bring back the mile campaign

To hell with the mile.

I think we should start eliminating the mile. The US needs to switch to the metric system because it actually makes sense.

Let's start with high school. Why run 1600 and not the Mille?

I really don't understand why anyone thinks this is a good idea.

Milers need to convert to 1640.77 yards.

Isn't the women's clip in there with Mary Slaney running 4:00 or 4:01 a 1500?

Same with swimming, bring back the 100 yards.

Guppy wrote:

I really don't understand why anyone thinks this is a good idea.

because the public (money source and support) cant identify with the 1500m. No one says "it was like 1500m away".

They shouldn't bring back the mile because they don't run the mile at the Olympic Games. Of course, Los Angeles absolutely dominates the Olympic Games.

Apologies but I need to clarify. In the US do you sometimes run a 1600m race? If yes that is so dumb. Run either the mile (1609.34m) or 1500m.

Regarding the mile (1609m) surely the mystic of it is almost gone. Breaking the 4min mile is no longer considered particularly special from an elite perspective. Because of history the mile (1609) should be run occasionally but the US should get with the rest of world and adopt the metric system. How long have we been running the 1500m at the Olympics?

A 1600m race is stupid. It is about as important as a 4800m race. Harden up and run an extra 9m (mile) or 200m (5000m).

As far as I know, training for the 1500m and the mile are identical. If there's a fair conversion from one to the other, the mile should be featured in far more invitationals at both the collegiate and elite level.

As a spectator (or runner) in the US, it's very frustrating to not be able to find mile races outdoors.

Where can you even see people break 4 outdoors in the US these days? (Besides the Pre Classic).

Really, this is supposed to be a sport, and sports only exist because of the fans that watch them. If the fans find a mile more exciting than a 1500m, then by God, let them have it!

DO NOT bring back the mile.

If you really think this will "save track and field" and lead to more people attending meets or even get more TV coverage you are truly delusional.

The rest of the world runs 1500m and the US just needs to adapt. Simple as that.

People that really care about running can identify with the 1500m. They know what it means to run 3:50 or 4:20.

For those who cannot identify, they also do not care truly if I run 4:03 in the mile or 4:04. My non-running friends sometimes ask me "what is your mile PR"? I simply convert my 1500m time to the mile (add 17secs). That's because I ran the mile only once about 8 years ago.

But don't think they choice of 1500m or mile has an influence on them whether they would attend a meet or watch TV coverage. Either way they would not do it.

We should instate the 1730m race so at to have a new event where breaking 4 minutes is a goal of humanity again

The next Huck Finn wrote:

Let's start with high school. Why run 1600 and not the Mille?

Why not run Olympic distances, 1500, 3000m?

We do in Oregon.

It drove me crazy in High School when we were running the 1600 and 3200. I couldn't figure out why they were doing it.

The best I could come up with for why we were not running the 1500 is so the timers and starter could be in the same place and the 1600 instead of 1609 because they were too lazy to measure the 9 meters not marked on the track.

I really don't understand why there has to be so much angst about an idea of change. For all of the people that say the US has to adapt to the rest of the world and run the 1500m, you're all missing the point. The idea to switching to more mile races would be an attempt to make the event more relevant for Joe 6 Pack who could be watching the meet. Last time I checked, the biggest invite in the US every year, Pre, they run the mile and 2 mile.

We need to be open to more ideas like this in order to get track meets on TV. Switch to the mile, get a dual/tri meet between some bigger collages together and put in on the tube, let athletes put more sponsors on their singlets (given sponsors a reason to put a meet on TV), have a team international meet between 2 countries (US/United Kingdom), score it and get it on TV!

Stop sticking your head in the sand, popping up every so often to troll on LetsRun, and thinking the sport is fine...because it's not.

Bring back dead reckoning. GPS is for sissies.

Get with the program. The rest of the world uses the metric system, why can't the US get it's head out of it's bum and join the rest of the world?

Be Open Minded wrote:

Stop sticking your head in the sand, popping up every so often to troll on LetsRun, and thinking the sport is fine...because it's not.

Running the mile is not going to change that. Winning medals on the world stage is and last time I checked they run the 1500 at all major outdoor track championships. We need to be running the 1500 at all major US meets, espescially collegiate. The mile is a gimmick.