The 68th Anniversary of Don Bowden's Historic Mile Run

No one worldwide had run a sub-4 mile until England’s Roger Bannister clocked 3:59.4 in 1954. 

It was still a very big deal three years later when Bowden did it. His American record lasted nearly 3 years and his Cal standard was almost 50 years old when the late David Torrence ran 3:58.62 at Edwards Stadium in 2007.

Bowden ran the 1,500 meters at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, eliminated before the finals after dealing with a recent bout of mono. In ’57, shortly after breaking the mile record, he won the 880-yard run at the NCAA Championships.

Although the mile isn’t contested at the Olympics, it remains a significant track event and breaking 4 minutes is a magical target.

Here’s some of what has transpired at the distance over the past 68 years: 

— Five other Cal runners have broken 4 minutes outdoors, including Michael Coe, who set the current program record of 3:56.18 in 2009. Others to go under 4 are Torrence, Thomas Joyce (3:58.69 in 2015), Steve Sodaro (3:59.42 in 2010) and Andy Clifford (3:59.59 in 1979)

— Four Cal runners have gone sub-4 indoors, including current senior Garrett MacQuiddy, who set the program’s indoor record of 3:57.65 this year and qualified this weekend to run the 1,500 meters at the NCAA championships at Eugene, Oregon, later this month.

— A total of 824 Americans have now crossed the barrier that Bowden first knocked down

— Worldwide, nearly 2,100 different men have run sub-4

— The world record of 3:43.13 by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj was set on July 7, 1999 — nearly 26 years ago

— The American record is now 3:43.97 by Yared Naguse in 2023. That’s the fourth-fastest time in history

— Steve Scott ran 3:47.69 in 1982 to set an American record that endured for 25 years until Alan Webb eclipsed it with a time of 3:46.91

— Scott ran his first sub-4 in 1977 and his last in 1993. Altogether, he ran a time once considered impossible 136 times, more than anyone in history

— Jim Ryun is the most recent American to hold the world record. He clocked 3:51.3 at Cal’s Edwards Stadium in 1966. Later that spring he dropped it to 3:51.1 at Bakersfield. Just 19 at the time, he remains the youngest world-recordholder in the event. That record stood for nine years

— Since then, 13 American runners have broken 3:50

—  North Carolina’s Ethan Strand set the collegiate record of 3:48.32 (indoors) in February

— Ryun was the first high schooler to run sub-4, clocking 3:55.3 in 1964 — just seven years after Bowden’s record run. Ryun’s high school record lasted nearly 37 years until Webb broke it in 2001

— Sam Ruthe, a 15-year-old from New Zealand, ran 3:58.35 at Auckland on March 19 of this year to become the youngest person to break 4 minutes

— Ireland’s Eamonn Coghlan, a three-time Olympian, became the oldest person to break 4 minutes when he clocked 3:58.15 on Feb. 24, 1994 at age 41

— Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, 31, a three-time Olympic champion at 1,500 meters, holds the women’s mile record of 4:07.64

— In the wake of a recent scientific paper suggesting she could run 3:59.37 given proper drafting and pacers, Kipyegon will attempt 4 minutes this Friday at Paris. She will have male pacers and Nike, which is sponsoring the event, will provide Kipyegon with its latest generation of “super shoes.”

“I don’t believe it’s a matter of if a woman can break 4 minutes in the mile,” Kipyegon wrote on social media. “It’s a matter of when we will do it.”

That’s kind of how things were for Don Bowden back in 1957.

Follow Jeff Faraudo on Twitter, Facebook and Bluesky

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