The man who has made the mile record is W.G. George...His time was 4 minutes 12.75 seconds, and the probability is that this record will never be beaten.     Harry Andrews, 1903

We are back.

Following our third and fourth races in September 2020 (where we witnessed two English guys go sub-4mins for the Mile) and May 2021 (where we lifted the curtain on the summer Scottish track season) we are delighted to announce the return of 'The Monument Mile Classic' for a fifth year on Friday 20 May 2022.

Once again, Central Athletic Club, in partnership with the University of Stirling, will deliver an electric evening of open graded track mile races set in the shadow of the iconic Wallace Monument, and against the backdrop of the stunning Stirling University campus.

Following a great event in May 2021, we are delighted to announce that our partnership with GSS Developments continues for a second year. GSS are a commercial property firm operating across Scotland. With offices in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, GSS Developments provide extensive knowledge of the design and build of new commercial buildings, along with a track record of refurbishing and upgrading obsolete buildings, which typifies their approach to creating high quality assets and spaces. The Monument Mile Classic and GSS Developments look forward to working together to deliver the fifth annual Monument Mile Classic on Friday 20 May 2022.

Athletes are invited to enter to race the track distance that made legends of Paavo Nurmi (4:10.4), Sebastian Coe (3:47.33), Steve Ovett (3:48.40), Hicham El Guerrouj (3:43.13), Roger Bannister (3:58.8) - and at The Monument Mile Classic in 2020 - Ian Crowe Wright (3:59.61) and Jonathan Davies (3:59.36).

This event is a Scottish Athletics Licensed event, and all times recorded will be official, and added to Power of 10 athlete profiles. In the event of some tight finishes, we will also be employing photo finish technology. 

As always, places are limited, so do not turn down this opportunity to run this rarely-run legendary distance.

Event: The 5th Monument Mile Classic

Location: The Athletics track at Stirling University campus

Date: Friday 20 May 2022

Time: 4:50pm to 9:45pm

Cost: £12

The penultimate race of the evening will be allocated to the fastest female athletes, whilst the final race of the evening will be allocated to the fastest male athletes. Like last year, we are pleased to confirm that we will be welcoming entries from wheelchair racers once again. All other races will be open graded, so regardless of age or gender, athletes will be put in the same race if they are anticipating similar finish times. The slowest race will commence at 5.30pm, with the final, and fastest race, going off around 10pm depending on entries.

We have both Twitter ( @MileClassic ) and Instagram ( mileclassic ) accounts running, so do give us a follow for the most up-to-date information on our evening of mile races.

The organisers are keen to hear from athletes who have 1,500m Personal Best times of 3:45.00 for males and 4:35.00 for females. Please contact Michael Wright (Race Director) at michaeledwardwright@hotmail.com or 07814 238 993, to confirm your interest in the first instance.

ELITE MALE AND FEMALE PRIZES

We are delighted to announce the following prize structure for the event:

• 1st Place in Senior Men’s and Senior Women’s Races: £250
• 2nd Place in Senior Men’s and Senior Women’s Races: £150
• 3rd Place in Senior Men’s and Senior Women’s Race: £75

A bonus pot of £250 is in place for any athlete that breaks the male course record (3:59.36 from 2020) and also for any female athlete that breaks the current female course record (4:44.87 from 2020).

SCOTTISH STUDENT CHAMPS

We are delighted that The Monument Mile Classic has been granted championship status by Scottish Student Sport, so medals will be provided to the top 3 finishers, both male and female, who are students at a Scottish University or College.

In addition, Sportsshoes.com have generously provided voucher prizes for our top 3 Scottish student athletes, male and female, to the following values:

·        1^st Place Student Athlete (male and female): £250 voucher

·        2^nd Place Student Athlete (male and female): £150 voucher

·        3^rd Place Student Athlete (male and female): £75 voucher

In order to be eligible for the above, athletes must be currently matriculated at a Scottish Student Sport-affiliated member university or college.

Please note that there will be no separate dedicated student races, and all students will be graded across the races according to their ability, like all other athletes within the competition. The prizes will be awarded based on times recorded.

Please note that no student competitor will be awarded two prizes (e.g. if a student athlete takes gold in the elite race, they will be given the £250 cash, but they will not receive the £250 student prize voucher. They would, of course, receive the student gold medal).

SCOTTISH STUDENT CHAMPIONSHIPS - TEAMS

We are also introducing a mixed Scottish Student teams prize.

Each college or university team will comprise two male athletes and two female athletes. The team with the lowest cumulative combined time for their four athletes will win a crate of beer.

Refund policy

We understand that sometimes you enter a race then something crops up.  As soon as you enter we incur costs so we have come up with the following refund policy that we hope is simple and fair: 

If you cancel:

• Before the 1st of May 2022: 75% refund (£9).
• Less than 21 days before the race: No refunds.