When the Saskatoon Road Runners Association set out to host a road mile (1.61km) in 1984 to pay homage to Olympian David Bailey — the first Canadian to break the four-minute barrier over the distance — organizers were determined to find a fast route. The inaugural race ultimately took place on a stretch of Whiteswan Drive along the South Saskatchewan River that drops 11m from start to finish.
“The gradual downhill nature of the course definitely helps to keep the legs moving when you start to feel the lactic acid burn building up,” says SRRA board member Greg Fenty. “The gradual downhill also makes for very impressive mile times.”
The Whiteswan Mile was on hiatus for a number of years before returning to the Saskatoon racing calendar last summer. This year’s event takes place on Sunday July 6 and includes a men’s and women’s invitational mile with cash prizes for the province’s fastest runners, a community mile and a 400m race for kids aged 7 to 12. The community mile will present prizes for age group winners plus prediction mile awards for runners and walkers who get closest to their predicted time without using a watch.
If you’ve never raced a mile before, here’s why you should consider adding the event to your running bucket list:
It’s a chance to try something new
“There are a lot of different events on the running calendar to choose from, but most of them are the 5 and 10 km distance,” Fenty says. “The Saskatoon Road Runners decided we would offer something different for the running community and bring back the Whiteswan Mile. The mile is a pretty unique distance in the road running world, so the Whiteswan Mile offers local runners the opportunity to do an event they most likely will otherwise never get a chance to run.”
Plus, if you’ve never raced a mile before, you’re guaranteed to clock a personal best.
It’s achievable for everyone
Whether you are training to race on the track, the roads or the trails, the mile is an achievable distance for everyone and doesn’t need to disrupt other training and racing plans.
“A road mile can provide the opportunity for a track runner to transition to road races and it gives the seasoned road runner something new to try,” Fenty says.
It’s over quickly
“Running 10km or more can take a really long time. With the mile, it seems like it’s over as quickly as it started,” Fenty says.
“It is a really euphoric feeling of wonder for a hardened distance runner to reach the finish line in such a short time. The short distance results in a great sense of comradery and accomplishment at the finish line. Everyone crosses the finish line — from first to last — in the space of five minutes, so the celebration at the finish line includes everyone. It is a very different atmosphere from other events.” (You can view the action from last year’s finish line in this video).
While no one has broken four minutes at the Whiteswan Mile, Saskatoon athletes have nonetheless logged some pretty speedy times on the fast course. The record is 4:15:5, set by Louis Christ in 1985, and Kaden Nilson came close to that mark last year, running 4:17.8.
Registration for the 2025 Whiteswan Mile is now open via Race Roster.
