Mile News


Mile Moment of the Month: Epic Prep Sub-4 Races

June 11, 2014

HOKA ONE ONE presents the Mile Moment of the Month

By Bring Back the Mile

On June 11, 2011, Lukas Verzbicas became only the fifth U.S. high school athlete and the second in a high school-only race to break 4 minutes for the Mile with his winning 3:59.71 clocking at the adidas Dream Mile in New York. June, which is the peak of the track & field season for elite prep Milers, has seen its incredible share of Mile moments throughout the month. In fact, all first U.S. high school sub-4 Miles, except for one (Alan Webb, 2001), came in the month of June.

For June's Mile Moment of the Month, we take a look at five epic races involving U.S. prep athletes: 

June 5, 1964: 50-plus years ago, Jim Ryun becomes the first school boy to break 4 minutes with his 3:59.0 in Compton, California; he finished 8th overall; it was also the first time that 8 runners broke 4 minutes in the same race – old record was six.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 11, 2011: Lukas Verzbicas becomes only the fifth U.S. high schooler and the second in a high school-only race to break 4 minutes for the Mile with his winning 3:59.71 clocking at the adidas Dream Mile in New York.

June 11, 1966: While running for Chula Vista High School in California, Tim Danielson (below) produced the second high school sub-4 when he ran a 3:59.4 Mile at San Diego’s Balboa Stadium.

June 23, 1967: Jim Ryun (USA) sets Mile world record 3:51.1 in Bakersfield, California; the last men’s outdoor Mile WR set on U.S. soil and Ryun is the last American male to hold the outdoor Mile WR; also in the same race, New Jersey high schooler and future Olympian Marty Liquori clocks 3:59.8, the third U.S. boy to break sub-4.

June 27, 1965: Jim Ryun, at age 18, sets U.S. Mile record 3:55.3 in San Diego – also the U.S. high school record; broken 36 years later by Alan Webb who ran 3:53.43 in 2001; Ryun also won the AAU Mile title and beat 1964 Olympic 1500m champion Peter Snell in a thrilling race. Wow, youth is served!

Tags: tim danielson (6) , peter snell (32) , my first sub-4 (59) , mile moment of the month (11) , marty liquori (32) , lukas verzbicas (7) , jim ryun (93) , hoka one one (42) , dream mile (39) , bbtm news (207) , alan webb (57)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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