The Keybank New England Mile was this morning. A fast race through downtown Portland, the course drops 70 feet from start to finish. Prize money is awarded to the winners as well as the leaders at each quarter split. A sub 4 minute mile comes with a $5000 prize. Dereck Treadwell of Milford, Maine, thought that he had the bonus prize money in hand, but miscalculated on his third quarter split and ran too slow in 4:05. He still finished in first place by almost 10 seconds. Kristin Barry of Scarborough, Maine won the women’s race in 4:52.

Bill Rodgers was on hand to emcee the event and sign autographs. He was a very down to earth gentleman who loves the sport of running. He claims that in the twenty teens there will be national television coverage of track and road race events as the sport gains more popularity. I will be looking forward to when that happens.

In total there were 144 finishers coming through in under 13 minutes. 28 people were under five minutes, and over half the field came in under six minutes. The race doubled in size in only its second year. It is the second event of the Maine USATF grand prix race series.