The inaugural Sir Walter Miler was held on August 1, 2014 at the Meredith College Track in Raleigh, NC. The event was organized by Pat Price, Logan Roberts, and Sandy Roberts. They put together two elite fields for the Capital RunWalk Men's Sub 4 Challenge and the Capital RunWalk Women's Sub 4.5 challenge. The Kickstarter campaign raised $3,502 which was more than their goal. That was used as prize money for the elite runners.
I was fortunate to be invited to have dinner with the Pros at the Busy Bee Cafe the night before racing. The dinner was great and the food was delicious. I got the grilled salmon and it was wonderful. I sat at the table with Ford Palmer and Lucas Manring along with local Raleigh Runners David Meeker and his wife Kimberlie Fowler Meeker. It was a lot of fun talking to Ford and Lucas. I was impressed with their running performances. They were humble, not cocky or coincided, and easy to talk to. We even enjoyed talking about the Tour De France and Ford showed us his awesome King of the Mountain Hats he brought with him. It was a lot of fun getting to socialize with the elite runners.
It rained most of the day in Raleigh but was starting to lighten up and remained overcast when racing started on Friday, August 1st at 9:15 pm with the Raleigh's Finest Mile. Running wise, you couldn't ask for better weather in August in North Carolina. The temperature was in the mid to upper 60s, overcast, light breeze, and a light misting rain at times. The staff did a great job drying the track and getting a lot of water off it. Despite the weather, about 1,000 spectators showed up to watch and cheer. They were allowed onto the track as long as they stayed out of the first four lanes. This made for an even better event as the crowd got to create a scream tunnel on the front stretch for the runners to go through and feed off of.
The elite women took to the track at 9:30pm for their race under the lights. Stephanie Garcia, member of the Furman Elite team paced her teammate Heidi Gregson and the rest of the women's field for the fist 1200m before pulling off. Stephanie and Heidi were all alone up front as they ran away from the field. Garcia has the second fastest Womens 3000 meter steeplechase (9:24.28) in the United States this year. Gergson won the Capital RunWalk Women's sub 4.5 Challenge in 4:34.05, the fastest time in North Carolina History. In a close battle for second place, Kristen Findley of Austin, Texas (4:42.45) narrowly held off former Duke star, Cydney Ross (4:42.78), to round out the top three. You can watch the race on YouTube.
I was fortunate to be invited to have dinner with the Pros at the Busy Bee Cafe the night before racing. The dinner was great and the food was delicious. I got the grilled salmon and it was wonderful. I sat at the table with Ford Palmer and Lucas Manring along with local Raleigh Runners David Meeker and his wife Kimberlie Fowler Meeker. It was a lot of fun talking to Ford and Lucas. I was impressed with their running performances. They were humble, not cocky or coincided, and easy to talk to. We even enjoyed talking about the Tour De France and Ford showed us his awesome King of the Mountain Hats he brought with him. It was a lot of fun getting to socialize with the elite runners.
It rained most of the day in Raleigh but was starting to lighten up and remained overcast when racing started on Friday, August 1st at 9:15 pm with the Raleigh's Finest Mile. Running wise, you couldn't ask for better weather in August in North Carolina. The temperature was in the mid to upper 60s, overcast, light breeze, and a light misting rain at times. The staff did a great job drying the track and getting a lot of water off it. Despite the weather, about 1,000 spectators showed up to watch and cheer. They were allowed onto the track as long as they stayed out of the first four lanes. This made for an even better event as the crowd got to create a scream tunnel on the front stretch for the runners to go through and feed off of.
The elite women took to the track at 9:30pm for their race under the lights. Stephanie Garcia, member of the Furman Elite team paced her teammate Heidi Gregson and the rest of the women's field for the fist 1200m before pulling off. Stephanie and Heidi were all alone up front as they ran away from the field. Garcia has the second fastest Womens 3000 meter steeplechase (9:24.28) in the United States this year. Gergson won the Capital RunWalk Women's sub 4.5 Challenge in 4:34.05, the fastest time in North Carolina History. In a close battle for second place, Kristen Findley of Austin, Texas (4:42.45) narrowly held off former Duke star, Cydney Ross (4:42.78), to round out the top three. You can watch the race on YouTube.
Ford Palmer and Me The men were up next up at 9:40pm. The men's field was paced by Raleigh's own Bobby Mack. Bobby paced the field through the first 800m in 1:58. As they were coming down the front stretch to finish the first 800m, Ford Palmer took the lead. He was looking strong but they all were and it was a tight group leading the race. Ford led almost all of lap three before being passed at the start/finish line. Ford stayed controlled and re-took the lead with 300m to go and started pulling away with 200m to go. Ford was flying down the home stretch as he took the win in 3:57.61. Ford was due for sub 4. He had run under 4:01 four times, including a 4:00.00, but hadn't broken 4 minutes until this race. Donnie Cowart of Winston-Salem, NC placed 2nd in 3:58.43 and Isaac Presson of Asheville, NC finished 3rd in 3:59.77. It was the first time under four for Cowart and the second for Presson. Donnie had a stomach leading up to the race but still managed to run his first sub 4 mile. He wrote a recap you can read on Bring Back The Mile. You can watch the race on YouTube.
It was awesome to see a sub 4 mile in person and to see three guys go under it. The local crowd and myself wanted Sandy Roberts to run sub 4 but it didn't happen this year. Sandy was the reason for the Sandman Mile last year where he ran the last two laps solo after his brother Logan paced him through the first 800m in 1:59. Sandy is a great guy and class act and he's gonna get sub 4 on the track.
The Sir Walter Miler events concluded with a Run With The Pros the following morning at William B. Umstead State Park. It was an easy run down the single track Loblolly trail to Reedy Creek and up Reedy Creek Lake to finish. We had some on and off rain but it was another fun way to socialize with the elite runners before they headed home.
Pat, Logan, and Sandy put on a first class event. I think they have a great template to make the Sir Walter Miler a great event for years to come. All their hard work paid off and was much appreciated by the fans and runners. Kudos to the the race directors!
It was awesome to see a sub 4 mile in person and to see three guys go under it. The local crowd and myself wanted Sandy Roberts to run sub 4 but it didn't happen this year. Sandy was the reason for the Sandman Mile last year where he ran the last two laps solo after his brother Logan paced him through the first 800m in 1:59. Sandy is a great guy and class act and he's gonna get sub 4 on the track.
The Sir Walter Miler events concluded with a Run With The Pros the following morning at William B. Umstead State Park. It was an easy run down the single track Loblolly trail to Reedy Creek and up Reedy Creek Lake to finish. We had some on and off rain but it was another fun way to socialize with the elite runners before they headed home.
Pat, Logan, and Sandy put on a first class event. I think they have a great template to make the Sir Walter Miler a great event for years to come. All their hard work paid off and was much appreciated by the fans and runners. Kudos to the the race directors!
RSS Feed