St. Louis Track Club Elite Men's Mile

Good to see Leo run a good race and a good time after is bad race at adidas classic....Good Job!

the shaking camera made it look like they we going faster

Just want to thank the people who worked on this especially Ben and all the racers who came out both elites and non-elites.
This will go down as one of the coolest meets I've ever been to with one of the best races I've ever seen in terms of excitement. During the race, the homestretch stands were packed with people standing the whole time cheering and clapping. On the backstretch the Big River guys got a lot of the high schoolers over there and set it up where they could stand all the way up to Lane 4 to be close to the runners. Then they gave them a lot of cow bells. So on the backstretch where all these high schoolers going nuts ringing these cow bells.
One of the coolest parts of the race was in the last lap, when all the runners went by the fans on the backstretch, they ran across the infield all at once to the homestretch to cheer the racers. You can't see it in the video but it was amazing to see Leo coming around the turn and a hundred or so high schoolers all at once booking it like mad cheering waving their cow bells across the infield to be by the finish.
Here are my splits from the race. 58.64, 1:57.92(59.28), 2:59.78(61.86), 3:55.37(55.59). Someone said his last 200m was in the ballpark of 25 something.
The pasta dinner was great after the meet with all the elites taking time to answer questions. Great event for a great cause.

That last 400 was pretty sick. Before that it was just going to be a mediocre performance for him

Bench Press - did you not see him in Workout Wednesday a while back? Milers need strong upper body to drive with. He's obviously not too big as he just ran 3:54. Kind of built like prefontaine actually.

Totally agree with you Tim, more short track are what is relevant for people today.

Leo is a beast!

I announced the races yesterday at the Big River Festival of Miles and loved every minute of it.

It was an electric atmosphere and there were quick times throughout the night. I know that the only other videos right now are the women's and master's men, but the 2 junior high races were swift as well, so check out the results page for more info there.
It just felt good, going into that final race... we were raising money for a good cause, the meet was right on time with the posted schedule, and the weather was perfect.
This was track at its best: a great crowd going crazy, seeing these studs make Missouri racing history. That was the fastest mile ever run in Missouri, and the first sub-4 mile in MO since 1962. When Leo came down the homestretch, the crowd went berserk, and it was tremendous.
As a former athlete and coach, and as a current race annoucer, I feel that this Festival of Miles is the type of track that is viable in today's sports market. Big names, quick succession of races, and overall time for the meet should be between 2-3 hours. Let the fans know what is going on, and that knowledge will help to build excitement for the racers.
Huge props go to the meet's organizers, especially Ben Rosario of Big River Running, and to the elite athletes who raced for a great cause. Leo Manzano showed real class after the race, and demonstrated why our top US athletes can still be heroes for our kids. Thanks to Leo, Ben, and all those many others who made this great night possible.

Lets just hope he can do this with a real field! cant wait to see him run with the big names. Im rooting for ya Leo!

"Nice":: Just FYI Leo ran against decent international competition just one week ago at Adidas and had a bad race. (last place and at least 15 seconds slower than this race). Glad to see Leo headed back in the right direction

What a class act and great guy to run down and slap hands with everyone after the race. Great crowds and looked like a fun event. Events like this and the "street meet" are what really help running become more mainstream.

They should shift to small cities, more fans

wow that was a pretty legit crowd for that type of event. GREAT! this type of things is GREAT for American distance running. Now all those people got a great treat and may come back to the sport for more. any idea the attendance numbers?

What a Blast!

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