World marathon records and new 100M records grab our headlines, and deservedly so. These are remarkable accomplishments that deserve to be celebrated, as do the people who achieve them. And there are other kinds of accomplishments that will also draw my admiration.
Some time ago I read about a runner\u2019s pursuit of going sub-four minutes at the mile and the number of years that he continued to work towards that goal. Unfortunately, I did not keep a copy of or link to the article. The short of it was that this runner decided in his mid-teens that he wanted a 3:59 (or better) at the mile distance. He was talented enough that it wasn\u2019t a completely outrageous goal, but the odds weren\u2019t heavily in his favor, either. If I remember correctly, he was twenty-eight when he finally broke the four minute barrier and it was 3:59 and change; no room to spare.
Besides the act of running a mile in under four minutes, there are a couple of things that impressed me with this person\u2019s persistent pursuit. He would likely have been an amateur runner the whole time. Sub-four in the mile is blazing fast, but it\u2019s nowhere near what you need to run at a professional level. Everything he did to maximize his potential would have been on his own time and his own dime.
There are open mile races out there, but they are not nearly as prevalent as 5Ks, half-marathons, or other popular distances. If you want a ratified, sub-four minute mile, you\u2019ll need to be in an event on a track. Even if you want to be on a USATF-certified course for a more popular distance, there are plenty more events that allow you to have \u201clive practice\u201d so to speak, even if the course is slightly short or long of the posted distance. Some open miles out there are straight shots down long streets, or on airport runways, or downhill. Getting in competitive preparation on a track would be more limited.
Fourteen years or so in pursuit of a singular time goal requires extraordinary patience, especially given that he would have been within a few seconds on multiple attempts leading up to the final one. Knowing that you\u2019re that close but realizing what a nearly insurmountable hurdle that is would have been frustrating. It may be that he did run occasional 5Ks or 10Ks on the road to mix things up, but I\u2019m sure the temptation to move up in distance could have been strong, and yet he kept his focus on the sub-four.
There was no money in it and no real glory. Among runners, being a sub-four person carries a certain distinction but you would really need to be in it for your own gratification. I sat back from that article impressed. And, I also learned to keep my ears open. Watching the Ineos 1:59 Challenge or Cheptegei smash the 5000M world record is thrilling. And, there are other similarly thrilling stories out there that capture the perseverance and triumph of a determined runner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
World marathon records and new 100M records grab our headlines, and deservedly so. These are remarkable accomplishments that deserve to be celebrated, as do the people who achieve them. And there are other kinds of accomplishments that will also draw my admiration. Some time ago I read about a runner\u2019s pursuit of going sub-four minutes … <\/p>\n