We were fortunate to receive the following valuable article from Bill Quinlisk. It is a list of all the known runners from Western and Central New York who have achieved the extraordinary athletic achievement of besting 4 minutes flat in the One Mile Run on the track. The list is unique in that instead of listnig the runner's best time and ranking by time, it lists the time and date of the first time the runner achieved the 4-Minute standard and the table is ranked in that chronological order. --- BuffaloRunners.com April 12, 2010

USATF Niagara Association Sub 4-Minute Milers

By Bill Quinlisk

On March 5, 2010, Kyle Heath (Victor HS, Syracuse Univ.), became only the 345th American runner to break four minutes in the one mile run. He also joined a select group of runners with ties to Central and Western NY who have broken the magic 4-minute barrier. Below is the list of the fourteen runners with ties to the USATF Niagara Association region who have broken four minutes in the one mile run:

Date Order	US Runner Order	Name	Affiliation	Time	Place	Location	Date
1	56	Charlie McMullen	Missouri	03:59.7	1	East Lansing	May 26, 1973
2	58	Dick Buerkle	New York AC	03:58.0	1	Gainesville	June 4, 1973
3	69	Karl Thornton	Penn	3:57.9*	4	Philadelphia	April 27, 1974
4	70	Bruce Fischer	UCTC	3:58.5*	3	Wichita	June 1, 1974
5	89	Don Paige	Villanova	03:58.1	2	Westwood	May 7, 1978
6	97	Ross Donoghue	St John's	03:58.0	4	Piscataway	June 23, 1979
7	104	Mike Wyatt	Philly Pioneers	3:58.0*	5	Philadelphia	May 18, 1980
8	177	Bill Rathbun	Boston AA	3:59.94i*	4	Boston	February 16, 1991
9	199	Benny McIntosh	Asics	3:58.25*	6	Eugene	June 4, 1994
10	207	Brad Sumner	NYAC	3:59.11*	2	Philadelphia	April 29, 1995
11	230	Jonathon Riley	Stanford	3:58.72i	2	Ames	February 6, 1999
12	312	Lopez Lomong	Nike	03:54.0	5	Eugene	June 8, 2008
13	331	Erik van Ingen	Binghamton	3:59.58i*	1	State College	January 30, 2010
14	345	Kyle Heath	unattached	3:59.89i*	4	New York City	March 4, 2010

Data Source of the Chronological list: � Track & Field News, 2010
Explanation: This is not a list of each runner's best mile time with the exception of the starred (*) runners. This list indicates the first time that each runner broke 4 minutes in the mile. The number preceding the runner's name indicates the chronological order in which the runner entered the list of Americans who have gone under 4 minutes in the one mile run. Charlie McMullen was the 56th American to break 4 minutes in the mile. The parentheses after the runner's name indicate the runner's school or club affiliation for that race. The column after the runner's official time lists their place in the race and the city where the race was held. Times in the hundredths utilized Fully Automatic Timing (FAT). All others are hand times.

* = athlete never ran any faster in his career i = mark made indoors.

The USATF Niagara Association territory includes Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Ithaca, and Binghamton, which represents the State of New York west of and including counties of Oswego, Onondaga, Cortland, and Broome.

Runner's Link to USATF Niagara Association region:

1. Charlie McMullen - (1951-2003) Spencerport HS '69, Spencerport, NY, Univ. of Missouri '73. Lifetime resident, Special Education Teacher, competitive runner, Rochester, NY.

2. Dick Buerkle - (b. 1947) Aquinas HS '66, Rochester NY, Villanova Univ. '70. 1970's Resident, Spanish Teacher, Coach at Bishop Kearney HS in Rochester, NY.

3. Karl Thornton - Binghamton HS '68, Binghamton, NY, Univ. of Pennsylvania '72.

4. Bruce Fischer - HS unknown '70, Rhode Island, Syracuse Univ. '74.

5. Don Paige - Baldwinsville HS '75, Villanova Univ. '80.

6. Ross Donoghue - Bishop Cunningham HS '76, Oswego NY, St John's/Villanova Univ. '80.

7. Mike Wyatt - St. Joe's, Buffalo, NY, RIT/Penn State Univ. '78.

8. Bill Rathbun - Nottingham HS '86, Syracuse NY, Cornell Univ. '90, Albany Law '97. Syracuse Chargers Board of Directors 1992-2002.

9. Benny McIntosh - Auburn HS '85, Univ. of Kentucky '89.

10. Brad Sumner - McQuaid Jesuit HS '89 Rochester NY, Villanova Univ. '93.

11. Jonathon Riley - Skaneateles HS until 1996 his Jr. year, Skaneateles, NY , Moved to Brookline, MA for Sr. year in HS, Stanford Univ. '02.

12. Lopez Lomong - Tully HS '04, Tully, NY, Northern Arizona Univ. "Lost Boy of Sudan" came to US in 10th grade.

13. Erik Van Ingen - Marathon HS, '08, Marathon, NY, Binghamton Univ. '11, Binghamton, NY.

14. Kyle Heath - (b. 08/24/1986) Victor HS'04, Victor, NY, Syracuse Univ. '08. Current resident Syracuse, NY.

Others:

A. Chris Horton - McQuaid HS '73, Rochester, NY, Brandeis Univ. '77. 3:41.9 for 1500m, Eugene, OR, 1980.

B. Tom Tuori -Henninger HS '83, Syracuse NY, Univ. Rochester '87. 3:41.56 for 1500m, 1987 New England TAC Championships.

C. Chris Fox - Martinsville HS '77, Martinsville, WV, Auburn Univ. '83, XC/Track Coach Syracuse Univ., 2006-present. 126. Chris Fox (Athletics West) 3:59.0i* (2) Johnson City January 15, 1983.

For discussion purposes we used the following equivalent performances:
For 1500m: 3:42.22 = 3:59.99 for 1 Mile
For 1600m: 3:58.61 = 3:59.99 for 1 Mile