Tomorrow, I’ll be racing the mile for the first time. I’ve no idea what to expect and for a race that take me less than seven minutes (I hope!), I’m pretty nervous.
Its funny how contemporary recreational running has changed. Everyone runs a 5k, millions run marathons, but few race the mile.
I’m trepidatious, but excited to be part of the excitement at the 5th avenue mile. Getting to watch some of the world’s best, while also running myself, is a rare opportunity. Should be fun… and painful.
When you talk of the mile, there’s one name that always spring to mind – Roger Bannister. Here he is:
Milo and the Calf 
How did it go? I have raced a mile exactly twice in my life, and my PR still stands from…5th grade. I would really love to try to break it, though I don’t think I am fast enough right now. (Last time I did speedwork was…in another decade?) Plus, it’s just hard to fine mile races. (I guess there actually are some in my area, but they are generally for people who actually participate in track events well beyond their college careers….)
It didn’t. Work got in the way, again. There are times when I hate profession and this weekend has been one of them. I’m really pretty bummed as from what I hear, the 5th avenue mile is a pretty special event. Did you see that Malcolm Gladwell is trying to break 5? Not sure if he did it or not, I’ll have to check.
Ah, the 5th Ave Mile! I think it used to be in July so I assumed it was something more local you were running. I never ran it, mostly because I was always afraid that I wouldn’t beat the 5th grade time. (Which was freakishly fast for someone who didn’t run much, but I did like 15 hrs/sports a week and was something like 82 lbs. Plus I was obsessed with overachieving on the Presidential Physical Fitness Test, ha.) But I wish I had…run the 5th Ave mile that is. Maybe we should add that to the list of hypothetical races/run where we both show up at the same time.
Oh, and I cannot believe you know what your mile time was in 5th grade!