Vancouver’s Miracle Mile puts $10,000 up for grabs

To mark the 60th anniversary of Roger Bannister’s first sub-four-minute mile and his duel with John Landy, the Harry Jerome Track Classic has a hefty prize slated for their headlining Miracle Mile event on Thursday, July 10.

The Harry Jerome Track Classic, the final stop on Canada’s National Track League circuit, is offering up to $10,000 in prize money to the winner of the men’s mile. The prize breakdown is $6,000 for the winner, with an additional $4,000 if they run under 3:56. It’s not common to see prize pots of this size for Canadian track races.

The Miracle Mile, as it was called 60 years ago, was the mile race contested at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games which featured the only two men to have ever run under four minutes in the mile, Bannister and Landy. Bannister won, overtaking Landy in the final straight to set a new event record and become the first ever mile race to have two men run under four minutes. The Games were held in Vancouver.

Thursday’s race will feature a start list packed with Canadian and American talent, competing for the prize pot. With a large sum of money on the line and a strong pace setter, it’s reasonable to expect fast times. A few of the contestants have in the past run under 3:56 for the mile, and Canadian Nate Brannen, one of the favourites, has already done so this season, running 3:55.65 in Nashville, Tenn.

This year will mark the Harry Jerome Track Classic’s 31st year. the Miracle Mile is scheduled for 8:45 p.m. PDT, the last event of the evening. The full schedule can be found here.

The race is being sponsored by Northern Gateway Pipelines, a divisive pipeline project proposed to carry bitumen from Alberta’s Athabasca oil sands to the B.C. coast.