Festivals of Miles – Celebrate the 60th anniversary of the 4 minute mile
“Dear running club members
FESTIVAL OF MILES
6TH MAY 2014 AT SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY CITY ATHLETICS STADIUM, SHEFFIELD
On behalf of Smiley Paces Running Club and with the help of Sheffield 
Hallam University, I am organising the Festival of Miles to commemorate Sir Roger Bannister breaking the four minute barrier for the first time sixty years ago on this date.
We want to celebrate this feat of historic importance by providing the opportunity for both competitive runners and members of the non-running community to try their hand at running this classic distance here in Sheffield. We are to stage a number of races over the mile distance. These will be seeded into appropriate time groups, leading to races for those who think they can run sub 5 minutes, 6 minutes, 7 minutes and so on.
We would like to invite your club members to come and run, and to challenge themselves to see just how fast they can run a mile themselves!
Each competitor will receive a commemorative mug, and we will have the special draw on the night to determine which lucky runner will wear bib number 41. There will be official timers (UK Athletics graded officals) but no electronic timing, as we want to echo the original race where hand times were recorded: we hope you will agree that hand timing will be acceptable and in the spirit of the event.
We are also holding a “4 minute challenge” for those who do not feel they are ready to compete in a formal race: “How far can you run in just four minutes”? This will be a mass run, with everyone on the track together. Certificates will be awarded for the distance achieved by each participant.
We have a website, www.festivalofmiles.info where you can find more information and an entry form. We do hope to see some of you on the night!
Best wishes
Jenny Chambers”