By Citius Mag Staff
July 26, 2017
Yesterday was quite the historic day for the Blue Jeans Mile and we admit that we did not expect this new gimmick to take off as quickly as it has.
Pierce Flanders lowers his World Record
When we first came up with the idea for this event, we had no idea that there was a crew of kids out in Topeka, Kansas did one last year and Pierce Flanders won in 4:36. Sandy Roberts opened the Blue Jeans Mile mainstream floodgates with his 4:43 in Raleigh North Carolina last month and will be running in the Citius Mag x Raleigh Denim Mile at the Sir Walter Miler on Aug. 4. We’ve been acknowledging Roberts’ time as a world lead due to Flander’s record from last year. Well, Flanders was back at it again. On Monday afternoon, he spiked up and put on his jeans en route to a 4:32.
As you can see in the video above, he dominated the competition and managed to get under his time for last year to repeat as champion. It was great to see the fan support out there for the boys in Topeka and they appear to be well aware of the event’s growth as one man says. “He’s on pace for a new world record” after 800 meters.
Flanders is just 18 years old so he also broke Ben Nagel’s world junior record, which was set over the weekend.
In that same race Luke Jaramillo (17) and Ryan Brown (15) ran 5:10 for second and third place as well as the sixth and seventh fastest times of 2017. Fourth place finisher Ian Cropp (17) was not too far behind in 5:12.
Here’s a look at the new world leading list:
- Pierce Flanders – 4:34.3
- Sandy Roberts – 4:43
- Ben Nagel – 4:49.0
- Brandon Sotelo – 4:54
- Tucker ??? – 5:04.06
- Luke Jaramillo – 5:10
- Rylan Brown – 5:10
- Ian Cropp – 5:12
- Ryan Sterner – 5:17
The list will get longer on Wednesday as we received word that about seven or eight guys will be rocking jeans at the Club Northwest All Comers Mile in Shoreline, Washington.
Kudos to Citwit Tucker, who ran a regular mile at 6 a.m., Blue Jeans Mile at Noon and Beer Mile at 6 p.m. on July 14. Our apologies for not seeing this until now but he clocked an impressive time and just missed sub-five. Here’s his post-race interview. Enjoy the accent.
Post. blue jeans mile interview. Thanks to Cole for the interview. pic.twitter.com/zi1zgt7BFZ
— Tuck (@Tuckerrrr_) July 15, 2017
Staats Back At It
Two weeks ago, Anna Staats became a pioneer in the Blue Jeans Mile scene by becoming the first woman to run the event. She ran 6:13.75. We talked to her after the race and she didn’t rule out ever doing another one. We didn’t think that it would be this soon. On Tuesday night, Staats ran a second Blue Jeans Mile and was joined by some friends at her country club. Perry Rapp ran 5:35.04 for third place overall among non-jean competitors. Staats demolished her previous record and broke the six-minute barrier. She ran 5:56.56.
Here’s the best part…
We now have a women’s masters record. Liza Recto is 61 years old and ran an 8:08.51 Blue Jeans Mile. There’s no such thing as being too old to put on some blue jeans and run a mile. It’s fun for all ages.
Records threatened in New York City
New York may not have a Diamond League meet anymore but it will have a big Blue Jeans Mile race presented by the Lost Boys Track Club on Thursday night at the East River Track. Check in starts at 7:30 p.m. with multiple heats set to take place for the men and women. The men’s field will reportedly include at least two runners with personal bests under 4:11 so 4:32 is certainly in jeopardy.
One of those contenders is one of our own.
People have been training.
If you’d like to participate in tomorrow’s race at East River, shoot us a direct message on Twitter or Instagram.
We’ll be live streaming the NYC Blue Jeans Mile on Facebook and Periscope (available through Twitter) so be sure to follow us there on Thursday night.
Citius Mag Staff