On Saturday night we hosted PUMA's Chi-Town Miles, and it was truly a night to remember. An event that first started in 2020, hit its largest participation number, with over 300 people taking to the track for one-mile races. We had 3 heats of a 400 meter kids dash, and 15 one-mile heats that got progressively faster as the night went on and the sun went down.
It was an electrifying atmosphere as heat after heat was walked to the track and spectators lined the front stretch to cheer the runners on. This event welcomes every level of runner, and many runners experienced the thrill of crossing the line first by winning their heat, or running to a new PR.
The heats are mixed age and gender until it gets to the final four heats where we have some of the best men and women from the area competing. The final two heats were the Women’s PUMA Nitro Mile and the Men’s PUMA Nitro Mile, which consisted of the fastest seeded times and a total of $3,000 in prize money on the line. It was a close battle from beginning to end for both races. Izzi Olive took the female win in a blazing 5:02.04, with Therese Haiss and Madeleine Davison not too far behind. On the men’s side, it was a close 1 through 3 finish down the final stretch, with Bryce Richards edging out the others for the win in 4:14.10. Coming in second was Blake Buysee in 4:15.44 with Alec Danner right on his heels in 4:15.99 for third.
You can watch the highlight reels for the PUMA Nitro Miles below!
PUMA’s Chi-Town Miles is unanimously the staff's favorite event that Chicago Area Runners Association puts on. The excitement is like nothing else, and with PUMA on board as an event sponsor for the next two years, our vision for what the event can be is even greater! Thank you to everyone who made the event possible; from volunteers to sponsors to event staff, we could not do it without you! Visit our race calendar for upcoming CARA events.