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 host 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 will again serve as a selection event for the World Athletics Road Running Championships on Tuesday, April 21. The top two men's and women's finishers will automatically qualify for Team USA's trip to Copenhagen, Denmark in September.
 
"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 bronze medalist and World Indoor Championships 3,000m silver medalist. Nuguse holds the world all-time best in the road mile at 3:47.7, set in New York City on last September, and owns the American record in the mile at 3:43.97 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 while also winning the Drake Relays 1500-meter title again in 2025.
 
Other road mile runners include Drew Hunter, who claimed the 2025 NACAC 5,000-meter title and recorded an impressive 8:10 performance for two miles at the Millrose Games, Dylan Jacobs, who placed fifth in the 3,000 meters at the 2025 World Indoor Championships, and Brannon Kidder, a 2026 U.S. 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 gold and silver medalist Mikey Brannigan will bring international success to Des Moines. Other returning men's veterans include Shane Streich, who placed seventh in 2023, 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 feature former collegiate standouts Braxton Bruer, Cooper Cawthra, Sam Ellis, Garrett MacQuiddy, and Adam Swanson. Wes Porter, who posted the 10th fastest 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 US Indoor Championships top 10 finishers Annika Reiss and Taryn Parks, US 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. Ellis took ninth last year and was a 2024 Olympic Trials finalist in the steeplechase, Fulton was fifth in the 2025 Des Moines race, and Morris was second in the US Indoor Championships 1500 in March.
 
The women's road mile field will be rounded out by former World Championship steeplechase and cross country qualifier Allie Ostrander, 2026 US Half Marathon fourth-place finisher Kassie Parker, 2023 NCAA mile champion Olivia Howell, 2025 US Championship steeplechase finalist Gracie Hyde, and recent collegiate headliners Alex Carlson of Northern Arizona, Sophie McDonnell of New Mexico, and Maya Rayle, a 5k medalist at Wisconsin and Harvard.
 
A year ago, the 2025 running of the women's outdoor mile inside Drake Stadium marked the 50-year anniversary since Francie Larrieu's historic effort in 1975. This year's field will look to upend Krissy Gear's updated 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."
 
Tickets to the 2026 Drake Relays are available for purchase here.

Drake Relays Men's USATF 1 Mile Road Championships Field
Mikey Brannigan
Braxton Bruer
Cooper Cawthra
Vince Ciattei
Jack Crull
Damien Dilcher
Sam Ellis
Drew Hunter
Dylan Jacobs
Brannon Kidder
Garrett MacQuiddy
Tanner Maier
Yared Nuguse
Wes Porter
Yasin Sado
Shane Streich
Adam Swanson
Joe Waskom

Drake Relays Men's 1500m Field
Aaron Ahl
Isaac Basten
Mikey Brannigan
Braxton Bruer
Cooper Cawthra
Jack Crull
Damien Dilcher
Sam Ellis
Titouan Le Grix
Garrett MacQuiddy
Tanner Maier
Wes Porter
Yasin Sado
Shane Streich
Adam Swanson
Joe Waskom

Drake Relays Women's USATF 1 Mile Road Championships Field
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
Ms. Ankita
Christina Aragon
Kaylee Beyer
Kate Current
Rachel Forsyth
Dani Jones
Kat Larson
Gina McNamara
Emilie Meyer
Taryn Parks
Cailee Peterson
Annika Reiss
Brianna Rinn
Maggie Smith
Claire Yerby