King of the Mile
"I had an excellent day, everything came together."
By Todd Straka, BoulderRunner
Dan King just ran a Mile in 4 minutes and 49.08 seconds. King is 61-years-old and that incredible time makes the Boulder resident the world record holder for the 60-64 age group, beating the previous record of 4:51.85. King’s time on the track on Saturday, August 29 was run at the South Carolina Trackfest in Columbia, South Carolina. His lap splits were 1:13.57, 1:11.31, 1:12.29 and 1:11.91.
King has always been a strong Masters runner in the area, but he usually focused on longer distances and cross country. He has struggled for many years with chronic plantar fasciitis issues but has found a sweet spot with heavy cross-training and just enough running to keep him sharp.
Recently he has turned his attention to the Mile and has been finding huge success. This past April in Boulder (altitude), he ran a time trial on the track and clocked 5:03 and has been consistently improving since then.
In late June, he competed in the virtual Brooklyn Mile and ran 4:57.3 on the road (GPS). With altitude, the time adjusted to a 4:52.0, which age-grades to an impressive 3:55.2 comparable time. That was good enough to score the only Level 10 performance of the event and drew national attention to the local runner. His time in South Carolina lowered his age-graded best to 3:52.8!
Two weeks ago, he ran 4:57 in Nashville on the track then returned to Boulder to run 5:10 for the unofficial world mark for the distance on the road. That time was recorded at the Pearl Street Mile COVID Rez edition.
What’s next?
King replied, “I have no idea. I’m so fit and fast right now, but not sure where to take it. Maybe a 3K?” Whatever it is, it will be great to see where he goes.
Masters outdoor Mile WRs HERE.
