Posted: November 15, 2004

Athletics: 6th Annual Millennium Mile Set For January 2nd

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

The 6th Annual MILLENNIUM MILE
"May all your miles be downhill with the wind at your back!"

 
Sunday, January 2, 2005
2:00pm
Londonderry, New Hampshire 
Website: www.millenniummile.com
 
A 1-mile, point-to-point, downhill road race for all ages and abilities!  
 
Pre-registration: online at  www.millenniummile.com
- $8 adults ($2 kids 12 and under) 
- First 250 to register will receive a MM6 race T-shirt   
 
Race Day Registration: (12:00 p.m. to 1:55 p.m.) 
- Londonderry High School Gym Lobby 
- $10 on race day. 
 
The Course:
- A point-to-point road MILE starting on Mammoth Road in front of Londonderry High School running south (DOWNHILL) on Mammoth Road and ending on Mammoth Road 1/8 mile south of Mack’s Apples Farm.   
 
Timing:
- Accurate Chip timing provided by Granite State Race Services
 
Awards (At Mack's Apples Farm immediately following the race)
- Cash awards to Top 3 Overall Male and Female finishers.
- Merchandise Prizes to top 3 men and women in the following age groups:
 -12, 13-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60+ 
- Merchandise Prizes to the winning male and female Club/Teams 
 
NH Grand Prix Series (tentative)
- The first stop on the 2005 NH Grand Prix Road Race Series.  
- It is a series of 8 races in New Hampshire where a team and individual club champions are awarded.
- Add the total time for the first 4 runners from your club 
- Men's and Women's Club Open Division
 
Sponsors:
- Ahern, Nichols, Hersey & Ahern Family Dentistry (Derry, NH)
- The Orthopedic Center (Nashua, NH) 
- Rodney Furr
- Reebok
 
Post Race Party at Whippersnappers Bar (3pm to midnight) 
- Runners invited to the post race party  
- 99c 20 oz Drafts all night. 
- Live Music 
- Rt 102, Londonderry (603) 434-2660 
 

The June E. Mortimer Memorial and Millennium Mile College Scholarship:
The co-founders of the Millennium Mile Road Race, Andy Downin, Matt Downin and John Mortimer established the Millennium College Scholarship in 2002. In April of 2004, John Mortimer’s mother, June, lost her 2-year battle with cancer. In honor of her life and death, the Millennium Mile College Scholarship was re-named as the and June E. Mortimer Memorial/Millennium Mile Scholarship. June would love to see as many young student-athletes as possible benefit from the enriching experience of a higher education and collegiate athletics.

The mission of the Fund is to help defray the tuition costs of one of New Hampshire’s or Massachusetts' graduating high school seniors who is planning on becoming a collegiate student-athlete. Each year, proceeds from the Millennium Mile Road Race go to help build the scholarship fund. The Scholarship recipients are selected by the Board of Directors and announced at the following of each academic year.

The inaugural MM Scholarship was awarded to Ashley Vance of Manchester, NH. Ashley is now a freshman at the University of New Hampshire where she competes in track and cross country for the Lady Wildcats.

 
Record Book:
Course Record: 3:51 Scott Anderson (1999) and Andy Downin (2001)
Women's Record: 4:27 Katie McGregor (2002)
Master's Record: 4:16 Rich Marion 42 (2003)
Women's Master's: 5:07 Karen Tripp 44 (2003)
12 and under: 4:58 MICHAEL PEABODY 12 (2001)
12> girls: 4:58 NICOLE SLANE 12 (2001)
Baby Jogger: 4:13 Darin Shearer (2002)
 
Race Hotel
Sleep Inn,  72 Perkins Rd, Londonderry, NH (603) 425-2110 
 
The Organizers… 

The History of the Millennium Mile…
The idea was conceived on Thanksgiving weekend of 1999. Best friends John Mortimer (Londonderry HS, ‘95) and Matt Downin (Pinkerton Academy, ‘95) Hampstead, and Matt’s older brother, Andy Downin (Duxbury HS, ’91) were organizing a New Years Eve/ Millennium party at the Downins’ home in Hampstead, NH. Upon making the guest list, it was found that it contained an above average number of elite runners. Mortimer was a seven time All American at Michigan, Matt was a 4-time All American at Wisconsin, and Andy was a four time All American at Georgetown. When you add their college and high school friends and teammates, the list totaled over 72 All American certificates. In fact, 5 of the top 12 athletes from the 1996 US Olympic Trials 1500m final were attending. Matt and John had the idea of bringing the elite field to a local New Years Eve 5k road race. Since no races were scheduled near by, they decided to organize their own... A 10k or 5K seemed pretty far, but a 1- mile seemed like a manageable distance. So the stretch of Mammoth Rd, in Londonderry from Londonderry HS to Mack’s Apples seemed like the ideal place to run a fast road mile… it just happened to be downhill. The idea of the Millennium Mile was born.
The Inaugural Millennium Mile...
At time, there had never been a sub 4-minute mile run in the state of NH. With the Union Leader Newspaper’s sponsorship and media attention, the race’s popularity grew. On December 31st, the last day of 1999, over 120 runners ran the downhill stretch of road in Londonderry, with the winner, Scott Anderson of Washington, DC finishing in record time of 3 minutes and 51 seconds. Six men broke the 4-minute barrier; women’s winner Amy Lyman of Springfield, MA ran a 4:32 mile. Every runner left with a smile on his or her face- the inaugural Millennium Mile was in deed a success!
The 2nd Annual Millennium Mile...
11 months after the first Millennium Mile, while home visiting family for Thanksgiving, Mortimer and Downin were convinced by local runners and friends to again organize the downhill mile. Despite a field size half as large as the first year, the second version of the Millennium Mile was officially an annual event.
The 3rd time is a charm! ...
In the Millennium Mile’s 3rd year, Mortimer had moved from Michigan back to the New England. Committed to a successful and fun community event, he was able to more effectively advertise and promote the race in local running circles. The result was a field size of nearly 250 runners and a more than a dozen sponsors, including the Union Leader, NIKE, Adidas, New Balance, Reebok, Life is Good, Runner’s Alley, Mack’s Apples Farm, Gladstone Ford, Stonyfield Yogurt, Great State Beverages.
The Fourth Year…
For the first time, the field size was more than 300 runners... all running downhill at the same time with kids ranging from a 6 month year old in a baby jogger to a 74 year old man. The men's winner came all the way from the Delaware Running Company. Mike Digennaro finished just strides ahead of Boston College senior Shawn Wallace- both finishing in 3:58. That totals 13 sub 4 minute performance on the downhill course. The woman's winner, Katie McGregor came all the way from Minnesota to run a women's course record of 4:27.
MM5 gets boost from NH GP Series
We thought having over 300 runners for the MM4 made for a great race, but the MM5 made the previous years look like a solitary sunday run. For the first time, the NH Grand Prix Race Series picked the Millennium Mile to kick off their 2004 race season. Throngs of entry forms from all of the NH running club members arrived and over 300 runners had pre-registered. On race day the weather was reminiscent of a April day- sunny and 55 degrees. We used all of our chips and numbers... a total of 624 runners of all ages and abilities ran down mammoth road for the 5th time in as many years.
High hopes for MM6
The race organizers are again committed to a successful and fun community event. The race again hopes to attract sub 4-minute milers to 12-minute milers of all ages! With Chip Timing, the MM College Scholarship, the NH GP Series, and the now infamous POST RACE PARTY, you do not want to miss the 6th annual Millennium Mile! Come and be a part of New Hampshire’s most unique and exciting running event!