Collegiate Times

The Draper Mile offers the Blacksburg running community a competitive way to end the summer with a race in the heart of downtown.

The one-mile road race occurs annually alongside Blacksburg’s Steppin’ Out Festival during the first weekend of August. 

Participants are separated into two racing divisions based on speed, with the faster group starting their race ten minutes before the other group. Runners start the race outside Children’s Nest Pre-School and run south down Draper Road to finish near Bolo’s Café & Bakery in the midst of the street festival.

Beginning in 1982, the 2011 Draper Mile, which will take place on Aug. 6, marks the 30th anniversary of the race.

“I was in Blacksburg when the then-president of Blacksburg Striders came up with the idea of the Draper Mile,” said Beth Howell, runner and long-time meet director of the Draper Mile. “I said that he was crazy to have a race finish in a street fair. Since then, I have been involved with the race every year in one way or another.”

Many changes have occurred since the genesis of the Draper Mile. In 1982, 97 runners participated. 

The popular race has seen larger numbers nearly every year. 

In 2010, 251 runners came out to run together. However, with these larger numbers, further changes had to be made.

“For years, we had only one event limited to the first 150 participants,” Howell said. “Several years ago, however, we formed two running heats, much like in track, so that we can accommodate more runners.”

The 30th anniversary race will potentially incorporate another change.

New racing technology in the form of automatic transponder chips will shorten the amount of time to gather each racer’s time to determine the top finishers in each age group and the top overall finishers.

An appealing aspect of the Draper Mile is that the course goes downhill along Draper Road without any upward slopes or large hills to climb. 

The constantly descending slope is beneficial for speed, making the race an opportunity to set personal records that likely could not be set in other road races.

In 1987, Gary Cobb broke the four minute threshold and finished at an extremely impressive three minutes and 54 seconds. 

Over the years, many runners have finished barely over four minutes, but so far Cobb has been the only individual to finish in less than four minutes.

“You will run around 10 to 12 seconds faster than you would for a track mile,” said Kimberly Homer, a member of Blacksburg Striders who in 2008 placed 2nd in the women’s 45-49 age division with a time of five minutes and 33 seconds.

“I would encourage others to do it because it will likely be your fastest mile,” Homer said.  

The Draper Mile is also unique in its diversity of runners. 

Rather than merely having high school and college age runners participate, the race has both the young and the old pound the pavement of Draper Road.

Homer, whose three young daughters have also raced in the Draper Mile, stated that racers can be anywhere from eight years old to over 85.

One of the members of Blacksburg Striders along with Homer is John Hosner, who set the men’s age group record for ages 55-59 with a time of four minutes and 46 seconds during the first Draper Mile in 1982. Hosner returned to set another men’s age group record 29 years later in 2010, finishing first in the ages 85 and over with a time of seven minutes and 38 seconds.     

Spectators will see more than a difference of ages between the runners, however. 

Many racers choose to dress up for the event, with runners wearing costumes such as a banana suit. In the 2010 event, one of the top finishing women crossed the finish line donning a ballet tutu.

So, whether you are a competitive runner seeking to sprint through the finish line or a novice looking for an opportunity to enter the Steppin’ Out Festival with flair, the Draper Mile has proven to be an exciting event for runners of every kind.

A version of this article appeared in the Aug 4 issue of the Collegiate Times.