Mile News


April is the foolest month…and spotting the spoofs is not always straightforward

April 02, 2015

Just for a fleeting second...the story put out yesterday by Bring Back the Mile had me expostulating.

By Mike Rowbottom, Inside the Games

I like to think I would have spotted the one about the Olympic Games being replaced by the Hunger Games.

Likewise the story which appeared in the media yesterday about Athletics Kenya being disbanded. And about Usain Bolt - remember him? - applying for U.S. citizenship.

But that's the thing about April Fool's Day jokes. You sometimes get caught off guard.

Just for a fleeting second - and for no more than that before anyone decides to get smart - the story put out yesterday by the U.S. sporting group Bring Back the Mile had me expostulating.

Their standard press release format detailed a decision take by USATF President Stephanie Hightower to ban the Mile from the sport in the United States, a decision Bring Back the Mile described as "misguided, undemocratic" with the additional request that its supporters help to fight the ban by using the hashtag #StopSteph.

Misguided! Too right, I mean, well, Stephanie, I mean, spoke to her on more than one occasion, spoke to her in Birmingham before London 2012 about the decision to use the city as a training base for U.S. athletes, great ex-hurdler, sensible woman... what was she thinking?

And then, in the quote that followed, I saw the reference to Louis XIV and the Mile turned into a smile.

Continue reading at: insidethegames.biz

Read the original BBTM article HERE.

Tags: stephanie hightower (2) , april fools (7)

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Return the Mile to prominence on the American & worldwide sports and cultural landscape by elevating and celebrating the Mile to create a movement.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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