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RACE HISTORY
The Race Organizers ...
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John Mortimer
The
main organizer of the Millennium Mile. He
and best friend, Matt Downin’s legendary high school careers helped
elevate running in the state of New Hampshire to a higher level.
Mortimer
was a seven-time All-American at the University of Michigan.
Mortimer also represented his country on two occasions at the
Goodwill Games and World University Games. John
is currently running for Adidas and the Men's & Women’s Distance Coach
at Boston College. |
Andy
Downin
Andy
was the 2001 United States National 1500m Champion!
He also placed 6th in both the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Trials for 1500
meters. He has a best time of 3:36 for 1500 meters (about a 3:54
mile.) He was a seven-time All-American at Georgetown University.
Andy has represented the United States at both the Goodwill Games and
World Cross Country Championships. Andy is currently running for Nike,
while living and training in Madison, Wisconsin. |
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Matt Downin
The
second half of the Downin/Mortimer tandem, he is a graduated from the
University of Wisconsin as a four-time All-American. He
was 7th at the 2000 Olympic Trials in the 10,000 meters and was the 2000
fall cross-country National Champion. Matt
has also represented his country at the World University Games and World
Cross Country Championships. Matt
is currently under contract with New Balance while living and training in
Madison, Wisconsin and Chula Vista, C.A. |
The
idea ...
The
idea was conceived on Thanksgiving weekend of 1999.
Best friends John Mortimer (Londonderry HS, ‘95)and Matt Downin
(Pinkerton Academy, ‘95) Hampstead, and Matt’s older brother, Andy
Downin (Duxbury HS, ’91) were organizing a New Years Eve/ Millennium party
at the Downins’ home in Hampstead, New Hampshire.
Upon
making the guest list, it was found that it contained an above average
number of elite runners. Mortimer
was a 7-time All American at Michigan, Matt was a 4-time All American at
Wisconsin, and Andy was a 7-time All American at Georgetown.
When you add their college and high school friends and teammates, the
list totaled over 72 All American certificates.
In fact, 5 of the top 12 athletes from the 1996 US Olympic Trials
1500m final were attending. Any
race director would love that kind of elite turn out and would have to pay a
lot of money to get it…
Matt and John had the idea of bringing the elite field to a local New
Years Eve 5k road race. Since no
races were scheduled near by, they decided to organize their own... A 10k or
5K seemed pretty far, but a 1- mile seemed like a manageable distance….but
in New Hampshire on the last day of December?
So the stretch of Mammoth Road in Londonderry from Londonderry High
School to Mack’s Apples seemed like the ideal place to run a fast road
mile… it just happened to be
downhill…hence the idea of the Millennium Mile was born.
The Inaugural Millennium Mile...
At time, there had never been a sub 4-minute mile run in the state of
NH. With the Union Leader Newspaper's sponsorship and media attention,
the race's popularity grew. On December 31st, the last day of 1999,
over 120 runners ran the downhill stretch of road in Londonderry, with
the winner, Scott Anderson of Washington, DC finishing in record time of
3 minutes and 51 seconds. Six men broke the 4-minute barrier; women's
winner Amy Lyman of Springfield, MA ran a 4:32 mile. Every runner left
with a smile on his or her face -- the inaugural Millennium Mile was in
deed a success!
The 2nd Annual Millennium Mile...
While home visiting family for Thanksgiving 11 months after the first Millennium Mile,
Mortimer and Downin were convinced by local runners
and friends to again organize the downhill mile. Despite a field size
half as large as the first year, the second version of the Millennium
Mile was officially an annual event.
The 3rd time is a charm! ...
In the Millennium Mile's 3rd year, Mortimer had moved from Michigan back
to New England. Committed to a successful and fun community event,
he was able to more effectively advertise and promote the race in local
running circles. The result was a field size of nearly 250 runners and
a more than a dozen sponsors, including the Union Leader, NIKE, Adidas,
New Balance, Reebok, Life is Good, Runner's Alley, Mack's Apples Farm,
Gladstone Ford, Stonyfield Yogurt, Great State Beverages.
The Fourth Year.
For the first time, the field size was more than 300 runners... all
running downhill at the same time with kids ranging from a 6 month
old in a baby jogger to a 74 year old man. The men's winner came all
the way from the Delaware Running Company. Mike Digennaro finished
just strides ahead of Boston College senior Shawn Wallace- both
finishing in 3:58. That totals 13 sub 4 minute performance on the
downhill course. The woman's winner, Katie McGregor came all the way
from Minnesota to run a women's course record of 4:27.
MM5 gets boost from NH GP Series
We thought having over 300 runners for the MM4 made for a great race,
but the MM5 made the previous years look like a solitary Sunday run.
For the first time, the NH Grand Prix Race Series picked the Millennium
Mile to kick off their 2004 race season. Throngs of entry forms from
all of the NH running club members arrived and over 300 runners had
pre-registered. On race day the weather was reminiscent of an April
day- sunny and 55 degrees. We used all of our chips and numbers... a
total of 624 runners of all ages and abilities ran down Mammoth Road for
the 5th time in as many years.
Deana Kastor runs in the MM6
The participants of the 6th annual Millennium Mile were treated to an
appearance by the fastest American female distance runner of all-time-
DEANA KASTOR. The 2004 Olympic Marathon Medallist spent the hours
preceding the race signing autographs for her fans. The side show was
the actual 1-mile race which was the largest single start mile race in
the Country with 704 entered athletes.
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