A message thread on letsrun.com and a phone call this afternoon informed me of a 4:20 run by M40 stud Tony Young yesterday at the Hartshorne masters miles at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Apparently, he had help from a rabbit through 1320 (who clocked 3:08) but wasn’t pushed by anyone else. So he fell short of his hoped-for 4:10 mile (and a shot at the American indoor record). So it goes.

No doubt the long flight from Seattle — and the absolutely atrocious Northwest weather of late (a deluge for a month straight) — had a hand in depressing Tony’s time. (Although I’m sure he’d deny it.) Still, 4:20 isn’t that shabby for someone of Tony’s age, 43. (The listed M45 world indoor mile record is 4:21.90 by American Albin Swenson.)
Among the reactions to the 4:20 came this from M40 national masters cross country champ Pete Magill:
“If Tony did indeed run 4:20, then that’s by far the slowest he’s run as a masters (beating his previous “dud,” a 3:57 1500), and he certainly couldn’t have predicted that. Given his recent workouts, I’d say this is an abberation and not an indication that Tony is about to topple off his masters pedestal. In any case, I’ll save Tony the trouble and predict 4:10 or better for him his next time out.”
Sarah Stiner, 45 — who took fourth in the women’s elite masters mile in a disappointing (for her) 5:19 — wrote this:
“Actually that is pretty amazing, this is not a banked mondo track like Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, Tony ran a incredible solo effort, and besides which are you 40 or over? … This is the best Masters mile in the US of A, and is on the map for future years, mark my words! A meet record for a 42yr old woman, solo effort, 5:02.”
I think it was Marisa Hanson, age 42, who ran the 5:02. (I couldn’t take notes while on the phone, since I was driving on the freeway.) Mary Grene, also 42, also did well, I hear, as did 47. But no American record in the W45 mile, as was hoped.
Complete results — and a story in the Ithaca Journal — are forthcoming. A DVD showing the masters miles also has been promised.