1909: Bicycle contests and sack races are among the events, and spectators line the outer rim of the track five deep to get a close-up view of the varied proceedings.
1910: The name of the Wahna Athletic Association is changed to Millrose Athletic Association, as the future begins to take shape.
1911: Controversy reigns at the Long Island summer event of the Millrose A.A. when the winning team in a half-mile relay for department stores is disqualified after officials learn it includes a runner not employed by the store.
1912: Long after the 13th Regiment Armory in Brooklyn is filled to capacity with 4000 spectators, fans keep pouring in. Organizers are chagrined to discover that “some unscrupulous person” has forged and sold hundreds of tickets.
1916: Mel Sheppard (center, in suit) is shown here with the 1916 Millrose A.A. cross-country team. Sheppard, long-time John Wanamaker recreational director who coached Millrose A.A. teams for more than 20 years, was a four-time Olympic gold medalist in 1908 and 1912, and the only American ever to win the Olympic 1500. The “Mel Sheppard 600,” still occasionally run at Millrose, is named for him.
1913: Dodging automobiles along the way, the world-renowned Hannes Kolehmainen of Finland wins a 10-mile road race that begins and ends on the floor of the Seventy-First Regiment Armory. His winning time for the race, held in conjunction with the Millrose A.A. games, is 51:25.
1914: Heavy demand for tickets leads organizers to move the meet to Madison Square Garden, where the seating capacity is 14,000. The event is a sellout.
1915: National A.A.U. champion Jo Loomis dominates the meet, winning the 70-Yard Dash and the high jump and barely being edged out in the hurdles.
1916: Jo Loomis, the star of the 1915 event, agrees to return, but only if he is promised that a taxi will be waiting for him at the exit. That way, he can finish his sprint race and keep on running directly into the cab, which will take him straight to Grand Central Station so he can catch the 20th Century Limited to Chicago for business the next day. Loomis runs the 70-Yard Dash at 9:30 p.m. and makes his 10 p.m. train. The next day, he learns by reading the Chicago papers that he was runner-up in the tight race.
1917: Making his first Madison Square Garden appearance, Joie Ray wins the Rodman Wanamaker 1.5-Mile Run in 6:45, a new World Record.
