Every year, The Festival of Miles becomes better and better. If you haven’t heard about it before, it’s a track meet with youth and middle school races, high school races showcasing some of the nation’s top talent and pro races featuring Olympic-level athletes. Most of the events are focused around the mile, which a couple of races being only 800m. It started as a way to raise money for an athlete in need and continues to stay true to that mission.
We have been following Connor Burns and Simeon Birnbaum talk about their plans to run this race on The Running Effect podcast, so we made plans to attend to see what they guys were going to do. After all, if they were going to break the High School National Record, I wanted to see it.
That night, 4 High School Boys and 4 Elite Pro Athletes broke the 4 min mark. Simeon Birnbaum, Rocky Hanson, Tinoda Matsatsa, and Jackson Heidesch, all fought it out with all of them putting out PRs. Tinoda is the first black high schooler and Jackson Heidesch is the first Iowa High Schooler to ever break four. And we were there to watch and photograph the event.
I could go on and on about this event, but if you’re coming to my site, you’re likely looking for photos. Check them out at the link below. If you know someone that ran the race and they are looking for images, have them contact me.
Hoka sponsors this event every year. They make some of my favorite shoes. I'd highly recommend it if you haven’t given them a shot yet. Check out your local Fleet Feet to try them on. You won’t be disappointed.