya, who positioned sixth within the 1500m on the Paris Olympics (one spot forward of Hiltz), in addition to American Olympians Emily Mackay, Heather MacLean and Weini Kelati; Irish Olympian Sophie O’Sullivan, and Japanese Olympian Nozomi Tanaka. Rounding out the sector is Sinclaire Johnson, the 2022 U.S. champion within the 1500, who completed fourth on the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Chasing them within the males’s area are a number of Olympians, together with People Hobbs Kessler (the 2023 World Athletics street mile champion), Bryce Hoppel and Nico Younger; Australian Oliver Hoare; and Neil Gourley of Nice Britain, the 2022 Merrie Mile winner. Additionally within the combine will probably be Australia’s Jack Anstey, Kenya’s Festus Lagat, and final 12 months’s runner-up, Vince Ciattei, who completed fourth within the U.S. Olympic Trials in June.

“The Kalakaua Merrie Mile is one among my favourite occasions of the 12 months. There isn’t a higher athlete expertise anyplace,” mentioned Ciattei. “For the occasion organizers to extend the prize cash on prime of all the things else they do for us on race week is a tremendous funding within the sport. Final 12 months, I appeared ahead to my first probability on the Merrie Mile all fall, and coming again and competing for increased prize cash this 12 months was much more motivating.”