Mile News


A Brief History of the Sub-4 Minute Mile

June 12, 2017

Another U.S. high schooler just went under four, which inspired us to trace the milestone's roots, starting with legend Roger Bannister

By Martin Fritz Huber, Outside Online

In early June, Reed Brown, a Texas high school senior, became the tenth U.S. high schooler in history to run the Mile in under 4 minutes. In so doing, he joined a once-exclusive club whose membership has doubled in the last two-plus years.

Once upon a time, the 4-minute Mile seemed as elusive as the 2-hour marathon barrier is now—particularly for a teenager. When Lukas Verzbicas accomplished the feat in 2011, he was only the fifth high school athlete to go sub-four since Jim Ryun first did it in 1965. Now, including Brown, five high schoolers have done it since 2015. (This is all the more astounding when you consider that not a single U.S. high schooler managed to break four from 1967 to 2001.)

And it’s not just the kids who seem to be running faster these days. According to a Track & Field News list, 488 Americans had run a sub-4 minute Mile as of June 10, 2017, and 2016 was the year with the most new additions to the list (27), followed by 2015 (24), 2013 (23), and 2012 (also 23).

Continue reading at: www.outsideonline.com

U.S. high school sub-4 Mile listing HERE.

Tags: sub-4 (19) , roger bannister (175) , reed brown (6) , lukas verzbicas (7) , jim ryun (93)

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Return the Mile to prominence on the American & worldwide sports and cultural landscape by elevating and celebrating the Mile to create a movement.

ELEVATE
Bring Back the Mile as the premier event in the sport, and increase interest in and media coverage of the Mile for both those who love the distance as well as the general public.

CELEBRATE
Bring Back the Mile to celebrate the storied distance and to recognize the people who made and make the Mile great and to promote Mile events and the next generation of U.S. Milers.

NATIONAL MOVEMENT
Bring Back the Mile to create a national movement for the Mile as America’s Distance,
to inspire Americans to run the Mile as part of their fitness program and to replace the 1600 meters at High School State Track & Field Meets across the country.

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