1939: As expected, Glenn Cunningham wins his sixth Wanamaker Mile, but the 2-Mile race is anything but routine. Gil Dodds, an unknown, runs with the leaders but wobbles and sways all over the track, according to newspaper reports. As race favorite Don Lash, the World Indoor Record-holder, comes storming through the pack near the end of the race, he crashes into a lapped and rubber-legged Dodds, sending him sprawling. Lash is able to finish second, behind Greg Rice of Notre Dame.
1940: Defeating Glenn Cunningham in the last race of his Millrose career is Chuck Fenske of the University of Wisconsin, who needed to run a World Indoor Record of 4:07.4 to do so.
1941: Walter Mehl of the University of Wisconsin wins the Wanamaker Mile in 4:13.6. It is a fast and exciting finish, but the early pace is so slow that Arthur J. Daley of the New York Times writes that the competitors look like "commuters who have just about decided they couldn't catch that train anyway."
Al Jolson, a singer and actor who was one of the most popular entertainers of the 20th century, displays a miniature Wanamaker Mile cup at a War Bonds auction in the 1940s. Fred Schmertz, Millrose meet director, is at left.
1942: In one of the most eventful Millrose Games in its long history, California schoolteacher Cornelius Warmerdam, on a pole borrowed after his is lost by the airline, breaks the World Indoor Record with the first 15-foot vault. Meanwhile, disaster strikes the favorite in the 1000, as Gary Venzke tumbles to the track just before the finish – his head and shoulders but not his torso over the line – with his main rival falling right behind him. Coming on for the victory is the unheralded Lou Collado, who wins a gold wristwatch. Organizers decide to award prizes to all three in the name of good sportsmanship.
1943: In a “Salute to our Heroes,” the event program features photos in military uniform of Millrose record-holders serving their country.
1944: With World War II in full swing and many athletes fighting overseas, Millrose organizers describe this as “perhaps the most difficult year in our long history.” In one bright exchange, however, two-time Millrose winner Freddy Sickinger, upon receiving his invitation to the meet, replied: “I have just received your blank via my parents. I thank you very sincerely and would be pleased to compete; however, I am at the moment in North Africa; as soon as we get this affair cleaned up over here, I will again hope to compete in your Meet.”
1945: Capt. Richard W. VanHorne, fighting in Weisweiler, Germany, finds a wristwatch on the battlefield, engraved “Millrose A.A., 1000 yards.” Through the “Stars and Stripes” newspaper, he learns the watch belongs to Lou Collado, the 1942 victor. The watch is forwarded to meet organizers, who get it back to Collado upon his return home from the front.
1946: Freddy Sickinger, back after three years in the Army, picks up right where he left off and wins the Millrose 880. He was the victor in 1942 and 1943 before being shipped overseas.
1947: Glenn Davis (the famed “Mr. Outside” Army football star) receives a standing ovation after qualifying for the semi-final of the 60-Yard Dash. (“Mr. Inside,” Doc Blanchard, had run a heat the year before.) Meanwhile, Bob Richards wins his first Millrose pole vault title.
