The Bring Back the Mile Tour 2013 is due to open on Saturday (February 2) at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston and at the Camel City Indoor Mile, part of the Hilton Garden Invitational collegiate track meet in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

"From Boston to Santa Barbara and stops in between, the Bring Back the Mile Tour 2013 will provide an excellent platform to further promote the distance that Americans 'get' and love," said Bring Back the Mile founder Ryan Lamppa.

"Each event on the tour will engage and entertain runners of all ages and abilities, the media, fans and the general public, and we welcome and thank all the inaugural tour events. Go Mile, America's distance!"

The organisers of Bring Back the Mile believe the Mile holds a special place in athletics and beyond.

Bernard Lagat moves up on fellow Kenyan Elkanah Angwenyi in the 2005 Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games in New York City

"No running distance, or field event for that matter, has the history, the appeal, the 'magic' of the mile," said a spokesman.

"The first sub-four minute mile by Great Britain's Roger Bannister in 1954 is regarded as the greatest individual athletic achievement of the 20th century and no other event has produced an equivalent of the sub-four minute mile standard in the sport, in the media and in the public's mind.

"Over the past decade-plus, unfortunately, the mile has lost some of its lustre, and thus, the Bring Back the Mile mission is: To return the mile to prominence on the American sports and cultural landscape by elevating and celebrating the Mile to create a national movement."

After the initial meeting in Boston, the tour will travel to Winston-Salem, the Millrose Games in New York, the Ray Flynn Mile in Johnson City, Minneapolis, St Louis, Santa Barbara, Mammoth Lakes, Arlington, Charlevoix, Pittsburgh, Falmouth and Duluth, with the concluding gala at Santa Barbara.

More details can be viewed by clicking here. 

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