The annual running of the Festival of Miles in St. Louis takes place on Thursday with several of the nation's best high school and professional 800 runners and milers converging on the track at St. Louis University High School (SLUH) for the energy-filled evening.
Each year, the event features high school boys chasing massive personal bests and even the 4:00 barrier, as well as high school girls chasing sub-4:40, professionals chasing their own personal bests, half-milers chasing the 1:50 and 2:00 barriers, and so many more impressive accolades.
This meet will also feature a strong contingent of Junior High milers and the always popular Mascot 400 meter dash.
But the real reason for the event is to raise money for the Athlete in Need. This year, it is Larry Stone. The following description is courtesy of FestivalOfMiles.com:
The Field
The Hoka Championship Boys and Girls Miles feature some of the top talents in the entire country.
.jpeg)
Photo: Andrew Brown
Hoka Championship Boys Mile:
Josiah Tostenson - Crater (OR)
Corbin Coombs - Organ Mountain (NM)
Quentin Nauman - Western Dubuque (IA)
Robin Lefebvre - College Notre-Dame (QC)
Charlie Vause - Rio Rancho (NM)
Matthew Shelly - Bentonville (AR)
Brian Burns - Bentonville (AR)
Benji Anderson - Mountain Vista (CO)
Jackson Spencer - Herriman (UT)
It is difficult to pick one athlete to watch specifically in this field as it features four athletes who have broken 4:00 for 1600 meters this season already - Hansen, Coombs, Tostenson, and Nauman - as well as four others who have dipped under 4:03 - Blum, Shelly, Burns, and Anstrom. Hansen and Coombs' 1600 marks came en route to a sub-4:00 full mile at the RunningLane Championships. Latham ran 3:59.79 at the Marist Mile in late March. Tostenson's teammate Kitchen has run 3:41.62 for 1500 meters this spring, the common distance in Oregon, which is a 3:57.95 when converted to 1600 meters. Leonard ran 4:04.31 for a full mile in mid-May. Vause, the NXN champion this fall, is eyeing an improvement on his 4:05.91 personal best 1600 from this season.
Freeland and Coombs will be the top guys to watch after their performances two weeks ago in Alabama, but it truly is anyone's race in what may go down as the fastest overall High School Mile in US history.
--
.jpeg)
Photo: Jon Huerta
Hoka Championship Girls Mile:
Jane Hedengren - Timpview (UT)
Braelyn Combe - Santiago Corona (CA)
Hanne Thomsen - Montgomery (CA)
Rosie Mucharsky - Denver East (CO)
Libby Castelli - Sioux Falls O'Gorman (SD)
Gabbie Bishop - Providence Academy (AR)
Elin Latta - South Texas Heat (TX)
Blair Bartlett - The Lawrenceville School (NJ)
Kinga Czajkowska - Palo Alto (CA)
Abby Faith Cheeseman - The Webb School (TN)
Rowan Saacke - Bridgeland (TX)
Emily Cohen - Cherry Creek (CO)
Keeghan Edwards - Mountain Vista (CO)
Last year, fans were treated to a High School National record from Sadie Engelhardt, who ran in the Professional race and set the record after it had been broken just a few minutes earlier by Virginia's Allie Zealand.
This year, US No. 8 all-time full miler Jane Hedengren, the National record holder in the 2 Mile after she ran 9:34.12 at the Arcadia Invitational this year and shattered Zealand's record by 7 seconds, will be going after the Mile record this Thursday. Engelhardt is the only high schooler to break 4:30 for a full mile, Hedengren may be the second. She has run 4:32.61 for 1600 meters, US No. 4 all-time.
Others to watch in the field include Combe and Thomsen, who recently squared off at the CIF State Championships. Combe came out on top, but just barely, with a 4:35.64 1600, 0.05 seconds ahead of Thomsen. Huyler is next with her 4:39.90 best, Dailey is at 4:40.28, and Castelli has run 4:40.39. Ten total girls have a personal best in the 1600 under 4:45 in this field.
--
Spewak Training HS Boys Elite Mile
Tiago Socarras - Belen Jesuit Prep (FL)
Caleb Ten Pas - Des Moines Christian (IA)
Jack Wallace - Montgomery Bell Academy (TN)
Ben Adams - Mountain Vista (CO)
Jameson Pifer - Collins Hill (GA)
Andrew Beroset - Gulf Breeze (FL)
Braden Lofquest - Gretna East (NE)
Ben Bouie - Crystal Springs Uplands (CA)
Ryker Bement - American Fork (UT)
Cadel Ruthven - Fort Collins (CO)
Will Sheets - Covington Catholic (KY)
Another star-studded field features 16 more boys with a season best under 4:10. Ten Pas leads the way with his 4:03.53 mark from the Iowa State Championships two weeks ago. Wallace has also run under 4:04 this year, while Bouie and Strohman come in under 4:05. Acorn is the featured Missourian with his 4:05.42 from last weekend's State Championships. With such a tightly packed group, it is anyone's guess who comes across first. What is for sure is that there are sub-4:00 potential athletes up and down the field.
--
Spewak Training HS Girls Elite Mile
Annika Swan - St. Ignatius (IL)
Caroline Barton - Carolina Day School (NC)
Mia Williams - Fossil Ridge (CO)
Caroline Beiting - Lexington Catholic (KY)
Abigail Anstett - Georgetown Visitation (VA)
Kasey Dingman - Lake Norman (NC)
Maya Easterwood - Coppell (TX)
Kelsie Kudzia - Leavenworth (KS)
This field features several of the nation's best milers, as well, led by Swan in 4:44.95. Nesmith has run 4:45.90 and Beiting boasts a 4:47.80 best, just ahead of Anstett's 4:47.88. It is solid another group of athletes between 4:45 and 4:50 which should make this thing anyone's guess when it comes down to the last 100 meters.
--
Final Surge 800 Meters
The Final Surge 800 Meters features nationally ranked half-milers Elyse Wilmes (US No. 14), Mia Perez (US No. 24), and Elena Rybak (US No. 39), among others. Wilmes has run 2:06.26, but was the New Balance Nationals Outdoor champion in the event with her 2:04.92 personal best. Perez has run 2:07.01 this season and won the 5A 800 in Texas last month in 2:07.60. Rybak comes from just across the river and has run 2:08.30 this spring en route to her State victory in Illinois 1A.
.jpeg)
Photo: Raymond Tran
The Boys' race features US No. 4 Bryson Nielsen, No. 9 Tayshaun Ogomo, and No.18 Tsedeke Jakovics, among others. Nielsen has run 1:48.91 and dominated the AIA State Championships in Arizona this year. Ogomo is not too far behind in 1:49.40. He was the Utah State Champion in the event this year. Jakovics leads a group of five boys who sit in the 1:50.xx range heading into the evening. He ran 1:50.12 at Track Night NYC earlier last month.
--
Big River Running Missouri Miles
Photo: Chris Auckley
The Missouri Miles are divisions introduced last year that feature only the best of the best throughout the Show-Me State. This year's boys' race features Kirkwood's Graham Stevener, SLUH's Alexander Bendana, Raymore-Peculiar's Gabriel Voelker, Park Hill South's Thomas Garrett, and Liberty Wentzville's Ayden Taylor, among others. Between the 1600 and 3200 at this year's State Championships, three of the four champions are represented in this race with Voelker (Class 5 3200), Carson Driemeier (Class 4 1600), and Corbin Cole (Class 4 3200) all taking the line. Jack McGovern and Lucas Amador will be racing with the Freshman National Record of 4:09.11 in mind.
Photo: Chris Auckley
The girls' race has St. Teresa's Ella Messner, Marquette's Maleah Eggers, and Webb City's Brooke Hedger headlining the field. With the Class 4 and 5 800 and 1600 champions Wilmes and Paige Stuart contesting the 800, only the Class 4 and 5 3200 champions will be represented in this race: Smithville's Naomi Hunter and Blue Springs South's Ella Rew. Messner has the top 1600 meter personal best of the field after having run 4:57.78 at last weekend's State Championships. Eggers and Hedger are the only other two sub-5:00 runners in the field with Hunter sitting at 5:00.80 and Harrisonville's Kayleigh Norris and Eureka's Brooke Samuelson both coming in at 5:01.61.
--
Drury Hotels Professional Miles
The Professional Miles are major draws at the very end of the meet and often feature NCAA Champions and All-Americans, Olympic Trials qualifiers, and other athletes with impressive accolades.
This year, the Women's Mile will feature hometown hero and 2016 Olympian Colleen Quigley. A Steeplechase legend, the 32-year old will be lining up with the hopes of improving upon her 4:22.86 personal best in the full mile, though she has run 4:19.20 on the roads.
In the mens race, another hometown hero Brandon Miller, recently back from the 2024 Olympics where he contested his best event- the 800 meter run - will feature prominently. A frequent Festival of Miles alum dating all the way back to his middle school days, expect Miller to hype up the crowd to an exciting final race. Olin Hacker is back again this year after finishing 2nd in 2024, as well. As is fan favorite Craig Engels and another FOM alum, Austen Dalquist.