It certainly wasn’t the fastest Congress Avenue mile, but it was-by far-the biggest. For the first time in its history, the Mercedes Benz Congress Mile was part of the Freescale Austin Marathon Distance Challenge and the prospective marathoners flocked to the starting line for the first in a series of races that leads up to the marathon in mid-February.

A record field of more than 1000 started the mile-long race from the steps of the Capitol, down Congress to the finish on the Congress Avenue Bridge. Even though a world-class field was missing, there were still some scintillating times.

Leading the way was Chris Dugan, a 25-yerar-old steeplechaser, who ran 4:17.8 to just edge out Barry Kahn by less than a half second to record the fastest time of the morning in the final heat. Dugan and Kahn were followed to the finish by two former UT runners; Steve Sisson in 4:24.5 and Donnie O’Neal two seconds later.

The fastest woman miler on the warm, humid morning was 22-year-old Nora Colligan with a time of 5:02.6. Colligan, who recently moved to town, ran in college for Northwestern University of the Big 10.

Top masters were Richard Mendez, 40, who ran a superb 4:33.1 and Cathy Smith who recorded a 5:17 mile to lead the women.

PRs were the order of the day for many of the milers/marathoners, but possibly the most outstanding time was by 90-year-old Jerzy Kuszakiewicz who turned in a 8:52 mile which is a world age group road record (although the record could not be confirmed).

Results

• Fall 2004 results
• Fall Race – Overall
• Fall Race – Searchable
• Fall Race – Age Group

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