The city of St. Louis is known for several things. 

 

Thin-crust pizza, the Arch, Nelly, and the St. Louis Cardinals are just a few of the best things to come out of the “Gateway to the West”, a river city along the famed Mississippi with a population of 320,000. 

 

Distance running, however, is not a trait that many associate with STL, as the urban landscape and extreme seasons do not lend itself to consistent training. That fact may not change anytime soon, but St. Louis just might be the site of some distance running history this Thursday at the Nike Festival of Miles. 

 

And just like Nelly said “you can find me in St. Louie”, Grant Fisher will be echoing that sentiment as he attempts to become the 7th high schooler to break 4 minutes in the mile at the St. Louis University High track on Thursday at 8:50pm. Coming off a brilliant 4:00/8:53 1600/3200 double at the Michigan state meet last weekend, the reigning Dream Mile champ looks ready to do just that in a race that promises elite competition and on-point pacing. 

 

Fisher enters the Festival of Miles in better form than we’ve ever seen the Grand Blanc (MI) senior. The future Stanford Cardinal tried to solo a sub-4 at state last weekend, extending the finish an extra nine meters past the 1600 line in an attempt to make history in his home state. Fisher ran 4:01.66 all alone, which arguably is more impressive than fellow prep Matthew Maton’s 3:59.38 mile last month in a race with Oregon All-Americans Eric Jenkins and Will Geoghegan. Not taking anything away from Maton, but I expect Fisher to run much faster than 4:01 given the field he’ll face on Thursday. 

The Threat of J-MAC

OTC’s 3:52 miler Jordan McNamara returns to St. Louis after setting the meet record (3:54.27) at the 2014 Festival of Miles, his second career victory at the meet. J-MAC isn’t in the top form that he was a year ago when he entered FOM after clocking a 3:52 at Pre Classic, but he is still a strong favorite to collect his 3rd title on Thursday night. 

 

McNamara’s presence in the race is very beneficial for Grant Fisher. With extra prize money on the line for breaking the meet record, McNamara is sure to chase the pacer as he is expected to run through 1200 in 2:55. Fisher isn’t quite ready to go after that pace, but he’ll be able to mow down some of the guys in the field who start out on that pace and fall off. Basically, unlike last weekend, Grant Fisher will have something to chase besides just the clock. 

The Contenders

Two other names to watch in this race are sub-4 milers Jack Bolas and Tommy Schmitz. Bolas was the 2012 FOM champ, and he appears to be in very good shape heading to St. Louis. The NJ*NY runner ran 3:58 indoors, and 3:40 in the 1500 at Payton Jordan, the same meet where Fisher clocked a 3:42 in a different heat. The 27-year-old ran his 3:57 PB last August. 

 

Schmitz was 3rd at FOM in 2014, clocking a huge PB of 3:56.45. 

 

Additionally, Travis Burkstrand returns to St. Louis after coming excruciatingly close to his first sub-4 at this meet last year, finishing 5th in 4:00.01. This was Burkstrand’s reaction to falling just short in 2014: