Bring Back the Mile announces inaugural national grand prix tour

Bring Back the Mile has announced the dates and locations for the Bring Back the Mile Grind Prix Tour 2014.

They are:

– Camel City Indoor Mile, Winston-Salem, NC, February 1

– Medtronic TC 1 Mile, Minneapolis, MN, May 8

– Ryan Shay Mile, Charlevoix, MI, July 26

– GNC Live Well Liberty Mile, Pittsburgh, PA, August 1

– Michigan Mile, Flint, MI, August 22

– Grandma’s Minnesota Mile, Duluth, MN, September 7

So why is the running group fixated on the mile? Hey, there’s a handy “Why the mile?” section of the site that provides an answer (emphasis theirs):

"No running distance, or field event for that matter, has the history, the appeal, the “magic” of the Mile. The Mile, like the 100 meters and the marathon, is a running event that most Americans know something about or have a general feeling for, and thus, there is a built-in awareness of and audience for the Mile. In America, the Mile – lower and upper case – is deeply embedded in our culture and history. We are one of the few countries in the world that still uses the mile as a distance measurement, and thus, as a centuries old result, Americans think, speak and relate in miles not kilometers (“How many miles did you run today?”, “I averaged five-minute miles in my race”, etc.). In short, Americans “get” the Mile not the 1500 meters. Because the 1500 meters, or worse, the misfit 1600 meters at the high school level, do not have the same historical significance and cultural, media and promotional value as the Mile. There is no 1500 meter equivalent to Roger Bannister’s historic and still revered first sub-4 minute Mile; put simply, the Mile is iconic, classic and timeless."

Take that, metric system! Keep your kilometers (or, god, kilometres) away from our children!

You can learn more about the the runners, the stops, and the prize money here.

[Source: Bring Back the Mile]