Wanamaker Mile

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Wanamaker Mile
2015 Millrose Games - Wanamaker Mile - Armory - Willis, Centrowitz (16552096775).jpg
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
Location Fort Washington Avenue Armory
New York City, New York, United States Flag of the United States.svg
Event typeIndoor Track and field
DistanceOne Mile (1,609.344 meters)
Established1926
Organizer Millrose Games
Course recordsMen:  Flag of the United States.svg Yared Nuguse 3:47.38 (2023) Women: Flag of the United States.svg Elinor Purrier 4:16.41 (2024)
Official site The 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 and concluding event of the games, and is named in honor of department store owner Rodman Wanamaker. [2]

Contents

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]

The Wanamaker Mile has been won by over 40 different men, including Glenn Cunningham, Kip Keino, Tony Waldrop, Filbert Bayi, Steve Scott, Noureddine Morceli, Bernard Lagat, Yared Nuguse, Matthew Centrowitz Jr., Marcus O'Sullivan, Ron Delany, and Eamonn Coghlan.

History

The Millrose Games were first held in a local armory in 1908, being organized by the employees of the Wanamaker Department Store's New York City branch. The employees formed the recreational Millrose Athletic Association. "Millrose" was the name of the country home of Rodman Wanamaker in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania. When this local armory overflowed, the Millrose Games were moved to Madison Square Garden in 1914.

From 1916 to 1925, the games' signature event was the 1.5 mile run. In 1925, the last edition of the "Wanamaker 1.5 Mile Race" was won by "Flying Finn" Paavo Nurmi, the nine-time Olympic gold medalist from Finland.

In 1926, the race was shortened to one mile, and thus the Wanamaker Mile was born. [6] The winner of the 1926 race was James J. Connolly, who had represented the United States at the 1920 and 1924 Olympics. [7]

In the 1929 Wanamaker, American athlete Ray Conger became the first and only athlete to defeat and upset "Flying Finn" Paavo Nurmi in the mile. Although Conger was modest about his win, he would be known as "the man who beat Nurmi" for decades. [8] [9] [10] [11]

The first time the Wanamaker Mile was won in a sub-four minute time was by American athlete Tony Waldrop in 1974, in 3:59.7.

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

Madison Square Garden, which possessed a 146-meter track, [14] was the venue for the race until 2012, when it was moved to The Armory in Upper Manhattan, [15] a much faster 200-meter mondo track. [16]

Accompanying this venue change, the Millrose Games and therefore the Wanamaker Mile shifted from a Friday evening format to an all-day Saturday format. [17]

By 2018, the start time had been moved to late afternoon when it was nationally televised live on NBC. [18]

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 shatter 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. [19]

The 2024 edition of the Wanamaker Mile at the 116th Millrose Games was held on Super Bowl Sunday (February 11), at 2:42 pm (women) and 2:53 pm (men). [20]

Sponsors

The sponsors of the Wanamaker Mile have varied over the years, with the NYRR often supporting the race. [21]

In 2023, the Rudin family sponsored the event in the 115th Millrose Games. [22]

Records

In 2010, Bernard Lagat surpassed Eamonn Coghlan's record of seven Wanamaker Mile victories with his eighth victory. [23] 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. [24]

Mary Decker, Doina Melinte and Regina Jacobs are all tied for most Wanamaker victories on the women's side, with three wins each. [25]

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. In 2024, Nuguse defended his title (3:47.83), but did not run faster than he did in 2023. [26] [27]

The current women's event record in the Wanamaker Mile was set in 2024 by American athlete Elinor Purrier, with a time of 4:16.41, also the American record. Purrier had eclipsed her previous 2020 American record time of 4:16.85. [28] [29]

Annual men's champions [30]

YearAthleteCountryTime
Armory Era
2024 Yared Nuguse Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:47.83 [31]
2023 Yared Nuguse Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:47.38 MR
2022 Ollie Hoare Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 3:50.83
2021Meet Cancelled due to COVID-19
2020 Chris O'Hare Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 3:55.61
2019 Yomif Kejelcha Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia 3:48.46
2018 Chris O'Hare Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 3:54.14
2017 Eric Jenkins Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:53.23
2016 Matt Centrowitz Jr. Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:50.63
2015 Matt Centrowitz Jr. Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:51.35
2014 Will Leer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:52.47
2013 Lopez Lomong Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:51.21
2012 Matt Centrowitz Jr. Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:53.92
Madison Square Garden Era
2011 Deresse Mekonnen Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia 3:58.58
2010 Bernard Lagat Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:56.34
2009 Bernard Lagat Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:58.44
2008 Bernard Lagat Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:57.91
2007 Bernard Lagat Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:54.26
2006 Bernard Lagat Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:56.85
2005 Bernard Lagat Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:52.87
2004 Hudson De Souza Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 4:02.93
2003 Bernard Lagat Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 4:00.36
2002 Laban Rotich Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 3:57.04
2001 Bernard Lagat Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 3:58.26
2000 Mark Carroll Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 3:58.19
1999 William Tanui Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 3:59.24
1998 Laban Rotich Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 3:55.69
1997 Isaac Viciosa Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 3:59.34
1996 Niall Bruton Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 4:00.58
1995 Graham Hood Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 3:57.08
1994 Niall Bruton Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 3:58.71
1993 Noureddine Morceli Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 3:55.06
1992 Marcus O’Sullivan Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 4:00.65
1991 Noureddine Morceli Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 3:53.50
1990 Marcus O’Sullivan Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 3:59.35
1989 Marcus O’Sullivan Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 3:54.27
1988 Marcus O’Sullivan Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 3:56.89
1987 Eamonn Coghlan Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 3:55.91
1986 Marcus O'Sullivan Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 3:56.05
1985 Eamonn Coghlan Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 3:53.82
1984 Steve Scott Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:59.38
1983 Eamonn Coghlan Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 3:54.40
1982 Steve Scott Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:55.37
1981 Eamonn Coghlan Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 3:53.0
1980 Eamonn Coghlan Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 3:58.2
1979 Eamonn Coghlan Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 3:55.0
1978 Dick Buerkle Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3.58.4
1977 Eamonn Coghlan Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 4.00.2
1976 Paul Cummings Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3.57.6
1975 Filbert Bayi Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania 3:59.3
1974 Tony Waldrop Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3:59.7
1973 Henryk Szordykowski Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 4:04.4
1972John MasonFlag of the United States.svg  United States 4:03.2
1971 Marty Liquori Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:00.6
1970 Marty Liquori Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:02.6
1969 Marty Liquori Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:00.8
1968Preston DavisFlag of the United States.svg  United States 4:03.9
1967Dave PatrickFlag of the United States.svg  United States 4:03.7
1966 Kipchoge Keino Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 4:03.9
1965 John Whetton Flag of England.svg  England 4:05.4
1964 Tom O'Hara Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:00.6
1963 Tom O'Hara Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:01.5
1962 Peter Close Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:08.6
1961 Islvan Rozsavolgyi Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 4:06.0
1960 James Grelle Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:06.4
1959 Ron Delany Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 4:06.5
1958 Ron Delany Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 4:04.6
1957 Ron Delany Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 4:06.7
1956 Ron Delany Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 4:09.5
1955 Gunnar Nielsen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 4:03.6
1954 Josy Barthel Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg 4:07.5
1953 Fred Dwyer Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:08.2
1952 Don A. Gehrmann Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:11.2
1951 Don A. Gehrmann Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:07.5
1950 Don A. Gehrmann Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:09.3
1949 Don A. Gehrmann Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:09.5
1948 Gilbert Dodds Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:05.3
1947 Gilbert Dodds Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:09.2
1946 Leslie MacMitchell Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:19.0
1945 James Rafferty Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:13.1
1944 Gilbert Dodds Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:10.6
1943Earl MitchellFlag of the United States.svg  United States 4:08.6
1942 Leslie MacMitchell Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:11.3
1941 Walter J. Mehl Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:13.6
1940 Charles H. Fenske Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:07.4
1939 Glenn Cunningham Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:13.0
1938 Glenn Cunningham Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:11.0
1937 Glenn Cunningham Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:14.4
1936 Joseph R. Mangan Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:11.0
1935 Glenn Cunningham Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:11.0
1934 Glenn Cunningham Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:11.2
1933 Glenn Cunningham Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:13.0
1932 Gene Venzke Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:11.2
1931 Ray Conger Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:13.6
1930 Ray Conger Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:21.8
1929 Ray Conger Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:17.4
1928 Lloyd Hahn Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:18.6
1927 Lloyd Hahn Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4:15.6
1926James J. ConnollyFlag of the United States.svg  United States 4:17.2

See also

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