Birthday: 10/29/94 Mile PR: 3:47.64 (road) - 2022
Metric Mile (1500m) PR: 3:34.63 - 2023
High School: Versailles HS '13
Hometown: Versailles, OH
College: University of Oregon '18
Current Residence: Seattle, WA
Sam Prakel was the 2025 USA Indoor 1500m runner-up in 3:39.14, his best finish at a track national championship.
In 2024, he finished national runner-up at the 2024 USA 5K Road Championships in New York City, clocking 13:39.
In 2023, Sam placed third at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix Tommy Leonard Memorial Mile, running 3:53.58 in Boston, and later, won the USA Indoor 3000m title and also the 1500m title after the winner Josh Thompson was DQed. In April, Prakel won his second USA road Mile title at the Grand Blue Mile, clocking 4:02 and setting the first official road Mile world record (4:01.21). In May, Sam won the inaugural adidas Running City Mile in 4:03.40, and in October, he won the bronze medal at the inaugural World Road Running Championships Mile, running 3:56.43.
In 2022, he placed 9th in the 1500m at the World Indoor Championships. In late May, he finished 4th in the Prefontaine Classic 1500m, setting an outdoor personal record of 3:36.43. On July 2, Prakel defended his Downtown Yakima Mile title, clocking 3:51 (3:50.5), the fastest Mile recorded on Washington soil, and pocketing $10.000 ($5000 win and $5000 time bonus). In September 2022, Sam also placed third at the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile in 3:50.4, and in December, he ended his season at the Kalakaua Merrie Mile, finishing second (3:57).
At the 2021 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, he finished 4th in the 1500 meters, clocking a 3:36.36 personal record, and in April, he won the West Coast Relays 1500m in 3:36.86. In July, Sam was runner-up at the Guardian Mile (3:50, a PR). In late August, he won the Downtown Yakima Mile, running 3:55, and two weeks later, finished fourth at the 5th Avenue Mile (3:51).
In 2020, Prakel won the USA 1 Mile Road Championship, his first national title, clocking 3:58.3 at the Blue Oval Showcase in Des Moines, Iowa.
In 2019, the young rising U.S. star finished a close third at the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile, running 3:51.8, and in August, he was runner-up at the Sir Walter Miler in 3:54.90. In March at Boston University, Prakel produced a 3:50.94 Mile personal record to finish third in the race where Yomif Kejelcha smashed the indoor world record with his 3:47.01 clocking.
A 5-time All-American at the University of Oregon, he finished 4th and 3rd in the Mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2016 & 2018, respectively. Also, in 2016 at Oregon, he earned Academic All-American, First-Team honors.
For Versailles High School in Ohio, Sam won six state titles: two cross country (2011-12), one 800m (2013), two 1600m (2012-13) and one 3200m (2012).
FUN FACT: In 2019, Prakel produced the most track sub-4s with six (6).
Record event prize money awarded; record four U.S. high schoolers sub-4 in same race; Nuguse blasts U.S. indoor & outdoor Mile records; Kipyegon shatters women’s outdoor Mile record, Hiltz U.S. record; official road Mile world records recognized, inaugural road Mile World Championship and more!
... Read More comments
"The road Mile is a very American event and we're quite experienced in them. I'm very proud of myself.”
From World Athletics
Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji and USA’s Hobbs Kessler shattered the world records to win two thrilling road Mile races at the World Road Running Championships Riga 23 on...
Read More comments
The inaugural records were set at the 2023 Grand Blue Mile in Des Moines, Iowa
From World Athletics
The winning times from this year’s USA Road Mile Championships – 4:27.97 for Nikki Hiltz and 4:01.21 for Sam Prakel – have been ratified as the inaugural world records for the road Mile.
The...
Read More comments
Hiltz sets event and USA Championship records at Grand Blue Mile; $27,500 prize purse awarded
From USATF
DES MOINES – It was an evening of big finishes in Des Moines on Tuesday evening, as Nikki Hiltz and Sam Prakel kicked to victory at the USATF 1 Mile Road Championships hosted by the 14th...
Read More comments
Grand Blue Mile hosts national title tilt for seventh straight year; $25,000 prize purse with $5000 for each national champion
From Drake Relays
DES MOINES, Iowa -- The USA Track & Field 1 Mile Road Championships, hosted as part of the Grand Blue Mile presented by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue...
Read More comments
Record 21 men sub-4 minutes and 18 women sub-4:30; NYPD Running Club and charity runners participate in 9/11 Memorial Mile; more than 8,500 finishers at world’s largest, most iconic road Mile
From NYRR
NEW YORK – Olympians and World Championships medalists Jake Wightman and Laura Muir led a...
Read More comments
Donaghu edges Camarena for women’s crown; 8 men sub-4 minutes; $35,000 in prize money awarded
Race summary from Yakima Herald-Republic & BBTM
YAKIMA, Wash. – For the third consecutive event, the Downtown Yakima Mile produced the fastest Mile on Washington soil. This time, Sam Prakel, who...
Read More comments
Nick Willis’ record 19th consecutive year sub-4, Hobbs Kessler – 12th U.S. high schooler sub-4 – sets prep indoor Mile record, two more father-son sub-4 combo club members and NCAA Indoor champion Cole Hocker leads youth charge highlight another pandemic year
By Ryan Lamppa, Bring Back the Mile...
Read More comments
Women’s race champion clocks fastest Mile on Washington state soil to collect $5000 bonus
Race reports by Scott Spruill & Luke Thompson, Yakima Herald-Republic & BBTM
YAKIMA, Wash. – Reaching North First Street, Nikki Hiltz knew it was time to go. Or very likely lose.
So when the road Mile...
Read More comments
"Felt great to be able to close down the last 400, and finish with some confidence 4 weeks out from Trials."
WATERTOWN, Mass. - The 2021 adidas Boost Boston Games kicked off with middle distance action Sunday morning at Watertown outside the city center. The nation’s fastest high schoolers...
Read More comments
Whoever shows up on the starting line at Hayward Field, rest assured the guys will put on a great show at the U.S. Olympic Trials
By Jeff Hollobaugh, Track & Field News
It's not outlandish to project that one of the most-anticipated events at June’s U.S. Olympic Trials will be the men’s 1500....
Read More comments
Prakel, Lipari to defend titles in Des Moines on Wednesday, April 21; $15,000 prize purse available
From Drake Relays
Once again, Des Moines will host the USA Track & Field (USATF) 1 Mile Road Championships presented by Toyota, with some of the world's most elite runners competing for a...
Read More comments
Longstanding women’s U.S. indoor Mile record shattered; 11th U.S. high schooler sub-4; two outdoor Masters age group world records; COVID-19 causes cancelled events, limited racing year
By Ryan Lamppa, Bring Back the Mile
The main storyline of 2020 was obviously the COVID-19 pandemic and its...
Read More comments
Three men go sub-4; Lipari sets national championship record
Report from USATF
DES MOINES, Iowa – At a rare 2020 USA Championship, thanks to the Drake Blue Oval Showcase presented by Mediacom, Sam Prakel and Emily Lipari won USATF 1 Mile Road Championship crowns, clocking 3 minutes, 58.3...
Read More comments
Drake Blue Oval Showcase presented by Mediacom hosts title tilt with stadium finish; $10,000 prize purse
From Drake Relays
Despite a four-month postponement, Des Moines will reprise its role as the host of the USA Track & Field 1 Mile Road Championship when the nation's best Milers compete...
Read More comments
In thrilling finishes, Jenny Simpson breaks event record by clocking 4:16.1 to edge Elinor Purrier, while Willis wins in photo-finish over Chris O’Hare & Sam Prakel; event & world record 9,275 participants raced across the 24 heats at the world’s most iconic road Mile
From NYRR
NEW YORK –...
Read More comments
Ethiopian breaks legend Hicham El Guerrouj's 22-year-old record; American Johnny Gregorek runner-up also sub-3:50
From IAAF
Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha smashed the world indoor record for the Mile, clocking 3:47.01 at the Bruce Lehane Invitational in Boston, Massachusetts, on Sunday afternoon,...
Read More comments
“You run a time and you think, ‘I could go faster.’ So, I think it’s always going to be a challenge, and I think I am always going to challenge myself to run it faster.”
By Maggie Vanoni, Daily Emerald
At the Columbia Challenge in New York last month, Oregon redshirt sophomore Mick Stanovsek...
Read More comments
"I missed the big goal outdoors and that is something I'm still bummed about. Hopefully, I can make up for that this year."
By Ken Goe, The Oregonian
EUGENE - Oregon senior Sam Prakel figures to be a contender in the Mile at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in two weeks in College...
Read More commentsReturn the Mile to prominence on the American & worldwide sports and cultural landscape by elevating and celebrating the Mile to create a movement.
ELEVATE
Bring Back the Mile as the premier event in the sport, and increase interest in and media coverage of the Mile for both those who love the distance as well as the general public.
CELEBRATE
Bring Back the Mile to celebrate the storied distance and to recognize the people who made and make the Mile great and to promote Mile events and the next generation of U.S. Milers.
NATIONAL MOVEMENT
Bring Back the Mile to create a national movement for the Mile as America’s Distance, to inspire Americans to run the Mile as part of their fitness program and to replace the 1600 meters at High School State Track & Field Meets across the country.
Become a Mile Maniac member or a BBTM sponsor today! Join us, and go Mile!