At “The Magis Miles,” a track festival and night of mile races at Chicago’s Saint Ignatius College Prep on Friday, June 2, 2017

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Chicago, IL— There has never been an outdoor mile race in Chicago in which a runner has broken the 4:00-minute barrier, according the Ryan Lamppa, from the organization “Bring Back the Mile.”

For the third year the Magis Miles will send runners to the starting line who are trying to break that 4:00-minute mark.  Have your stop watches ready at about 9:30 PM on Friday night, June 2, under the lights at Saint Ignatius College Prep.

In its first two years, runners attempting to break that barrier went to the line racing against clear favorites:  Former Eastern Michigan runner and Polish national champion Greg Kalinowski won in 2015, and St. Olaf College’s NCAA Division III champion Jake Campbell won in 2016.  They ran fast, but neither broke 4:00-minutes: Kalinowski ran 4:04.07 and Campbell 4:02.05

The 2017 Magis Miles men’s field has no clear favorite.  Former St. Olaf star Paul Escher was NCAA Division III national champion for 1500-meters in 2015, and he has a personal best mile of 4:02.56; he returns to the Magis Miles where he placed third in 2015 behind Kalinowski.  Escher’s former St. Olaf teammate Joe Coffey was second at the Division III indoor national championhship mile in March, and he has run 3:45.38 for 1500, equivalent to a 4:03 mile.  Luke Brahm of the University of Illinois has run 3:46.73 for 1500.  Caleb Gatchell is a 2017 graduate of Hillsdale College where he ran 3:46.99 for 1500; Gatchell finished sixth at the Magis Mile in 2016.

In the women’s race, favorites include former University of New Mexico’s Janna Mitsos, with a career best of 4:38.60 for 1500, equivalent to a 4:56 mile; Mitsos runs for the New Balance Chicago team.  In addition, Dakota Roman, from Batavia High School and Illinois State University, has run 4:34.28 for 1500 meters this track season, equivalent to a 4:52 mile.

The women pros and collegiates will be challenged by two high schoolers.  Glenbard West’s Katelynne Hart won the Illinois High School Athletics 3A 1600 and 3200 championships as a freshman and has run 4:47.54 for 1600 meters, just short of a mile; Minooka’s Mackenzie Callahan finished second in the state to Hart in the 1600 last week, and she has run 4:54.22 for 1600.

A talented high schooler will also race in the men’s race:  Minooka’s Soren Knudson completed the so-called triple crown of Illinois distance running last weekend when he won the 1600 and 3200 at the IHSA boys meet, after winning the state cross country championship in November.  Knudson has run 4:08.70 for 1600.

Last year high schooler Sean Torpy from Carl Sandburg finished fourth in the men’s race in 4:05.10, with his twin brother Chris fifth in 4:07.13.  The Torpys have continued their running careers at Miami of Ohio, and they will return to the 2017 Magis Miles, as well.

Athletes who have completed college eligibility will compete for $500 first place prize money—plus a time bonus for breaking 4:00 for the men, 4:30 for the women.

 “The Magis Miles” will be a night of one-mile races in a spectacular setting, under the lights of the newly renovated Mailliard Track and Fornelli ‘51 Field and against the backdrop of a Chicago skyline just a mile away.  Spectators will watch the races “gauntlet-style,” standing right on the track.

Magis (pronounced ''MAH-jis') is a Latin word that means 'more' or 'better'. “At Saint Ignatius College Prep, we use the word Magis as an inspiration for doing more for others and our community,” says meet organizer Nate McPherson. “We hope this meet can be an expression of Magis for the running community.”

High school races will be a central feature of the evening.  McPherson, assistant coach at Saint Ignatius, has been recruiting top boy and girl runners fresh off the Illinois state championship meets in Charleston the last two weeks.  The year the Magis Miles features the top Illinois 3A 1600 runner Soren Knudson, as well as the top three 3A finishers in the girls 3A 1600, Katelynne Hart, Mackenzie Callahan, and Reilly Revord from Hinsdale Central.

But the men’s and women’s elite mile races will be a special attraction.  Both races will put professional and collegiate runners with Chicago-area roots on the track with one goal: To put on a show by running the fastest outdoor mile races in Chicago history.

In 2015 the meet crowd included Saint Ignatius and Loyola University alumnus Tom O’Hara.  On March 6, 1964, O’Hara set a world indoor mile record running 3:56.4 at the Chicago Stadium.  O’Hara went on to run on the United States Olympic team that summer.

There has been one sub-4:00 outdoor mile in the Chicagoland area.  Jim Spivey, another Illinois Olympian from Bensonville and Fenton High School and then Indiana University, ran 3:59.4 at North Central College in Naperville on May 17th, 1994.

“We think everyone needs more track and field in their lives, and we don’t get enough of it in Chicago, especially,” said Saint Ignatius boys track coach Ed Ernst, one of the Magis Miles organizers.  “When Jake Campbell ran 4:02 last year, that was the fastest mile many people had ever seen in person.”

“We are high school track coaches, first.  So one big goal for this event is to put elite-level runners in front of our high school kids, so they can see what's possible. 

“When our high school hero runners graduate and move on to the college ranks, it seems like we never get to see them run again.  This is an event where we bring the old heroes back to run in front of the new heroes.

“We have this beautiful facility in a beautiful city.  We are excited to invite people in for this event.”

And, finally:  “When they put up light towers around our beautiful track two summers ago, the idea popped into our heads, just like in the movie ‘Field of Dreams.  ‘A night of mile races in Chicago.’  That’s our basic idea:  We want to build this event.  If we host it, they will come.”

The event will stream live over the Saint Ignatius student web broadcast station, WPSN, the Saint Ignatius Wolfpack Sports Network, which is accessible from the meet web site.

Admission is $5.00, cash only.  The events begin at 6:00 PM and will conclude at 9:30.  The meet runs on a tight schedule, with the National Anthem at 7:00 PM and the final race concluded by 9:40 PM.

Billy Poole Harris, head boys cross country coach at Whitney Young High School and an announcer at the IHSA state meet, will handle the announcing duties.  Kenric Bond will be the official meet starter.

Dick Pond Athletics and Saucony Running Shoes provide sponsor support for the event.

FAT timing services are supplied by Dave Behof of LA Timing and Bob Geiger of Illinois Prep Top Timing.  Results are posted on the meet web site and here:  bit.ly/magmiles2017.

The Magis Miles track meet has an information web site:  www.magmiles.org.  Follow the meet on twitter: @themagmiles

To get more information, contact the event organizers, Saint Ignatius coaches Nathan McPherson ([email protected]) and Ed Ernst ([email protected]), 773-407-5220..