The Ryan Shay Mile and Jeff Drenth Memorial Foot Race will both return on Saturday, July 26 in downtown Charlevoix, marking the end of Venetian.
CHARLEVOIX — The annual Ryan Shay Mile road race picked up a bit of street cred since last year’s race.
Pun intended.
The Ryan Shay Mile became an event Olympians take part in.
Recent champions of the one mile road race through the heart of a fan-lined downtown Charlevoix became Olympians a year ago when Hobbs Kessler and Ben Flanagan represented America and Canada, respectively, in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
On Saturday, July 26, the race will return to Charlevoix, with more of the country’s best runners taking part.
Since 2008, the annual event keeps the memory of Northern Michigan native Ryan Shay alive. Shay passed away in November of 2007 while competing in the USA Olympic Marathon Trials in New York City.
From Central Lake, Shay ran for Notre Dame and later as a professional, while becoming a role model for many around the area and the country.
He was a four-time state champion in cross country while at Central Lake, then added seven more individual state titles on the track in the spring.
The 2025 race will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday following the annual Jeff Drenth Memorial Foot Race and family mile.
The 16th running of the event comes with a $10,000 prize purse, with $2,000 to the men’s and women’s champion, along with $1,500 for second, $1000 for third and $500 for fourth.
A $250 bonus will also be added for the half mile leader, which comes sponsored by Borchers Canoe and Kayak in Grayling.
Around 10-15 runners will take place in each race.
Last year, with Kessler and Flanagan on their way to Paris, the event still drew in some of the best around the country and records fell.
Nick Foster, a University of Michigan graduate, set a new men’s race record with a time of 3 minutes, 52.4 seconds, breaking Flanagan’s time of 3:53. Kessler ran 3:57 the year prior.
In the women’s race, University of Alabama All-American Esther Gitahi ran 4:26, besting the winning time set a year prior by Auburn University All-American Presley Weems of 4:28, while adding to that state's rivalry.
Foster will carry his time of 3:52.4 into the 2025 race as the course record, while the record on the girls side is held by Shannon Osika from 2018 in 4:20.8. Osika was a two-time winner of the event.
Heather Kampf, a University of Minnesota All-American, won five women’s titles from 2012-2017, while Ohio State’s Jake Edwards earned three straight titles on the men’s side from 2015-2017.
The race has seen much more parity over recent years, with no repeat champions on either side since 2017.
The Shay Mile is an invite only event, though registration for the Jeff Drenth Memorial Foot Race 5k and 10k and Family Mile can be found at www.venetianraces.com/home/DrenthFootRace
The 5k and 10k races will begin at 9 a.m. at the corner of Park Avenue and Grant Street near downtown Charlevoix.
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Ryan Shay Mile returns for 17th running through downtown Charlevoix
Category: General Sports
