Alumni Mile 2k15

Friday, May 1 - Since 2009 one of the marquee events on the spring racing calendar has been the Alumni Mile, held as part of the Terp Twilight Meet in College Park. This year's event coincided with one of the most celebrated days - We Got Him Day.

For the few of us Maryland Track alums, it's a fun reason to get together with the old squad, and a chance to take a crack at a track mile. Overcast and cool conditions all day made for a chilly evening for spectators, but good racing conditions for the 8pm start.

Conrad Laskowski has won this event a few times, which is particularly impressive considering he had only graduated 2 years before the meet was created. Personally I've been all over the board here: some years average, a few years really slow, one year pretty fast. Some of the other staples include Tom Stott and Denise Knickman.

A big field lined up and in the first lap, Tom raced to the early lead. By lap 2, Conrad and Andy Sovonick had made their way to the front, and Conrad built a gap that he would never relinquish. He won his 3rd Alumni Mile in 4:59, with Andy in 2nd at 5:15 maybe. Coach Danielle sat for 3 laps before hitting her NOS button, leaving me in her dust and then blazing by Tom with 250 to go. Tom settled for 4th in 5:25ish, and I came through at 5:33, a second slower than last year. Denise came in around 6:15 I think.

Athletes from Georgetown Running Club were there competing in the actual meet, and had some good performances as well. One of the highlights was watching a girl from Georgetown (Univ) trying to run 16 minutes in the 5000m. She had 3 pacers but with a couple laps left was all alone, working so hard before ultimately fading in the last 800m to finish around 16:15 maybe. Still, it was impressive.

I always enjoy running around campus and through College Park, and I love supporting the team and catching up with old teammates. Thanks to Patty Stott for being our cheerleader/videographer. You can watch the full video of the race below: