Nitty gritty of a gutsy mile: Brad Barton’s sub-4:20 at age 48

Brad beats it to the finish of 4:17.54 mile.

Brad Barton was disoriented and glassy eyed after running a mile in 4:17.54 this week. And no wonder. He’s 48 and had missed weeks of training with a groin strain. But he made an amazing effort at Olympian High School in Chula Vista. See my coverage of the magic man at Times of San Diego, where my wife, Chris, shot dramatic photos of the event. Brad is entered in the 1500 at North Carolina nationals and will be pushed by Nick Berra and Francis Burdett. He could run the oldest sub-4 15 as well, if conditions allow. (The M45 WR is 3:52.43 by Spain’s Jesus Borrego, 46, in 2008.) I shot video of Brad’s mile and will post when time allows.

Brad reacts after hearing he missed Tony Young’s M45 WR by 1.5 seconds.

Here’s what Brad posted on Facebook:

I did become the oldest human being to run a sub 4:20 mile (48 yrs). However, I did not accomplish my lofty goal of breaking the Masters 45-49 age group world record of 4:16.09. My unofficial time, 4:17.54. It was an amazing experience!

I could have perhaps run a little smarter (too hard a move with 400 m to go that crippled me close to the finish) but I could not have run any harder. This was an all-out, into the deep abyss, effort. I suffer still…

Huge thanks to my pace man, Darren Brown, to race directors Paul Greer and Cameron Gary, photographer Bob Betancourt, and Masters T&F guru Ken Stone and his sweet wife Chris.

Special praise to Get Air Sports for getting me to San Diego and to my wise coach Chick Hislop without whom this would not have been a possibility. I also acknowledge the enormous support from all of you who are interested in what an aging human body can be made to endure and what one human being, with a dedicated support team, is willing to dare.

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July 13, 2014

5 Responses

  1. Craig Davis - July 13, 2014

    Awesome Sub 4:20….. Takes a ton of dedication.

  2. Mike - July 13, 2014

    Guts…whew that’s what I’m talking about!

  3. tOnY yOuNg - July 14, 2014

    Nice Effort Brad. Looked like you were going to get it until around 60 meters out. I had really conservative splits for my race of :64, then :66.5. Waited until the last 650 meters to let it go with :64 then :61.

    well done on Sub 4:20!!

    ty

  4. cush - July 15, 2014

    awesome effort, though one question: no offense to the great job that darren brown did, but couldn’t you have found a rabbit to take you through the whole race? by the way, i would NOT try to do it the way tony did–not sure you have his speed. with your strength, though, even splits seems the best strategy–64s all the way around; then, if you’ve got anything left, go with 200. also, i like that you were ambitious with your goal of 4:12, especially since we both know tony’s 4:16 is a soft mark 🙂 compared to the 1500m records…

  5. Ken Stone - July 30, 2015

    Brad’s ordeal has a happy ending: Paved the way for a bunch of journalism awards: http://timesofsandiego.com/business/2015/07/30/times-of-san-diego-wins-13-spj-awards-including-5-firsts/

    Brad graciously called in his congrats this morning. He also is looking forward to April 2016, when he turns 50 and shoots for records in his specialty — the steeple.

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