Main Street Mile set for July 27

While seasoned runners may see the race as a chance to test their speed, the event is open to people of all ages and fitness levels. Some may prefer jogging the course or simply walking it.

Participants will cover a course that begins at the Milton ball field and ends at the Brown Street parking lot.

The distance they will do actually is 1.5 kilometres, just over 100 metres less than the English mile.

One-and-a-half km (or 1,500 metres) is often referred to as the “metric mile” because official distances in track and field are measured using the metric system, not the English one, and the 1,500 is the closest event to the traditional mile, which, in metric terms, is 1,609.344 metres long.

In any case, the Yarmouth event will get underway at 8:30 a.m.

Registration is $10 per person and there may be a family rate, although organizers were still working out the details as of last week.

Participants are encouraged to collect sponsors, with the proceeds again going to the sports heritage association.

Gloria Goodwin, the association’s president, welcomes the Main Street Mile, saying fundraising is important for the organization, particularly after its purchase this year of the building at 435 Main St., where the group now has its memorabilia exhibit.

An official opening for the site is to be held Monday, July 21, although the building is already open. The facility’s summer hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.

Asked what visitors like about the sports heritage display or what draws them to it, Goodwin notes that people tend to have a family connection to the Yarmouth area’s athletic history, an uncle maybe or perhaps a grandparent who played sports.

“’My grandfather played baseball – do you have a picture of my grandfather?’ That kind of thing, especially the younger ones,” Goodwin said. “That’s what gets them in.”

Others may like to check out the sports display from time to time to see if there’s something different to see, which can be the case, given the large amount of material the association has accumulated and continues to collect.

Of the new location, Goodwin said, “We wanted to stay downtown. We said that’s the focus. We want to stay downtown, where people can see us.”

Referring to the Main Street Mile, she credits Michael Gorman with developing the idea for a new athletic event and fundraiser for the sports heritage association.

“We thought, wow, this is terrific,” she said, “and the best part about it is his age. He’s young and he’s got an idea. Most of us are in our sixties and seventies and we sort of look at things in old ways. When somebody comes in with fresh ideas, it sort of picks us up.”