Eamonn Coghlan...Still 'Chairman of the Boards'...

Back in the late 70's and early 80's in the USA, races like the indoor mile were huge events and attracted big crowds. One of the most famous races at the time was the Millrose Games Wanamaker Mile in New York. Over this distance, Eamonn Coghlan excelled and won the event in what was then a record seven times. For this achievement, he earned the nickname 'The Chairman of the Boards'.

In 2010, Bernard Lagat set a new record by winning the Wanamaker Mile eight times. He also set the fastest time in 2005 when he ran 3:52.87. It's also worth noting that Marcus O'Sullivan from Cork also won the Wanamaker Mile an impressive six times.

After the most recent event, I had a look back at the previous winning times. It's easy to just look at the number of victories and just say someone won it X times. But was the competition to win in more modern times as intense as when it was back in the 1980's?

Surely consistency must count for something? Who had the fastest average winning time? As you can see from the results below, Eamonn Coghlan won his Wamamaker Mile races on average over a second faster than Lagat and two seconds faster than O'Sullivan.

 The Master is still ' The Chairman of the Boards'.

The 2012 Wanamaker Mile in New York...Sat 11th Feb 2012

A video of the 2012 Wanamaker Mile from the Millrose Games at the Armoury in Upper Manhattan, New York can be seen here...


The Irish interest in this race was David McCarthy from Waterford who won an indoor mile recently in Boston in 3:55.75 .

 NYRR Wanamaker Mile 2012
  1 Centrowitz, Matthew          Nike                   3:53.92A
  2 Batty, Miles                 B.Y.U.                 3:54.54A
  3 Heath, Garrett               Saucony                3:55.24
  4 Kisorio, Silas               Unattached             3:55.84
  5 Van Ingen, Erik              Binghamton             3:56.37
  6 O'Hare, Chris                Tulsa                  3:56.63
  7 Levins, Cam                  So. Utah               3:57.16
  8 McCarthy, David              Providence             3:57.86  
  9 Milne, Taylor                New Balance            4:00.78
 10 Merber, Kyle                 Columbia               4:02.83
 11 Boylan-Pett, Liam            N.J.-N.Y.              4:10.86
 12 Olmedo, Manuel               Nike                   4:16.71

Post race interview with David McCarthy...


Another race with an Irish interest was the Byron Dyce College Men's Distance Medley Relay. John Coghlan and Mark English made up part of the DCU team.       
Finals
  1 Villanova University  'A'                           9:38.02 
  2 Dublin City University  'A'                         9:39.68 
  3 La Salle University  'A'                            9:48.52 
  4 University of Albany  'A'                           9:49.90 
  5 Duke University  'A'                                9:52.96        
  6 Manhattan College  'A'                             10:15.54

Millrose games and the Wanamaker mile...

An event called the Millrose Games is being held in a 5,000-seat armory in Upper Manhattan, New York on Saturday. Back in the 1980's, the Millrose Games were the centre of indoor track and field in the United States and Eamonn Coghlan was one it's biggest stars. He won the famous Wanamaker Mile seven times and earned himself the title Chairman of the Boards as a result.

Eamonn Coghlan will be there again on Saturday to watch his son John in action after he ran a sub-four-minute mile indoors for the first time in Boston last month. John will be running anchor for Dublin City University in the distance medley relay at 7:40pm (Sunday morning 00:40 am Irish Time).

The main event, the Wanamaker Mile starts at 9:49 pm (Sunday 02:49am Irish Time). The Irish interest in this is David McCarthy from Waterford who won an indoor mile recently in 3:55. Video in an earlier post.

If you are interested in watching the games, I'll have the link up live here on the blog. Coverage of the Millrose games start at 9pm Irish Time on Saturday evening and I'll put the video link up then.

The complete list of events can be seen HERE. Remember that those times are for the USA. Add five hours for the Irish time.

Eamonn Coghlan to return to the Millrose Games in New York

The Millrose Games is an annual indoor athletics meet (track and field) held on the first Friday in February in New York City. They will be held at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, after having taken place in Madison Square Garden 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. The featured event is the Wanamaker Mile.

August 17, 1985 when Frank O'Mara, Marcus O'Sullivan, Ray Flynn and Eamonn Coghlan broke the world 4xMile relay record in a time of 15:49.08. It remains the world record 26 years later.

Former Olympian and 5,000 metre World Champion Eamonn Coghlan is going back to the Millrose Games in New York, this time as an 'adopted coach.' The seven-time champion of the Wanamaker Mile is helping bring a talented Irish squad from Dublin City University to compete in the Byron Dyce College Men’s Distance Medley Relay in the 105th Millrose Games, Feb. 11, 2012 at The Armory.

"I've known these kids since they were young teenagers," said Coghlan, whose son, John, will be running the 1600m anchor. "I've seen them grow up. The fact that they are all in school together, they can see what running in New York City is all about. It's exciting for their team from Dublin University to go to the Millrose Games and have a chance to do exceptionally well. "The Irish used to come to the Millrose Games to support me, Marcus O'Sullivan (Wanamaker Mile champion in 1986, '88, '89, '90 and '92 and now head coach at Villanova) and Ron Delany (winner of four consecutive Wanamaker Mile titles, 1956-59). People are not aware of the talent coming out of Ireland. It might get them back on the scene again and they potentially could make the Olympic Team come next July."

Recognized as Ireland's 'Dream Team' and Gold Medal winner of the Irish Under-23 Cross Country team competition, the Dublin City squad consists of Irish Junior 800m record holder Mark English (1:47.09), Brian Gregan, Darren McBrearty and 2010 U-23 Irish 1500 meters champion John Coghlan. Dublin City University coach Enda Fitzpatrick will also make the trip.

Earlier this year Eamonn Coghlan introduced to Armory Foundation president Dr. Norb Sander the idea of bringing an Irish team to the Millrose Games. "He asked me if I would be in on the floor activities," Coghlan recalled. "I said we need a bit of the Irish influence back in the Millrose Games again. I said, 'What about bringing an Irish team over?'" Thus Coghlan, nicknamed the Chairman of the Boards for winning the Wanamaker Mile in 1977, '79-81, '83, '85 and '87, will be in attendance to support the talented Irish outfit. "My role there is as a parent, coach and a nervous dad," Coghlan said. "I just want to be with Norb and help keep the Millrose Games going. Enda would like my influence to be with the kids the day before and calm them down, motivate them and help them get ready. "The Millrose Games are close to my heart for obvious reasons. My success in the Millrose Games has been the making of Eamonn Coghlan. Not a week goes by when someone doesn't say something to me about winning the Wanamaker Mile."

The Irish Team will be competing against the country's top college programs including Eamonn Coghlan's alma mater Villanova, Virginia, Duke, Providence, Columbia and Albany. The week prior to the Millrose Games, the Irish team will participate individually in the New Balance Collegiate Invitational (Feb. 3-4) at The Armory.