A second dream mile – the mile in under four minutes – is beckoning for participants in the ninth Dagbreek Straatmyl (Street Mile) that will be held on Wednesday, 27 February.

This is the view of the organiser of the annual Straatmylfees (Street Mile Festival), Francois Fouche. This unique festival is held annually in the leafy Victoria Street in Stellenbosch and forms part of the Stellenbosch University Woordfees (Wordfest), which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

“Ryan Mphahlele, who won all three races at the Eden Bestmed series in December and who ran two dream miles in two days, has already confirmed that he will be participating," says Fouche.

The Bestmed series was held in Oudtshoorn, George and Hartenbos, with Mphahlele running dream miles in both Oudtshoorn and George to claim the Grand Prix series winner prize.

“In 2015, the former Olympic athlete, Johan Cronje, ran the first – and so far the only – dream mile in Victoria Street," Fouche explains. “It could just be that the Dream Mile trophy, which is on offer for the athlete who finishes the race in under four minutes, will find an owner this year."

Mphahlele boasts a dream mile best time of 3:56 and boasts several cross-country titles. His goal is to qualify for the 1 500 m race at the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan, says Fouche.

Last year's winner in the boys u/19 race, Geo van Niekerk, has also entered again and will join the big guns at the start of the Elite race. He came out tops in the junior division at a street mile event hosted by University of the Western Cape (UWC) in 2018.

A defending champion in the Masters' division, Max Rupert, will also be in action again. He was the winner of the first Masters race in 2018. Rupert is a member of Strand Athletics Club.

Peter Oosthuisen is another athlete with national colours who has confirmed his participation. He is the current national pentathlon champion. He has several South African national titles and international participations under his belt. Some of the highlights of his career include a gold medal at the 2017 UIPM World Championships in Spain and winning a silver medal in the USA in 2016.

Hendrik Cronje, who appeared in the television soapie 7de Laan a few years ago, will also again be participating. The Cronje brothers (Hendrik and Johan) are also involved in the movie business. They recently released their first full-length film, Liewe Lisa, with Hendrik writing the story, playing the main character and acting as director.

The first Dagbreek street mile was held in 2011 to honour former Matie De Villiers Lamprecht. He was the first South African athlete to run a dream mile (the mile under four minutes), which is 1609 m in metric terms. This historical race took place on 13 November 1964 at Coetzenberg in Stellenbosch. De Villiers was a resident of Dagbreek at the time.

Seven races presented in 12 divisions will be held this year. An u/13 race (boys and girls) has been added to the PNA schools race in addition to the u/15 and u/19 races. Prizes are up for grabs for the school with the most participants and best performance.

Besides some serious attempts by some of the amateur runners, the Men's and Women's Open categories are once again set to provide some comic relief with mass participation by students and other less serious athletes.

The main item on the evening's programme will be the elite race. Although athletes from UWC triumphed the past two years, it could just be a Matie who crosses the finish line first this year.

As usual, there will be loads of entertainment in between the races, with Deidre Barnard, who finished in the top 3 in the popular TV series Die Kontrak, also performing.

Skateboard category

Unique to the Stellenbosch Straatmylfees is the skateboard category – to the best of the organisers' knowledge the only skateboard mile race in South Africa. The race is held for the fourth time this year. The previous three years, the winners completed the race in less than four minutes. Skateboard races will form part of the 2020 Olympic Games.

Athletes stand the chance to win huge prizes and a lucky draw will also be held. The first ten athletes in each race will each receive a special medal, as will the top 30 in the open men's and women's category. 

• The entrance fee is R30 for athletes, and entries can be done in front of Dagbreek Men's Residence in Victoria Street. Athletes start at the top of Victoria Street.

• Click here for a short video of the 2017 Straatmylfees.

• Contact Francois Fouche [email protected] for more information.