2019 Festival of Miles Preview

St. Louis summer traditions: Baseball, Imo’s, Ted Drewes, Blues post-season collapses (Not this year!) and The Festival of Miles.

It’s the 12th running of the St. Louis summer classic and it looks to be as fast as ever. This race is special to me, I still remember the first running… I remember when 4:00 was broken for the first time on Missouri soil, I remember when J-Mac and Manzano picked the festival over other chances to run fast, I remember when Amos Bartelsmeyer won the 2012 high school race in 4:11 — more on that in a bit — and I remember when Grant Fisher, Reed Brown, and Caitlin Collier made history as high school athletes. It’s a special meet… and this year is no different.

Here’s what to expect out of Thursday.

2019 Women’s 800m

This year’s 800m field is led by Canada’s Jessica Smith, Smith has broken 2:00 in the past and is coming off a win at the USATF Distance Classic in 2:02.82. It won’t easy for her though, her compatriot Lindsey Butterworth is coming off a big 2:02.13 in France, ran 2 flat last season and was the 2018 Festival of Miles champion.

Meanwhile, Oiselle’s Kendra Chambers is coming back to redeem herself from last year’s runner up, 2:02.18 performance. Her performance in St. Louis last season was her best showing all year — so time will tell if she’ll be able to pull off that performance again. Brook’s Hannah Fields will open up her 2019 account for 800m where she has run 2:00.53 in 2017. The field also includes Hannah Segrave who is coming off a 2:02.29 PR a few weeks back, Savanna Colon who opened up this season in 2:05.39 and Ashley Taylor who owns a 2:02:99 PR from 2018.

2019 Men’s Mile

The men’s mile is highlighted by a return 7 years in the making; Amos Bartesleymer is a returning champion, however not in the race you were thinking. Bartesleymer won the high school mile back in 2012 — a race which saw him run 4:11… but this race will be quite different.

For one, his former MICDS teammate Jordan Mann will be racing — and Ben Flanagan will also be there (3:57.75 PR) — but Amos is coming with a shiny new 3:55.32 indoor mile run in Washington this past year, while Jordan Mann is coming off a win in the USATF Distance Classic where he outlasted the competition running 8:30.99. Mann will be looking at improving his 5th place finish from last year’s Festival… but it won’t be easy as this field contains 6 sub-4 milers.

Is this the year that Jordan McNamera’s record 3:54.27 is taken down?

If it is, the race will be helped along by Julius Bor (3:58.72), Brett Meyer (3:59.77) and Mann’s OSAC teammate Julian Oakley (3:59.89) in what could quite possible be the deepest FOM field ever put together.

We’ve witnessed this meet blossom into the hidden gem of the Track and Field world, FOM is ready to lead to some fast times on the track yet again.

Will you be following along?

2019 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

6:30pm Children’s Hospital Healthy Kids Mile
6:45pm Children’s Hospital Middle School Mile
7:00pm National Anthem & Introduction
7:10pm Children’s Hospital Junior High Invitational Girls Mile
7:20pm Children’s Hospital Junior High Invitational Boys Mile
7:30pm Spewak Training HS Girls Elite Development Mile
7:40pm Spewak Training HS Boys Elite Development Mile
7:50pm Moneta Group Mascot 400 meter dash
8:00pm The Four Sisters HS Girls 800 meter run
8:10pm Dakota Grizzly HS Boys 800 meter run
8:20pm Big River Running HS Championship Girls Mile
8:30pm Drury Hotel Elite Womens 800 meter run
8:40pm Big River Running HS Championship Boys Mile
8:50pm St. Louis Track Club Elite Mens Mile