Centrowitz headlines Saturday's Yakima Mile road race...

It's not every day that we cover a road mile, but paulmerca.blogspot.com heads to Yakima for the second edition of the Yakima Mile Saturday night.

The two feature races of the evening are the women's elite mile at 7:30 pm, followed by the men's elite mile at 7:45 pm.

The race covers a stretch of East Yakima Avenue starting near Caffe 11th Avenue (1003 W Yakima Avenue), and finishing at 2nd Street.

2016 Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz (Paul Merca photo) of the Nike Bowerman TC is the headliner for the race, as he looks to rebound after only advancing to the semis at the Tokyo Olympics and finishing ninth at last week's Bowerman Mile in 3:53.32 at the Nike Prefontaine Classic in Eugene.

Also scheduled to race are University of Washington volunteer coach Sam Prakel, Garrett Heath of the Brooks Beasts, Washington State alum Paul Ryan, and Seattle resident Tripp Hurt.

The women's elite field is headlined by Washington alum and British Olympian Amy-Eloise Markovc, along with Pasco native Marisa Howard.

Both ran at the Nike Prefontaine Classic last weekend. Markovc, a semifinalist in the 5000 in Tokyo, set an outdoor personal best at 2 miles, running 9:21.98, while Howard set a personal best in the steeplechase, running 9:22.69.

Others in the field include Washington alum Eleanor Fulton, who was sixth in the North American 1500 at the Nike Prefontaine Classic.

The field will compete for a total prize purse of $46,500. The winners will each take home $5,000.  An additional $5,000 will be awarded for a Washington state record-setting performance in the men’s and women’s divisions, and another  $5,000  will go  to the  runner finishing under 3:48 for the men and 4:20 for the women.  Cash prizes will also be awarded to the second through sixth place finishers of the elite races.  

The Yakima Mile kicks off at 6 pm with a series of heats for various age groups before the elite races.

The Yakima Mile release is available here. 

NOTE: The Yakima Mile contributed to this report.

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