Olympian, World-Record Holder, and three-time U.S. Champion Ben Blankenship launches non-profit organization Endless Mileage Project
EUGENE, OR – Ben Blankenship today unveiled his non-profit the Endless Mileage Project, an organization dedicated to the intersection of sustainability and the running community.
Endless Mileage will focus on two endeavors to foster sustainable environments and programming that inspire the next generation of track & field athletes to break barriers.
The Fast Forest will act as a visible recognition of accomplishing one of the most storied feats in track & field: the 4-minute and 4:30 barriers in the mile. A tree has been planted for every historic barrier-breaker, and trees will continue to be allocated as future generations accomplish the feat. With the support of Willamalane Park and Recreation District, the orchards of the Fast Forest live within Dorris Ranch (205 Dorris St, Springfield, OR 97477). Dorris Ranch is a natural historic preservation site, living history farm, a working commercial filbert orchard, and a public park with a rich history in the Oregon running community.
“Selecting 4:30 as the women’s barrier for the Fast Forest made perfect sense,” says Endless Mileage Vice President Stephanie Garcia. “As a track athlete, the 4:00 barrier in the mile for men was legendary, but finding an equivalent quest as a female miler was an important part of validating our experience on the track as well. Targeting a sub-4:30 mile felt like a true test, requiring raw speed and grit as well as proper endurance to enable us to hold a hot pace for four laps of the track. As more and more women break through this goal, there will of course, be a next jump up – a more daunting time barrier to target. For now, it’s so gratifying to cheer on other women as they attempt their first sub-4:30.”
To date, 692 trees have been planted in these orchards to recognize the 692 American men, women, and nonbinary athletes who have achieved the aforementioned times, respectively, from 1957 through 2021. In future years, as times are ratified by World Athletics, additional trees will be planted per annum. For its part, Endless Mileage will make a donation to Willamalane on behalf of every athlete who breaks these barriers. All funds donated from Endless Mileage will be used to preserve and maintain Dorris Ranch.
Every tree in the Fast Forest will be associated with an athlete via a biodegradable hanging wood…
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