The High Street Mile has evolved from an event that used to struggle for sponsorships, often drawing 25 different businesses with small contributions, to the point, that now, in its 20th anniversary year, it is one of New England's most renowned mile races due to its partnership with the Newburyport Institution for Savings Bank.
What began as the brainchild of several veteran Winner's Circle Running Club members, like Bob Manning and Ted Jones, when they were discussing their favorite mile races, the group decided Newburyport would be the ideal location for a mile race of its own. With the built-in audience of the parade on High Street on the final Sunday of Yankee Homecoming, race founder Ted Jones secured a couple of permits, and the rest is history.
Over the years, the race has drawn some of the highest pedigree of runners, most notably 2004 United States 800 and 1,500 national champion Jen Toomey, 1996 Atlanta Games Olympian Erik Nadeau and Ethiopian national team member Abebe Abyiot.
"I'd say the No.1 race I saw was the 4:03 record that Erik Nadeau did in 1995," Jones said. "That was a real good race; there was a guy from Alabama in front of him, and that's what it takes to get someone to run low. You're not going to do it running alone; you need someone to pull you along. Now we have incentives to get people to work as the unofficial rabbit — under 2:00 minutes at the half-mile, under 3:00 minutes at the three-quarter — to push the race along."
Current race director Chris Kealey said it was a real thrill for him when Toomey showed up "out of the blue" in 2005 and won the race despite living in Salem at the time. However, it's the people who show up every year, such as Triton cross country runner Sean Mitchell that make the race so special.
"Sean lives in Salisbury and has cerebral palsy, but he loves this thing, and he runs the race every year," Kealey said. "I saw his father at Demoulas/Market Basket, and he said Sean was getting ready for his favorite race. It's nice to get that feedback, because it's not all about the super-fast professional types. There's also the people setting goals, like Sean.
"To me, that's a great benefit, as well, and very fulfilling, because people count you as the director," Kealey said. "I see that as a runner because I have my favorite races, as well. Having someone like Sean show up, a kid with challenges, is great motivation for people."
Of course, the race has also had its fair share of glitches and malfunctions because of its nature as a point-to-point race where the starting line is not the same as the finish line, and also because the High Street Mile has never used professional timers, instead using Winner's Circle volunteers.
"It's really hard to time because it's point-to-point, so we used to use Walkie Talkies to communicate from the starting line to the finish line when the race began," Jones said. "They weren't always the most dependable, and one time we lost the connection, so we had to interview everyone after the race to reconstruct the times. The race is now computerized, but a couple of years ago, we had a software error where we lost all the times, but luckily we had a couple of computer experts on site to help us trace back through the software and find the times."
Jones also recalled one fateful race during which a man had a heart attack right in front of what was the old Henry Farmer Funeral Home near the midpoint of the race. Luckily, the parlor had just received a defibrillator, and officials were able to resuscitate him by the time he got to the hospital, despite his having been officially dead for nearly a full minute.
The race has been growing in popularity every year, especially in the youth ranks, an angle Kealey has worked hard to increase in his time as director, Jones said. Kealey's efforts have provided a great feeder system for youth running.
"The race is really growing through the youth," Jones said. "It's a great feeder program for the kids going into grammar schools and gets them interested in the sport and helps the local running programs. The Nock Middle School has a running program, and they both help feed kids into the high school programs."
High Street Mile fun facts
Web site: http://highstreetmile.com/
When and Where: High Street in Newburyport at 10 a.m., starting at Famous Pizza and finishing at the Newburyport High School. Registration can still be done online or at the race starting at 8 a.m.
Most Wins: Men — Erik Nadeau (1994-95, '98); Women — Molly Watcke (1996, '98, 2000-01)
Men's Record: 1995, Erik Nadeau 4:03.41
Women's Record: 2008, Amy Mortimer 4:34:20
Prize Money: $400 for male and female winners, $600 for new course record, $200 if male breaks 4:00 or if female breaks 4:30. Further incentives for males: $50 for 2:00 and under at the half-mile, $75 for 3:00 and under at the three-quarter-mile; for females: $50 for 2:15 and under at the half-mile, $75 for 3:23 and under at the three-quarter-mile.
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