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Course: A three lap course that begins on Boylston Street, left on Dartmouth Street, left on Newbury Street, left on Exeter Street then left onto Boylston ending at the Boston Marathon finish line. Elite Men & Women Awards: 1st - 2nd - 3rd - 4th - 5th - $3,000 $2,000 $1,000 $750 $500

Inaugural Invitational Mile Races Add Excitement to Marathon Sunday

The inaugural B.A.A. Invitational Mile, took place after the B.A.A. 5K on Sunday, April 19, 2009. The races showcased both professional and scholastic athletes before thousands of cheering spectators.

Darren Brown of Austin, Texas, and Anna Willard of Mammoth Lakes, Calif. won the first-ever professional Invitational miles. An All-American in both indoor and outdoor track at the University of Texas, Brown finished in 4:11.6. Ian Dobson, a 2008 Olympian in the 5,000 meters and a two-time World Cross Country team member, was a half second behind. Alistair Cragg, a two-time Olympian and seven-time NCAA champion, finished third in 4:12.7.

“I think it’s fantastic to involve more elite runners in this weekend,” Dobson said. “The Boston Marathon is a very elite event and adding something like this involves more of the running community, so I’d love to see it continue.”

Willard, a 2008 Olympian in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, finished in 4:38.6, beating Olympic 10,000-meter bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan by nearly two seconds. Amy Mortimer, a former assistant coach at Boston College and the 2005 third-place finisher in the 1,500 meters, was third in 4:42.0.

Margo Gillis of Newton and Ryan Hardiman of Brookline captured the B.A.A. scholastic Invitational Mile titles.

“It was definitely fun, a real good atmosphere,” Hardiman said. “I didn’t know I was going to win until coming around the last turn. All I wanted do to was go out there and have fun.”

Hardiman squeaked out his victory over Daniel Hamilton, a Newton senior. All-American Omar Abdi of Boston finished in third place in 4:39.2

Gillis finished the race in 5:10.6 over Newton teammate Carolyn Ranti by nearly four seconds. The pair was part of Newton North’s sprint medley relay team that finished third at the 2009 indoor nationals held in Boston last month. Rebecca White, a Natick senior, finished third with a time of 5:17.4.