Cory Leslie won the inaugural Camel City Elite Mile in 2013, but the field - and the number of races - has expanded this year.
Last year, JDL Fast Track introduced the Camel City Elite Mile as a featured part of the Hilton Garden Invitational. The race was designed to bring professional-quality runners to compete against each other and also against the hallowed 4-minute mark, which is broken even more rarely indoors than out. This year, what was originally a single race has been expanded to several, with a wider range of top-flight talent committed to the competition. The fields include professional runners, with Olympian Nick Symmonds (competing in the elite 800) the headliner. They will compete against some of the best among the local college athletes, including NCAA runners-up Paul Chelimo and Paul Katam of UNC Greensboro and NCAA champion Juliet Bottorff of Duke. Former UNC NCAA champ Brie Felnagle and world-class athletes Maggie Vessey and Phoebe Wright will also be among the competitors.
A key factor in this expansion is the Camel City Crowd Fund, which was created to help raise prize money for the elite races, which in turn allows the facility to attract higher-profile athletes to the competition. Anyone can contribute to the fund, which will be used to expand the number of elite races that are offered and create motivational time bonuses in addition to improving the fields for each race. In exchange for contributions, the JDL Fast Track management offers an escalating scale of benefits, which culminates in the opportunity to mingle with the elite runners at an exclusive dinner after the meet. Fans of track and field, and especially those who enjoy top-flight distance running, can therefore help to bring more exciting races to our state that they can then watch and enjoy at North Carolina's premier facility. The crowd fund for this year closes on January 15th.
More Information on the Camel City Crowd Fund
2013 Hilton Garden Invitational
(Results, Photos)
Current Fields for 2014 Camel City Elite Races