He can get a mile because he's not some speedball sprint...

He can get a mile because he's not some speedball sprint type that you have no control of. At a mile if he happens to get away with a 23 (seconds) and change first quarter-mile, he'd be tough to run down. He'd have a pretty big edge on them turning for home. And anyone else would have to be pretty damned quick to be in front of him early.