Miles of online course work

MIDLOTHIAN, VA -- Confucius once said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

Midlothian High School junior and long-distance runnner Brandon Miles definitely took those words to heart when he created a Web site that caters to the high school running population.

MileStat.com, which has been up and running since December 2000, combines the reporting, analytical and technological talents of its founder - a self-described sports fanatic.

"I've always been sort of a sports nut since when I was a little kid. I used to always keep track of my favorite teams and keep stats on them," said Brandon, who recently moved to Midlothian from Williamsburg because of his mother's business.

The first site Brandon created in the fall of 1999 was devoted to his cross-country team at Jamestown High School in Williamsburg. Eventually, the site evolved into what many consider to be the premier Web site for Virginia high school cross-country, track-and-field coverage.

"What I wasn't seeing [online] was enough coverage on Virginia meets and from talking to other runners and coaches, I could sense a large demand for one central Web site that had a large amount of results and coverage on the Virginia high school cross-country and track scene," Brandon said. "I don't feel I created the site for high school running in Virginia. I believe the demand from the Virginia high school running community created the site and I'm just the conductor of the train."

While MileStat (www.milestat.com) gets about 5,000 hits a day, Brandon said the site has exceeded his expectations. Its peak performance was Nov. 11, 2001 - the day after the state cross-country meet. That day, the site received 50,000 hits.

Such a following has developed because fellow runners appreciate the timeliness and accuracy of the site's information.

"All my friends who run check out [MileStat] to see the latest news or to post on the message board. It has become a place for athletes across the country to unite in a common thread," said Benedictine High School senior James Hickman. "I have noticed the support by athletes from this state down to Florida and across to Texas and Colorado . . . MileStat.com is the greatest way to motivate runners by making this often underrated sport seem glorified."

Features on the site include a message board, meet calendar and frequent articles highlighting results or upcoming Virginia meets. Despite the varied content, Brandon said he's always looking to improve his product without sacraficing quality.

"I have to realize that if I try to do too much with the site, the content of the site will be more quantity than quality. I want quality first," said Brandon, who is able to juggle school, running and his site by making "use of every second I'm awake."

Because running a large-scale Web site requires a significant amount of money, MileStat has several sponsors, three of which are running stores in Virginia. One of them is Runner Bill's in Midlothian.

"He does a really good job of covering local races. I wanted to support him. We're set up on a regular monthly fee basis," said owner Bill Lis, who has been sponsoring Milestat.com for about a year.

In addition to the site sponsorship, Runner Bill's also helped sponsor a cross-country invitational race, "The MileStat.com Invitational," which Brandon organized.

Held last fall at the Hardy National 3 Mile Course in Fork Union, the event featured runners from Vriginia and other states and made Brandon about $300.

"I think a lot of people were shocked that a junior in high school could plan and run an event that comes with a lot of responsibility such as a cross-country invitational, but I pulled it off," Brandon said.

Brandon also started a newsletter focused on high school running in Virginia called the "MileStat.com Monthly Rundown." Twelve issues of the 10-15 page publication are available for $15. He has other plans to diversify as well.

"I'm also about to begin an online store on the site with site apparel such as hats, visors, T-shirts and fleece pullovers that have site logos on them," he said.

Even with sponsorship to help cut costs, Brandon still has to contribute - $1,500 in the last year - to the site's upkeep.

"I put $800 of my own savings into my meet, $300 into server, $200 into film and development and $200 into computer and office supplies," Brandon said.

In addition to these expenses, he recently bought a laptop computer and a digital camera to enhance the quality of his coverage. Given the expenses, the site's profits this year will be just a few thousand dollars, Brandon said.

Making money, however, isn't what this entrepreneur considers important. Brandon said he feels as if he's living part of the American Dream and believes that hard work can take you a long way.

His advice to others? Stay dedicated.

"The hard work will pay off," said Brandon, whose parents both own their own businesses. "You have to fight through the self-doubt and hard times and persevere and the success will come. I wouldn't be running this Web site if I didn't have the passion for it."