The Millrose Games are an annual indoor athletics (track & field) meet held each February in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Among the world's most prestigious indoor track meets, the games started taking place at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, after having taken place in

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

from 1914 to 2011. The games were started when employees of the New York City branch of Wanamaker's department store formed the Millrose Track Club to hold a meet. Today, the Millrose Games feature elite competitions for athletes at all levels, including youth, club, masters, high school, collegiate, and professional levels. The featured event is the Wanamaker Mile.

History

The Millrose Games began in 1908 at a local armory the same year when its parent, the Millrose Athletic Association, was formed as a recreational club by the employees of the John Wanamaker Department Store. "Millrose" was the name of the country home of Rodman Wanamaker in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania. In 1914, after overflowing the armory the year before, the Millrose Games moved to

, and until 2011 was the oldest continuous sporting event held there. For 10 years beginning in 1916, the Wanamaker 1 ½ Mile race was a highlight of the meet. Run for the last time in 1925, the final edition was won by

Paavo Nurmi Paavo Johannes Nurmi (; 13 June 1897 – 2 October 1973) was a Finland, Finnish middle-distance running, middle-distance and long-distance running, long-distance runner. He was called the "Flying Finn" because he dominated distance running in th ...

, the nine-time Olympic gold medalist from Finland. In 1926, the distance was shortened, and the Wanamaker Mile was born. It has often been run at 10 p.m., a carryover from the days beginning in the 1930s when noted sports announcer Ted Husing would broadcast the race live on his 10 p.m. radio show. The Wanamaker Mile has been won by over 44 different men, including Glenn Cunningham, Kip Keino, Tony Waldrop, Filbert Bayi, Steve Scott, Noureddine Morceli,

Bernard Lagat Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat (born December 12, 1974) is a Kenyan-American former Middle-distance running, middle and long-distance running, long-distance runner. Lagat was born in Kapsabet, Kenya. Prior to his List of eligibility transfers in at ...

, Marcus O'Sullivan, Ron Delany, and Eamonn Coghlan. Coghlan was known as the “Chairman of the Boards” for his dominance on the old wooden Millrose track and won the mile seven times, a feat surpassed only by Bernard Lagat, who won his eighth Wanamaker Mile in 2010. Some highlights in Millrose history include Ray Conger's 1929 upset win over Nurmi in the Wanamaker Mile; pole vaulter Cornelius Warmerdam becoming the first person to vault indoors, in 1942; John Thomas hitting the first high jump, in 1959; Mary Decker’s run to a 1500-meter World Indoor Record to encouragement from the crowd, in 1980; John Uelses becoming the first person to pole vault the height of 16 feet; Carl Lewis in 1984 breaking the World Indoor Record with a jump of , 10.25 inches, a mark that still stands; Eamonn Coghlan notching his then record seventh Wanamaker Mile in 1987; Bernard Lagat breaking Coghlan's record with his eighth Wanamaker Mile triumph in 2010, and Stacy Dragila setting a late-night pole vault world record in 2001. For 70 of its first 96 years, the role of Millrose meet director was a father-son affair: Fred Schmertz directed the meet in 1934, passing on that position to his son Howard in 1975. In 2003, the title of Meet Director Emeritus was bestowed on the younger Schmertz. In May 2011 Norbert Sanders, the President of the Millrose Games, announced that, starting January 2012, the games would be moved to the Armory in Washington Heights, at 168th Street, and that a new all-day Saturday schedule would replace the Friday evening format. The Millrose Games, operated by The Armory Foundation, are also notable for their rigid anti- doping policies. In 2017, Millrose race director Ray Flynn told an

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

reporter, "We have a mandate that we don't invite any athlete that has had any drug history in their past. We want to keep our meet free of any athlete that really has a violation." The Millrose Games were first added to the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold Standard in 2022. At the 2023 Millrose Games, Dr. Anthony Fauci attended and was honored with The Armory's Presidents Award. At the 2024 Millrose Games, the President of

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

, Sebastian Coe, was given The Armory's Presidents Award.

Editions

Meeting directors

The Millrose Games has had ten meeting directors over its rich history.

World records

Over the course of its history, five world records and three world bests have been set at the Millrose Games.

Meeting records

Men

Women

Notes

References

External links

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Millrose Games & Wanamaker Mile
{{World Athletics Indoor Tour Recurring sporting events established in 1908 Track and field competitions in the United States Sports competitions in New York City Annual sporting events in the United States IAAF Indoor Permit Meetings Track and field in New York City World Athletics Indoor Tour meetings Indoor track and field in the United States 1908 establishments in New York City Sports competitions in Manhattan Events at Madison Square Garden