Another claimaint to sub-5 mile streak forgets about Nolan Shaheed
Hope everyone had a great Christmas, especially Steve Spence, who ran his annual sub-5 mile a couple weeks ago — his 40th in a row. But as we learned over the summer, when another sub-5 streak was noted, Nolan Shaheed has a 50-year streak going. In Runner’s World, we hear from Scott Douglas that Steve’s 4:55 mile “looks a lot more impressive when you realize the person running it set his marathon personal best in 1990, is 53 years old, and has now run a sub-5:00 mile every year since 1976. … That is the singular claim of Steve Spence. Last Friday, he ran a mile time trial on the outdoor track of Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, where he is the head cross country and assistant track coach. Paced by three of his athletes, Spence cruised through the first three laps right at 5:00 mile pace, then closed quickly to finish in 4:55.4. For the 40th consecutive year, he had run at least one sub-5:00 mile. Spence’s appears to be the longest such streak.” Well, guys, maybe not.
4 Responses
No matter who has the record, it is an impressive effort.
That said, since people are starting to claim their streaks as records, what should the record criteria be? Is a time trial acceptable? What about solo runs or road miles?
Is age 66 still the record for oldest man to go sub 5?
Mike, one thing I noticed is there is no curbing on this track. Official records can only be set on tracks with a rail or they have to be coned every 5 meters so the athlete cannot run inside the inner most line and technically shave some of the distance off.
True, no inside rail or cones, but its just a personal streak record.
Does anyone know if a female runner 50+ has ever gone sub 5?
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