Are you a runner by any chance? 
I like to do mile runs every now and then. It is a middle-distance foot race.
A mile is a nice distance. I actually ran competitively in college. Back then I could do a mile in under 4 minutes. No more! 
Wow you were very fast. The mile run began in England, where people liked to gamble on them.
Really? I had no idea. When was that? 
Started in 1800s. In the 1900s it survived the new metric system.
Oh interesting. As I'm thinking about it, I would have imagined the Greeks would have run a mile as part of the original Olympics. 
The mile run is the only imperial distance for which the IAAF keeps official records.
What is the IAAF?
International Association of Athletics Federations
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded on 17 July 1912 as the International Amateur Athletic Federation by representatives from 17 national athletics federations at the organization's first congress in Stockholm, Sweden. Since October 1993, it has been headquartered in Monaco.
Beginning in 1982, the IAAF passed several amendments to its rules to allow athletes to receive compensation for participating in international competitions. However, the organization retained the word
sort of speed you've got, if you do the endurance training, you could be one of our best middle-distance runners." During his early career under the tutelage of Lydiard, he started with New Zealand titles and records for 880 yards and the mile, despite being an unusually large and powerful man by typical middle-distance runner standards.
Olympic success.
Snell came to international attention with his gold medal in the 800 metres at the Rome Olympics in 1960, setting a new national record. He