Running Nebraska: The Lincoln Mile

Deep in the US Midwest state of Nebraska proudly sits the City of Lincoln, the state’s capital city founded in 1856, but renamed after US President Abraham Lincoln in 1867. The city is a magnet for health buffs and outdoor recreation lovers. It has an extensive park system, with more parkland per capita than any other city in the US, and over 100 individual parks connected by an intricate 159-km system of recreational trails. In 2008, Lincoln was voted as one of the healthiest cities in the US, ranking in the Top 10 for many ‘quality of life’-, safety-, and environmental-related criteria.

UNL: Research permeates the entire campus.

The City of Lincoln is home to the 141-year old University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), ranked among the Top 50 public national universities in the US by the US News and World Reports, but also known internationally for various pioneering scientific programs and breakthroughs, amply fueled by $120M in annual research funding.

Memorial Stadium: Where The Huskers rule.

The university is equally noted for its top-ranked football and volleyball varsity teams- The Nebraska Cornhuskers or The Huskers- with the football team becoming NCAA national champions in 1994, 1995, and 1997. During my visit, Husker Nation was putting out the welcome mat for more than 30,000 athletes, officials, and fans in town for the 2010 Special Olympics USA National Games.

Even dogs run their own park in Lincoln.

Lincoln is without a doubt home to running-friendly people. The Lincoln Track Club (LTC), established in 1975 by a group of track enthusiasts, has short to middle to long distance runners in its membership roster. Basically a non-profit community service organization, the LTC promotes running throughout the Lincoln area and provides educational assistance for its runners. Members include some of the nation's finest road racers as well as recreational runners including UNL students.

Instantaneous posting of race results is the norm.

Several runs and races are sponsored by The Lincoln Track Club each year, including the Lincoln Marathon and Half-Marathon, usually held in May. One of the most awaited races, however, is The Lincoln Mile - a one-mile race through downtown Lincoln to inside of the UNL campus that starts and finishes at 12th & Q Streets, near the Lincoln Running Company, the run’s sponsor. From 8:00 to 10:30 AM, participants run in several heats, with the elite races for men and women capping the morning of miles.

Elites run 4:30-5:30 miles and run them light.

While the Lincoln Mile is open to runners of any age, it is recommended that men and women should have previously run a 4 min 30 sec and 5 min 30 sec mile, respectively. In this year's race, the fastest male (Logan Watley) clocked 4:30.66 while the fastest woman (Katie Nelson) was timed 5:20.85. Registration fees are $10 (early) and $15 (late) which entitle runners to a Lincoln Running Company t-shirt plus after-race snacks. Winners of the various heats receive gift certificates of up to $15 for the regular heats and up to $30 for the elite races. Pairs of running shoes are raffled to participants and discounts given for purchases at The Lincoln Running Company.

Starting them young, all in the family.

Kids are a big part of The Lincoln Mile, making the event in many ways truly a family affair. There are heats for the 10 & under as well as for the 11-15, and 16-18 age categories. Parents are required to accompany children 10 years of age and under, with many of them ending up running along with their sons, daughters, and grandchildren. Free goodies and t-shirts entice kids to be part of the event as well as other activities organized just for kids by the LTC in the area.  The fastest 10 and under female kid was a 9-year old (Olivia Sovereign) who clocked a 7:21 mile while the speediest 10 and under male was 10-year old Elijah Connatser whose time was 7:02.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that The Lincoln Mile would coincidentally be held around the time of my work-related visit to the city. Having never really ran a timed mile, I thought it would be nice to run the mile or 1.609344 kilometers, if only to establish a benchmark for the distance. This was to be only my second formal race in the US after doing a 5K in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in November just the year before. I inserted the mile within the kilometer 5 to kilometer 7 segment of a 20-kilometer LSD run mostly inside the UNL campus that day, using the first 5 kilometers to warm myself up, with the prevailing temperature that day being in the 60s. Accustomed to endurance running rather than sprints,  however, I ended up running the mile in a slow 7 min 53 sec.  While I finished 139th among 301 participants (top 46%), the time was far slower than the fastest 10 and under male and female kids (!), obviously still leaving a lot of ground for me to cover in terms of training if I want to improve my time in this short race distance.

Volunteers serving drinks/removing reusable timing chips.

The Lincoln Mile, however, is not just about running. It is also a showcase for volunteerism, which has been espoused by the LTC throughout its entire years of existence. In fact, the whole organization is made up of volunteers, young and old, women and men, who manned the food and drink stations, timing chip issuance and return areas, the quarter-, half-, and three-quarter-mile turnarounds, the starting point, and the finish line. It was, therefore, not surprising to learn that the LTC is one of Nebraska's finest volunteer-run organizations. The club’s monthly newsletter is also a prized resource for runners in Lincoln and the entire state of Nebraska. So if by any chance you’ll be in the US Midwest, try visiting Lincoln. As local residents proudly say, the city is a great place to make friends and to be, or become, simply, you.

Whether a runner or not!