Though he’s a two-time qualifier for the Olympic Marathon Trials, St. Louisan Ben Rosario has decided to put the long-distance races on hold and focus on shorter distances and Big River Running Co., which he owns with Matt Helbig. Rosario finished 37th at the 2004 Trials, when he was the youngest competitor at age 24, and 100th in November at the 2008 Trials in New York.Rosario’s first foray at the mile proved successful, as he schooled the runners at the Missouri Invitational Mile on January 11. Though he hadn’t run the distance since his days at Truman State, Rosario won with an indoor PR of 4 minutes 12.20 seconds. As the video shows, Rosario maintained a steady pace and let the rabbits wear themselves out.

“I’d done some speed work and wanted to see how I stood,” said Rosario, who beat Helbig’s 4:14.46. Shaun Smith of Oral Roberts was third, and Mizzou’s Tipper O’Brien was fourth.