Jim Ryun - Mile World Record 23Jun67

USA Jim Ryun breaks the world record in the mile with a time of 3:51.1 in Bakersfield on June 23, 1967

[@MrRun4ever]

My all time running idol. I didn't realize when he ran this record it was done in this fashion, alone out front the entire time no body even close after the half. I ran into him on "Pre's Trail" back in 83 or 84 and got to shake his hand. Needless to say it made my day. Jim Ryun you are the MAN.

[@gerrymetzler8814]

When you consider he led from start to finish, broke the world record - more or less on his own - to me this is the finest piece of running I”ve ever seen. No rabbits or pacers, hardly pushed from the competition and yet many went “sub four.” Many have run faster but NONE have run finer. Unbelievable! Imagine what he could have done with pacers, and the almighty dollar motivating him.

[@Ruda-n4h]

Ryun's performances and times for a teenager were mind boggling.

[@krakhour2]

Plus a synthetic track and springy spikes they have now. I say at least 346.0

[@hughguidi5570]

A truly great track athlete. Was named the greatest HS athlete in history. (Not sure by who)

[@7agneskickingbird7]

In my opinion this is the greatest mile world record performance. Walker, Coe, Morceli and El G may have run faster but they sure as hell didn't run those records completely solo on a cinder track.

[@jadedbrad]

Track and Field News once said that the old cinder tracks were one second per lap slower than modern tracks. Ryan did his last quarter mile in 52.7.

[@johnsrous1616]

If Ryun had had a rabbit he might have gone under 3:50. A true miler for the ages and a true mile race for the ages. Paul Owens, a cross-country and track and field coach at one of the local high schools near Bakersfield, CA at the time and a family friend witnessed this classic race in person at Bakersfield College. Ryun truly was a fantastic runner. Helped start my father's long time career in the sport(that + Frank Shorter winning the gold medal in the 1972 Munich Olympics). Keep on running.

[@VReal13]

Great Race, My son got to run with him today. Were in the Military station out here in Okinawa Japan, and Mr Ryun came out here to run with the High School trck team. What a great experience for my son....

[@UlloMark]

Fantastic clip... one of the most dominating races, ever; Is Ryun the greatest American miler of all time... Yes.

[@petekadenz9465]

Yes. In fact, he is the greatest American middle distance runner of all time; and undoubtedly one of the very best milers ever. It’s like;lay he would have won the 1968 olympics if they had not been at high altitude.

[@lanagorgeous9485]

If he had the modern tracks, racing shoes and training, he'd probably still be the world record holder in the mile :)

[@Ramblertron1977]

After this race there were three sub-four minute high school milers in the U. S., and all three were in this race including Tim Danielson who broke four minutes the year before and Marty Liquori who finished just ahead of Danielson in this race in 3:59.8.

[@GeoAce777]

the sound of a cinder track is soothing to me😌

[@7agneskickingbird7]

Yes, the first time he raced Snell he finished 3rd behind Snell and Grelle in a time of 3:56.8. He said that Snell just exploded in the last 220 yards. In his hs record race he said he wasn't nearly as afraid of Snell as he was three weeks earlier, and he ran a 53.9 last quarter (the fastest last lap at that point) to win what he described was the most painful race of his career. The most impressive part for me was that he was just outside of hs when he did this.

[@ivansanders8459]

I read of this race in 'Athletics Weekly' in the U.K. just prior to leaving school. Never in my wildest dreams thinking that one day I would see a film of it. Now almost exactly 50 years later..........

[@Ajcb7891]

Ryun was the man back then

[@user-ro7ee7]

Very-very good Video Thanks.. The Best Jim Ryun Forever my favorite...

[@thomasmcgillivray3997]

A beautiful & fluent style....looked great & was great.

[@gkprivate433]

Most people today can not appreciate what we used to run on in the old days. As late as 1975 my high school track in Rhode Island still was an old Cinder track. not groomed at all. It had grooves in it. And before that, people ran on cinder, or even grass, or some sort of dirt. One or two had clay I think, similar to some tennis courts. Now all the tracks are synthetic, are bouncy, etc. This is why I love Cross country running. All natural. go hit a golf course or an open field as running was intended

[@marksjohnson5]

Also amazing about this race is that it includes 3 of the 4 American High School runners who ran sub-4 in High School. Jim Ryan, 1964 & 65, Tim Danielson in 1966 and Marty Liquori. Marty broke it in this very race (he was still 18, and was 70 yds behind Ryan in 3:59.8). It wasn't for another 34 years in 2001, that Alan Webb joined this sub-4 elite group, and even broke Ryan's high school record (of 3:55.43) with a 3:53.43.

[@carlrossi7989]

And, sadly, Danielson is now spending his life in prison as a convicted murderer.....

[@marksjohnson5]

@@carlrossi7989 What!!?. That’s terrible. I didn’t know that.

[@carlrossi7989]

@@marksjohnson5 Tim Danielson

[@carlrossi7989]

Sorry tried to paste Wikipedia link just search him.

[@marksjohnson5]

@@carlrossi7989 Thanks..wow, I posted my comment 15 yrs ago, the same year he divorced her. What a bad turn of events!

[@Saffron333]

Thanks for posting this. I've thought about it ten thousand times but never actually seen the whole race.

[@ObscureAuteur]

But no one else, not even Webb, has run a sub-four in a pure HS race.

[@tommytempo1]

An incredible performance on a cinder track.

[@tiriri64]

In 1967, in West Germany, he finished the last lap of a 1500m in 49'9 " !

[@MrTrack412]

+tiriri64 Is there a written record of this? If not, then it's possible it never happened.

[@marcweeks9178]

I think he says he did it during one of his lectures to high schoolers. The video is on KZbin. He said the opening pace was very slow. I ran beside Ryun in a 12K race in Arizona in the late 70s, and I can attest to his big stride. If said he had run 47 secs for a last lap, I would've believed him.

[@tiriri64]

Jed Clampett. You could see The race in You tube: Jim RYUN Düsseldorf 1967.

[@ObscureAuteur]

If you read the The Jim Ryun story you will see that Ryun raced Snell twice. The first time Snell won, but Ryun felt he had been surprised by tactical timing (he could not quite run past Snell with a lead in a full kick) not really beaten. The next time, since Snell followed this pattern routinely and it always worked, Ryun made his move first and won.

[@Tommy1198S]

Comparing milers, or other classes of runners 40+ years apart is silly. The were/are the best for their time. Track surfaces, shoes, training methods, and diets are all different. My hat is off to all the great milers Jim Ryun, Hicham El Guerrouj, Steve Ovett, Sebastian Coe, Roger Bannister, and all the others

[@anodyne57]

Ryun's body type and form...like a taller El Guerrouj for the 60's. Super fast quarter mile capabilities. With competition in these races, you wonder how low he could have gone.

[@danstar455]

Jim Ryun would be very competitive today with that running form. Would he use PEDs???

[@gowers1972]

Ryun said he was hardly tired at all after this race -- barely winded, and recovered nearly instantly.

[@MrTrack412]

Jim Ryun still holds the NCAA record in the 800 meters. That is if the conversion of 880 yards is used. Ryun also holds the Univ. of Kansas records in the 1500 and 5000!!! We are talking 1966 and 1967!!!That was back when the world as a whole did not know much about training. We always overworked our distance running with too much interval training. Actually we still do this today in many cases.

[@Cofreshh]

not anymore

[@britainreynolds7365]

His 800 record was just broken I think

[@runcaz7802]

No rabbit, leads start to finish, too slow the first 1/4, and he still got the world record. Rare indeed.

[@FinnMove]

What about to say ? Jim Ryun was the best mile- runner of all time. He makes a new world record by himself ! That were the days.

[@lekunberriko1]

This boy was one of the best I ever watched.

[@FinnMove]

I think Jim Ryun is the best runner ever. The most talented. Too bad, he never could compete with Pekka Vasala. I think the final 1500 metres in 1972 Munich would have been fantastic !

[@alessandrodelmonte5765]

You' re my mito. The Greater runner of 1960/1970. Good luck JIM.

[@mervrun]

NO RABBIT...NO PACER OF ANY KIND....A DIRT TRACK.....HE DIDN'T EVEN LOOK WINDED....JIM AND PRE RULED THE AMERICAN RUNNING WORLD IN THE 60'S AND 70'S .I was at the Dream Mile in 71 and was in awe of Ryun. I never got to see Pre run in person but his Legend will live on...

[@deano27671]

This is a good example of someone at the time publishing hand time splits without a recourse to a video, and either purposely or not, making his performance sound even better than it was. If you know where the start line is and the fact that each quarter is approx 0.3-0.4 secs on top of each lap, then anyone can pause it at the right place and work it out. It was nearer to 57.7, 60.4, 58.8 and 54,2.

[@7agneskickingbird7]

For Webb to have equaled Ryun's 3:55.3 against Snell, Webb would have to have beat El G that day in a time that was 1.7 seconds off the world record. I believe that if Ryun in his 67 shape were to run on todays tracks with some good pacing, I think he could've run around 1:42.4 for the 8 and 3:45.5 or so for the mile. If athletes could've made money back then he probably would have stuck around for a bit longer.

[@gkprivate433]

I was 10 and was falling love with Olympics and athletics. Being of Greek ethnicity the Olympics had more meaning to me as an ideal than many others

[@Briancrobinsonspeaks]

amazing! This guys stride was awesome

[@alexlorenzo8196]

Jim RYUN: the KING of Mile USA

[@brandonmroe265]

I was amazed by how easily he dropped the whole field the moment he upped the pace. He was an athlete at the level of a modern Olympic 1500 finalist running against guys who might not win a college meet's mile today.

[@pjoseph1658]

To my mind, Jim Ryan was the greatest miler of all time. My personal favorite. A god. For many reasons. One. Comparing his time on a cinder track, you must account for the loss of time, as opposed to a rubberized track, at approximately one second per lap. More so even today. Ryan's 1500 time of 3:33.1, is the equivalent of at least, a 3:29 to 3: 27, today. Two. He ran alone---no pacers, no stiff competition (except Peter Snell). Think: alone. Third, he ran just out of high-school his world records, 20 years old (had he not burned out due to over-training he should have peaked at Munich (1972). He had the perfect form, long stride, everything (neck, arms) loose (only Pekka Vasala, and, maybe, Herb Elliot, better). But with all this going for him, sadly, fate was not kind to him, a man who clearly deserved better. Bad advice at Mexico. He was over-trained with brutal punishing training at so young an age, and then, he got mono. Mono is a career breaker. I trained too hard, and got it. I was never the same again. His punishing training---I believe intervals---pressure to win, run world records, got to him at such a young age, and he broke psychologically. Some races he just quit, dropped out, or finished dead last. He fell in Munich, and that was it. Game over. And lastly---my own theory---(I have others)--he was not suited to the hard tracks of the day (poor time to be running) but better on loose cinder, perfect for his loose, long strides. For his height, weight, and running style, the tracks, then, were way too hard, and his muscles stiffened (no oxygen). I feel the same about Herb Elliot and, more so, Peter Snell. Peter Snell's 800 meter world record was on a beautiful grass track, with pacer, and run at night (more oxygen, and calms the nerves). Were he running now---with the better tracks, better spikes, better training methods, treadmills, and money (professional athlete)--he would hold the world record, and be better, in my view, than the young Norwegian, Ingrebrigtsen. But they are different worlds, entirely. Jim was truly GREAT.

[@pjoseph1658]

I agree with one commentator, that to run faster times you must run closer to an even pace. Slightly slower at the start and gradually pick up speed and on to a finishing kick. Jim did not like this. Perhaps, for psychological reasons, or, that it was the prevailing view at the time to stagger the pace (sometimes slow, other times faster) to save for a ultra fast finishing last lap as one kicks to the end. So it is correct to say that 53 second last laps do not equal a world record. But a more consistently paced race does, without slowing anywhere down, and finish with a fast last 100 meters. My humble opinion. I believe that this is how Ingrebigtsen trains, pushing his 400 meter interval times faster and faster, as he runs behind a cyclist on the track. And gets his slippery forward leaning stride from running on an inclined treadmill. As good as runners are, today, none will ever match the incredible feats of Jim Ryan. It was a time of great ones. Snell, Ryan, Elliot. And great coaches. Lydiard, Cerutty. I miss it.

[@knightsxc06]

Jim Ryan versus Steve Scott in the mile... now THAT would have been one HELL of a race!

[@libradragon]

Jim Ryun, running what is essentially a time trial, led from start to finish, obliterating a very decent field in this competition, to set a new World Record. What does it take, running alone, to breakyour own World Record by two tenths of a second? Only one man knows the answer.

[@ObscureAuteur]

Consider Ron Clarke running 27:39 in the 10K 36 seconds in front his own record and probably farther ahead of the field that day. Look up the YT video of David Moorcroft just missing going under 13:00 in his WR 5K, he is more than a full straightaway ahead in the final laps, but pours it on to break the WR by about 5 seconds. No rabbits there either. I am almost sure Ryun was disappointed with the time here and expected to break 3:50. Notice he does not fall down exhausted like Bannister.

[@marcweeks9178]

What kept Ryun from really lowering the WR was his unwillingness to run 57, 57, 57, 57. If you have to rely on a last-lap 53 all the time, you're decreasing your chances of going sub-3:50. At least, that's the way it seems to me.

[@karlbmiles]

Everybody kicks during the last lap when they know how much they have left to give, so the last lap is always the fastest as they burn all the energy they can spare.

[@tomp4925]

Comparable to Secretariat in the Belmont a few years later. Led from start to finish. Blew away from the field. Set a world record.

[@odrauderojas2576]

What a mile record! Ryun ran basically alone and on cinder track!

[@ExportDrummer89]

he looks like he went out for a jog when he finished. Just walks it off. Ryun = god

[@jenuwinedisneyphiles4927]

I really miss Jim McKay's announcing.

[@QED_]

@Jim Jenuwine: I miss the 1960s . . . too.

[@Benvana4]

My dad ran a 1:51 880 meter as a HS Senior in 1972. He said he was cose to running against Ryan and Dave Wottle that next year in '73-'74. Crazy times for runners.

[@bobshay9496]

Best teen runner of all time

[@starsinmybeard]

Wow. Ahead of his time; and ahead of anyone on the track as well!

[@albertadriftwood3612]

Most of us mere .mortals have no conception of what these runners are accomplishing. Try running 50 yards at this pace, or 20 for that matter.

[@jsmariani4180]

The recording quality looks like it was from a different century. Oh wait, it was.

[@kiplinggroove]

@GetUpAndTryAgain It's reckoned that at 64s per lap, running 1metre behind another athlete saves 1s per lap. Also, although a big finishing lap was Ryun's preferred modus operandi, it is not the most economical way of running fast times. His performance here is such that were he a 20 year old today, sub 3:45 would be entirely within his gift. And more?

[@rycooder9486]

Jim WAS going for the record. Jim Grelle personally recounted this fact as he asked him...(reply was "I just trying for a personal best)

[@goingjolly]

Ryun and Grelle were my two favorite milers during that time. I was in the stands at UC Berkeley when Ryun set his first world record--again, a cinder track.

[@jamesscott1189]

I ran a 3:50 in the 880. Was flying.

[@CaneFu]

And yet Ryan's real strength was his finishing kick - amazing!

[@mervrun]

C'MON MAN....IT'S RYUN....

[@Chris82bc]

It has been said that there is no human equivalent to Secretariat's legendary run at the Belmont Stakes, well this is it.

[@fisher2521]

Wow...impressive.

[@dakotaryun12]

IM RELATED TO HIM!!!!!!!!!!

[@MarkKanaster-ev6pq]

Nicest man I ever met

[@7agneskickingbird7]

3:51.1 subtract 2 seconds for Cinder to synthetic, 1 second for uneven pace and 3 seconds for lack of drafting and you get a 3:45.1 mile today. Add in more modern training methods, better spikes, a professional contract, not to mention modern drugs and who knows, maybe 3:41-3:42

[@JamesTKirkCobain]

This guy use to lap runners and would regularly place himself half a track away from the #2 and 3 runners. Incredible.

[@Rustyjames667]

Awesome ❤❤❤

[@flashman201]

in the first and the second lap, i was like "pshh this guy is just a really good runner. ive seen these types" and then when the third lap comes im like "wtf. who is this kid?! look at him go!" and then the final lap comes and im like.. well i didnt even say anything. i was in just that much of a shock. my heart was actually pounding as the timer ticked by

[@tiriri64]

To Jed CLAMPETT, there ´s a french Book on the Story of athletisme : The titre is : la fabuleuse histoire de l'athlétisme. A Book from Robert PARIENTE, this journalist sais he considèred Jimmy RYUN as The greatest Miler he ever knew .

[@fatbelly27]

No pacemakers and a dirt track. Impressive running

[@themilerman9381]

Deano takes Ryun's splits as metric and then mistakenly converts them to yards, probably because in Europe splits are for metric marks. Ryun's splits were actually for the 440/880/1320 yard times. Which means Ryun's last quarter mile converts to 53.2 for 400 meters, which is very fast for a guy who wasn't shooting for a record, had no one near him, and felt so fresh afterward. Ryun was as talented as anyone who has ever run the mile. But he was trained horribly. Modern runners like Ovett, Coe, Cram, El G, Morceli, the whole lot, were far better trained. But that's the way things were way back in the 1960's, not to mention the short careers most athletes in the US enjoyed. Ryun was never the same after having mono, but a lot of his regression was probably due to simply being burned out from the ridiculous training he followed.

[@paulmarques4468]

The Milerman

[@Waterman-wv2jx]

Mono can be way harder on people than most know. Mine cost me 5 years before I fully got my endurance back. Ryan might have had it worse than he let on.

[@chuckmanofgod]

Jim Ryun never ran an "even pace" race. He was really relaxed for most of the distance; then he would light the afterburners on the last lap. I think some experts in the field of running predict that had Ryun evened out his pace throughout the race, he would have run roughly a 3:47 mile or something like that. If you watch Hicham El Guerrouj (current WR holder in the mile), he ran a very even pace mile.

[@phillylifer]

El g ran a deceptively fast last 4

[@deano27671]

Has anyone got the full race of Ryun's 1500m WR of 3:33.1? I doubt it, but would love to see it.

[@stephenmartinez9355]

Jim Ryun is one of my childhood heroes. It is a shame that, later in life as a Congressman, Ryun was involved in a shady real estate deal that lead to ethics violations and the end of his political career.

[@mercurypoizund2291]

Stephen Martinez ...not to mention his lying about friendship with child molesting fellow congressman in DC.....THAT COST HIM REELECTION. ..RYUN IS A PROVEN LIAR. ..LOL.

[@noinnurt]

This is probably still the fastest mile ever run on a dirt track. 3:51.1 was the official time, not 3:50.9.

[@rycooder9486]

A comment years ago stated that Ryun did not make an impact internationally. Really? So as a US record holder for 880yd, 1500m, mile and 2 mile (also tying the US 1000m record in last 1km of 1500m) AND being WR holder in 880yd thru mile....what was the international scene doing better? Keino...he beat everytime before Mexico Olympics....Botto Tummler (best finisher in Europe) and Harold Northpod were simply left in history's dust w 300m to go in the Dusseldorf (hey is that INTERnational) 1500m in front of 85,000 screaming Germans...you can youtube that race and realize that he is with the 2nd fastest finisher in the world...not just another racer but simply the 2nd best finisher (thought he was #1finisher until after this race) in the world and from 300m he beats 3 of the fastest by FIVE SECONDS! Havent seen anyone do that!

[@deano27671]

57.7, 60.4 (1:58.1), 58.8 (2:56.9) & 54.2

[@ObscureAuteur]

That is why I was not especially impressed when Bayi just ticked past it by .0.1 later on a better track and with a better field. In my mind, the record was not broken until Walker broke 3:50. Bayi's 1500 mark is another story, it solidly broke Ryun's WR and was all time great front running, look it up on YT.

[@scottbarker9058]

how did they clock it so precisely down 2 the hundredths back then??no light pick-up-etc????was it that accurate???

[@ObscureAuteur]

I have no doubt that the full potential of Jim Ryun in his prime was never reflected on the clock for all those reasons. Alan Webb beat the time in a mixed race, but he was not even close to beating El-Guerrouj to win the race as well, as Ryun did over Snell to set the old mark.

[@Davek7110]

Last 1/4 wow!!

[@marksjohnson5]

Sorry...I didn't even catch that...must be seeing Ryan Hall's name in the So. Cal news too much these day...but it's inexcusable, since ran Track from 1966-70.

[@missilesilo6181]

Yes

[@frostie1315]

@writerjmd thats roughly equivalent to 10.8 for the 100m! damn u aint kidding thats some raw speed right there. pre didnt have nearly ryuns speed, he just had better long distance strength

[@jimbob4456]

Didn’t even look tired.

[@deano27671]

There is so much "myth making" about Jim Ryun which has come to be "fact". He is credited in most books as having run the last lap here in 52.5, when you can see from the video above, that he goes through the finish line with a lap to go in 2:57.3, meaning he ran the last 400m in 53.8, the last 440yds in c. 54.2. Not quite the same! His 440yd split times in the IAAF Records book is given as 59.0, 59.9 (1:58.9), 59.7 (2:58,6) and 52.5. These are clearly WRONG!

[@rycooder9486]

In case the great (and funny) Jim Grelle ever reads this......rye cooder's comments are actually mine, Mike Porter....rye cooder was a fav guitar player of my training partner Duncan MacDonald....hi Jim, hi Dunc Mike Porter

[@summerlakephotog8239]

Transcendent!😮

[@musik102]

Imagine if he had been paced!

[@GAP22JC]

woah

[@MrButtloaf]

yea he came to trabuco- got his autograph n stuff it was sic to talk to jantsen mainly

[@DC123777]

Great race, running in front the whole race with out a rabbit is simply amazing, if he raced the King (no disrespect to the greatest miler ever) but I think Jim would win. He can out kick anyone and I mean anyone! GO JIM!

[@Ghartnell]

i thought this was an amazing time and accomplishment BEFORE i learned it was on a dirt track. Anyone think he would have done the 3:50 if the race had been on a modern day track?

[@FinnMove]

The best miler ever. But Jim was stupid to underrate Keino in Mexico in 1968. This kind of runners are not happening in this world too often.

[@slparker225]

June 23 is my birthday. :D

[@ObscureAuteur]

You seem to have missed that the comment was a response to an overripe fan post about Prefontaine not Ryun and that was pretty clear in the comment when it compares any accomplishment of Prefontaine's to Ryun's win over Snell. Ryun never ran against Norpoth or Viren. Learn to read.

[@ObscureAuteur]

That is about what Ryun did. The AAU race was on June 27, 1965. The standing world record was 3:53.6 just set by Jazy on June 9. The prior world record was 3:55.1 of Snell (set November 17, 1964), which Ryun misses by a mere .2 . It also set an open American record for the mile, the only one ever set by a high school athlete unless Francie Larrieu b.1952 could be considered an HS athlete when she set her first American record in 1971 at age 18.

[@deaftvaussie]

Not 3.55.1. 3.54.1 after a struggling last lap clocking 60 seconds.

[@peters6119]

Even though he was running by himself on a slow track and probably with lousy shoes by today's standards, he should have been running this race under 3:50. His slow splits prevented him from maximizing his potential in this race. He was running the first 800 in just under 2:00 and the last 800 in close to 1:51. He should have been running much faster for the first 800 and his time could have been much faster. He always did this and ran a crazy last lap. This is not the most efficient way. That's why later runners started running faster for the first two laps and that's when the WR really started to drop. Ryun was so far ahead of his time but his tactics were terrible. In the Olympics the next year he would be done in by following his habit of running ridiculously slow for the first three laps and then trying to do it all on the last lap while Keino ran a more evenly paced race and could not be caught. Ryun was an absolutely incredible talent.

[@mathematics5573]

I have a theory thst Ryan over did training when he was in his teens. Because once he was past 20 he never ran faster or as fast. Uou.do You don't .physically become fully developed until you reach your early to mid 20s. Milers like ovett and coe built up.more slowly and ran fast. Ryan might have run. Sub 3.50 if he'd taken it more slowly.

[@rycooder9486]

Bodo Tummler and Harold Norpoth.....spelling error below

[@kiplinggroove]

@Ghartnell Is Usain Bolt quick?

[@runcaz7802]

Imagine how much better these clips would be if the American commentators knew a thing or two about track and field. And I must say that after all these years, things haven't improved much.

[@deano27671]

Yes I agree that Ryun is one of the greatest milers ever and would have run faster on modern tracks. I just think it's sloppy when stats are wrong, and there is a big difference between 54.2 and 52.5! People on message boards use 52.5 all the time to justify he was the GOAT, but it's plain wrong.

[@davidmckain7674]

Secretariat

[@garzaeduardo]

didn't jim ryan star in the movie "psycho"?

[@cforestmills]

lol