Mile News


Why running a Mile is so cool

April 13, 2014

"For me, there is nothing as tactical, beautiful, intense and painful as running an all out Mile."

By David Allison, Special to AFN

I know many of you who are into running enjoy the long stuff — half-marathons, marathons, ultra marathons, trail running and long distance team relays. Other than an ultra marathon (a race over 26.2 miles), I have raced all of these distances as well with a modicum of success. But if you ask me what distance I enjoy racing the most — and the key word is “racing” — it would be the Mile.

When I was a kid (in the ’70s and early ’80s) they still ran the Mile. This was then a feature event in a track meet like the 100 meters is today. And although the 4 minute Mile was broken by Sir Roger Bannister in 1954, the allure and intrigue of athletes breaking the 4 minute Mile, or seeing how fast they could run four laps around a track, seemed to still mesmerize the country and the world, for that matter. Names like Ryun I knew from hearing about his feats from the 1960s; Coe, Ovett, Cram and Scott had epic battles in 1980s; and Morceli and El Guerrouj showed the world in the 1990s how truly fast man could run a Mile by setting new world records with times of 3:44.39 and 3:43.13, respectively.

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Return the Mile to prominence on the American & worldwide sports and cultural landscape by elevating and celebrating the Mile to create a movement.

ELEVATE
Bring Back the Mile as the premier event in the sport, and increase interest in and media coverage of the Mile for both those who love the distance as well as the general public.

CELEBRATE
Bring Back the Mile to celebrate the storied distance and to recognize the people who made and make the Mile great and to promote Mile events and the next generation of U.S. Milers.

NATIONAL MOVEMENT
Bring Back the Mile to create a national movement for the Mile as America’s Distance,
to inspire Americans to run the Mile as part of their fitness program and to replace the 1600 meters at High School State Track & Field Meets across the country.

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