Sir Walter Miler


The "Sir Walter Miler" is an outdoor one mile race held annually at Meredith College in Raleigh North Carolina, typically the first Friday in August. The race is named after Sir Walter Raleigh. A hallmark of the race is the close proximity of fans to the track, as spectators gather on the infield and in the outer lanes of the track to watch the races.

History

A predecessor event to the Sir Walter Miler was held in June 2013 at Cardinal Gibbons High School, referred to as the Sandman Mile.
The first Sir Walter miler was held 1 August 2014 at the Meredith College Track in Raleigh, NC. The original event included a Women's Sub 4.5 Challenge and a Men's Sub 4 Challenge. Eight women raced in the women's one mile race, while none broke the four minute thirty second challenge time. Ten men race in the men's one mile race and three men ran the mile in faster than four minutes, the first time the four minute barrier had been broken in the city of Raleigh since 1974.
The second Sir Walter Miler was held 7 August 2015. Ten women finished the women's one mile race, and three finished the mile faster than four minutes thirty seconds. Fifteen men finished the men's one mile race, and five finished in faster than four minutes.
The third Sir Walter Miler was held on 5 August 2016. Mike Brannigan finished in 3:57:58 becoming the first person with a T20 paralympic classification to officially run the mile faster than four minutes.
The fifth Sir Walter Miler was held on 3 August 2018 at Meredith College. Thirteen men finished the mile faster than 4:00:00, an American record.

Mile winners

Key:
EditionMen's mile winnerTime Women's mile winnerTime
2014Ford Palmer3:57.61Heidi Gregson4:34.05
2015Robby Andrews3:57.38Stephanie Garcia4:28.84
2016Kyle Merber3:54.57Lauren Johnson4:25.04
2017Drew Hunter3:57.32Amanda Eccleston4:31.72
2018Lopez Lomong3:53.86Charlene Lipsey4:27.28