Wanamaker Mile
Matt Centrowitz
and Nick Willis
racing for first place in the 2015 Wanamaker Mile. Centrowitz ends up beating Willis by 0.11 seconds, in a time of 3:51.35.[1]
DateFebruary
LocationFort Washington Avenue Armory
New York City, New York, U.S.
Event typeIndoor Track and field
DistanceOne Mile (1609.344 meters)
OrganizerMillrose Games
Course recordsMen: Yared Nuguse 3:47.38 (2023) Women: Elinor Purrier 4:16.85 (2020)
Official siteThe Wanamaker Mile

The Wanamaker Mile is a prestigious indoor mile race for elite middle distance runners held annually at the Millrose Games in New York City. Among the world's premier mile races, it is the signature & concluding event of the Games, and is named in honor of department store owner Rodman Wanamaker.[2]

The race is a tradition for Irish runners: past Irish winners include Ronnie Delany (1956–1959), Eamonn Coghlan (1977, '79–'81, '83, '85 and '87), Marcus O'Sullivan (1986, '88–'90 and 1992), Niall Bruton (1994 and 1996), and Mark Carroll (2000).[3]

It was at the Millrose Games that Coghlan earned the nickname, "Chairman of the Boards" (from the surface of the track being made of wooden boards).[4] O'Sullivan has run 11 sub-four-minute miles in the Wanamaker.[5]

History

The Millrose Games were first held in 1908, being organized by the employees of the Wanamaker Department Store's New York City Branch.

Before 1926, the Games' signature event was the 1.5 mile run. In 1926, the race was shortened to one mile, and thus the Wanamaker Mile was born.[6]

In 1926, the Wanamaker was run within the Madison Square Garden.[7] The winner of the 1926 race was James J. Connolly, who had represented the United States at the 1920 and 1924 Olympics.[8]

The first women's race for the Wanamaker was held in 1982, and was won by Mary Decker.[9]

Madison Square Garden, which possessed a 146 meter track,[10] was the venue for the race until 2012, when it was moved to the Armory in Upper Manhattan,[11] a much faster track.[12]

The Wanamaker was once held every year at 10:00 p.m., a tradition started by the legendary sports announcer Ted Husing. Husing would broadcast the race live during the nightly news. In 2002, the mile was moved to 9 p.m. to accommodate television coverage.[13]

By 2018, the start time had been moved to late afternoon when it was nationally televised live on NBC.[14]

In 2019, Yomif Kejelcha won the Wanamaker in 3:48.46 to miss Hicham El Guerrouj's then-world record by just one hundredth of a second. Kejelcha would later go on to shattering El Guerrouj's indoor mile world record by almost 1.5 seconds at the Bruce Lehane Invitational in Boston, with a time of 3:47.01.[15]

Sponsors

The sponsors of the Wanamaker Mile have varied over the years.

In 2023, the Rudin family sponsored the event in the 115th Millrose Games.[16]

Records

In 2010, Bernard Lagat surpassed Eamonn Coghlan's record of seven Wanamaker Mile victories with his eighth victory.[17] Prior to Coghlan, Glenn Cunningham was among the first men to dominate the event, winning six out of seven Wanamaker Miles from 1933 to 1939.[18]

Mary Decker, Doina Melinte and Regina Jacob are all tied for most Wanamaker victories on the women's side, with three wins each. [19]

The current men's event record in the Wanamaker Mile is held by American athlete Yared Nuguse, who ran an American record time of 3:47.38 in the 2023 Wanamaker, missing Ethiopian athlete Yomif Kejelcha's 2019 indoor mile world record of 3:47.01 by .37 seconds.[20]

The current women's event record in the Wanamaker Mile was set in 2020 by American athlete Elinor Purrier, with a time of 4:16.85, also the American record.[21]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Matt Centrowitz Wins 2015 Wanamaker Mile in Thrilling Stretch Run over Nick Willis at Millrose Games".
  2. ↑ "The Wanamaker Mile". 116th Millrose Games. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  3. ↑ "The Wanamaker Mile – Champions List". runningpast.com. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  4. ↑ "Wanamaker Mile Still Goes the Distance". The Wall Street Journal. February 14, 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  5. ↑ "ATHLETICS Caulfield pipped in New York". The Irish Independent. February 3, 2002. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "The Wanamaker Mile". 116th Millrose Games. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  7. ↑ "Wanamaker: The Greatest Indoor Race In History". Author, Lincoln Shryack. February 10, 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "The Wanamaker Mile". 116th Millrose Games. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  9. ↑ "The Wanamaker Mile". 116th Millrose Games. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  10. ↑ "The Wanamaker Mile". 116th Millrose Games. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  11. ↑ "From Good Times at the Garden to a New Era at the Armory". The New York Times. February 8, 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  12. ↑ "The Wanamaker Mile". 116th Millrose Games. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  13. ↑ Litsky, Frank (January 8, 2002). "An Earlier Start Time For the Wanamaker Mile". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  14. ↑ "Track & Field". NBC Sports. Event occurs at 17:55. NBC. WGBA.
  15. ↑ "Kejelcha breaks world indoor mile record with 3:47.01 in Boston | REPORT | World Athletics". worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  16. ↑ Parker, Kevin (2023-01-05). "The Rudin Family to Sponsor the Wanamaker Miles at the 115th Millrose Games". citybiz. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  17. ↑ "Bernard Lagat wins eighth career Wanamaker Mile to set mark at Millrose Games at Garden". New York Daily News. January 30, 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  18. ↑ "The Wanamaker Mile". 116th Millrose Games. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  19. ↑ "The Wanamaker Mile". 116th Millrose Games. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  20. ↑ Metzler, Brian (2023-02-13). "The Famous Millrose Games Delivers Speed, Records, and the Wanamaker Mile". Outside Online. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  21. ↑ "The Wanamaker Mile". 116th Millrose Games. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
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