The Draper Mile

The Draper Mile is a one-mile road race held in conjunction with the Downtown Blacksburg’s Steppin’ Out Festival, an annual event held during the first weekend in August. The course is mostly downhill, starting and ending on Draper Road in Blacksburg, with the finish in the middle of the street festival. Times are about 10–12 seconds faster than for a track mile. | Course Map (PDF) The start is marked with an A, the 1/4 mile is at Airport, the 1/2 mile is just before Eakin (703 Draper), the 3/4 mile is at Clay, and the Finish is at Jackson.

The first Draper Mile was in 1982, with 97 participants. In 2009 and 2010, there was a record 251 participants. (But in 2009 and 2010, there were two races, while in 1982 there was only one.)



Logo by Matt Howard.
August 3, 2012 (Friday, 6:30 p.m.): The 31st annual Draper Mile. There were 225 runners in the two races. It was raining at 5:30 PM but the rain stopped at about 6:20 PM. The runs and race were delayed ten minutes each, but awards were given before 7:30 PM. Here are the overall results and the age group results.


Draper Mile Records — including 2012 results (PDF).


Results from Previous Years


Logo by Matt Howard.

The 30th Annual Draper Mile was held on Friday, August 5, 2011. There were 221 runners in the two races for our first chip-timed race, and the predicted rain did not happen. Thaks to the chip timing, preliminary (but complete) results were prepared before 7:30 PM. Here are the results: Overall | Age Groups.
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Logo by Matt Howard.

The 2010 Draper Mile was held on Friday, August 6. There were 251 runners in the two mile races. The dew-point temperature was below 70 for the first time in four days. Here are the results. | Photos from the two mile races and the fun run. | VIDEO!!!.



Logo by Matt Howard.

Click here for the results of the 2009 Draper Mile.



Logo by Molly Ison.

Click here for the results of the 2008 Draper Mile.


Click here for the results of the 2007 Draper Mile.



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Last updated 29 July 2011