(Photo credit: Howard Adams - Dave Hill on the left, Dave Bailey on the right. Bailey's Canadian record of 3:57.70 stood for 10 years, until Hill broke in 1977 with a time of 3:55.89.
Just over 4 laps around the track, 1609.34m to be exact. Dave Bailey was the first to do it back on June 11, 1966 and since then, 55 other Canadians have gone on to break the illustrious barrier. Dave's time... 3:59.10.
Approximately 1500 athletes around the world have run the mile in under 4 minutes. Compare that to the over 4000 people that have summited Mt. Everest and you get a better understanding of how challenging it is to break this barrier.
The mile teaches you something every time you race it. Push the pace too hard at the start and you have no gas left for the finish; pace too slow and you leave too much gas in the tank. It reminds of seeing an Indy car run out of gas on the last lap. A catastrophic miscalculation.
This past Sunday, Dave Mills coordinated an event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dave Bailey's sub-4min mile. 15 of the 56 managed to make the trip, with Dave Hill coming all the way from Dallas, Texas. Each was presented with a Certificate of Achievement from Athletics Canada, recognizing the date and time they first broke the 4min mile. It was a fine event and perfectly coordinated with 1500m Night, where a total of 350 athletes toed the line.
(Photo credit: Howard Adams)
A special thank you to Dave Mills for coordinating this event and thank you to all the milers who attended. I hope you enjoyed your evening and being recognized for your tremendous accomplishment.
To see a list of Canada's sub-4min milers, click HERE.
To see pictures from the event, click HERE