Steve Spence continues his 37 year streak of sub 5:00 min. mile tonight with a 4:52.9 Story Inside!

There is a top 20 list and race description. weather that day was in the 60-70 degree range with winds gusting up to 34mph and sustained winds in the teens.

Sat April 11, 1992 Columbus, OH

Standards: 2:20:00

Qualifiers: 112

Starters: 102

Finishers: 55

Under warm, windy conditions, Bill Reifsnyder and Keith Brantly tried to run away with the Trials race, but near 22 miles, the trio of Steve Spence, Ed Eyestone and Bob Kempainen caught the duo. Spence, the 1991 World Championships marathon bronze medalist, used a 4:49 26th mile to win the race in 2:12:43, a trip to Barcelona, Spain and $58,000.

Eyestone, a 1988 Olympic marathoner, secured his second Olympic berth with his second place performance (2:12:51), while Kempainen who overcame injury surprised the field by earning the third and final U.S. Olympic marathon team position.

1. Spence, Steve ( PA) 2:12:43 $ 58,000

2. Eyestone, Ed ( UT) 2:12:51 $ 48,000

3. Kempainen, Bob ( MN) 2:12:54 $ 38,000

4. Brantly, Keith ( FL) 2:14:16 $ 15,000

5. Reifsnyder, Bill ( NM) 2:15:45 $ 10,000

6. Taylor, Steve ( VA) 2:16:14 $ 8,000

7. Fox, Chris ( MD) 2:16:40 $ 7,000

8. Hage, Jim ( DC) 2:16:47 $ 6,000

9. Gonzalez, Danny ( CO) 2:17:53 $ 5,000

10. Conover, Mark ( CA) 2:18:17 $ 4,000

11. Leuchtmann, Joe ( MO) 2:19:01 $ 3,000

12. Johns, Don ( MI) 2:19:05 $ 2,500

13. Held, Dan ( WI) 2:19:23 $ 2,000

14. Bennion, Chad ( UT) 2:19:25 $ 1,750

15. Prior, Chris ( CO) 2:19:26 $ 1,500

16. McGovern, Paul ( MA) 2:19:35 $ 1,250

17. Stevens, Tom ( MD) 2:19:41 $ 1,000

18. Bagley, Scott ( NY) 2:21:05 $ 800

19. Ebiner, Matt ( CA) 2:21:13 $ 700

20. Dunham, Dave ( NH) 2:21:18 $ 500

I'm 52 and I haven't missed a week of exercise since I was 14. I'm fit. Not running fit but pretty fit given that I weigh 210lbs and row more than I run. I ran 3.5mi in 6:05 pace after a few months of intervals and 3-4 days a week running w some cross training thrown in. So my point is that you can run 6-7min pace for reasonably long periods for a long time. BUT RUNNING FAST IS VERY HARD AS A 50YR OLD. When I did the intervals I'd swear I was running 65sec quarter pace and I was running 73-74. I can't see myself run so you go on effort and since speed/reaction etc...go way before strength and endurance your body is tricked into thinking you are running much faster. Believe me guys...5min pace at 50 is very fast. So try to enjoy your speed workouts while you can still do them at a respectable pace!!

eujy wrote:

Wasn't there an Irish guy who had a 20+ year streak of breaking 2:00 in the 800? Not THAT (to me) was an imopressive streak!

You're mistaken...that was a Mozambique female by the name of Maria Mutola.

Seriously though. She ran sub 2 18 years in a row.

Respect to Steve Spence. I remember going to his high school XC camp at Ship back in the summer of 2000 or so. He ate breakfast with me and a couple other guys one morning and was the nicest guy. If Ship would have had my major, I would have gone there to run for him. Great to see he's still at it.

One other memory from that camp. I remember Spence had people doing some easy barefoot running on one of the soccer fields and everyone had their shoes sitting up on a hill. I think it was Gish who came by and started throwing everyone's shoes up in the air, letting them land everywhere. They were all mixed up, so when people came back, they had to find/match their shoes. It was pretty effing funny.

I remember back in college running a 5k and having to line up next to Steve. I was about 19 or 20 or year old back then and Steve was probably about 30 at the time. I don't think I saw him in the race after the first 2 laps, but I do remember passing the finish with 2 laps to go and hearing the announcer encourage the crowd to cheer Steve on during his last lap. I started to kick when I heard that just so I wouldn't get lapped. I think I ended up finishing about a minute behind Steve.

Fast-forward 20 years and I've finally caught up. I recently ran a mile in 4:50. I hope I can keep it up as long as he has.

Nice job Steve, you're an inspiration.

Thanks

Ran into Joe Leachtmann running in St. Louis a couple of years ago. He runs practically every day, and we're not talking about just a couple of miles. He commented on how many miles he has ran since he started recording it when he was in high school. I wish I could remember, but obviously it was an unbelievable number. And knowing Joe, and how he takes his running, he wasn't making it up.

Congratulations are in order for Mr. Spence. What he did was very difficult. Massive changes occur in a man's body in the late 40's and early 50's. For a fortunate few that can extend to about 60. For most, the decline is disturbingly steep. I call to you now: All hail Steve Spence!

overtraining is a myth

Rtype wrote:

Congratulations are in order for Mr. Spence. What he did was very difficult. Massive changes occur in a man's body in the late 40's and early 50's. For a fortunate few that can extend to about 60. For most, the decline is disturbingly steep. I call to you now: All hail Steve Spence!

He could out run, the guys in their 40s easy.

Amen!

aloha warrior wrote:

Arab mathematician wrote:

he asked for it, calling me a punk.

Typical Let's Run interaction. A simple congratulatory thread turns into a series of mean spirited personal attacks. Someone will probably attack me for posting this, LOL! How ridiculous this message board has become.

Amen!

Excellent fitness for your age and size. I bet you could challenge Al Salazar in a footrace.

Al Salazar might disagree.

On April 11,1992 Spence ran a 4:49 mile. Is that unimpressive too? Maybe without context......it was the 26th mile of the Olympic marathon trials.

I am impressed. I have been attempting a sub 5 mile each year on my birthday since 2001. I first did this 2 days after 9/11 as simply a personal attempt to spit in the face of the terrorist, no other reason. I consider myself a decent miler. I ran 4:35 as a Masters runner. Since 9/11 I have done a sub 5 minute mile each year (NOTE: one year I missed a sub-5 so I went back to the track 2 more days in a row until I broke it - think I was injured or in crappy shape). All the critics of the Steve Spence story should go down to the track today and run a sub-5, then do it year after year. I will be 45 next month and coming off a bout with insertional Achilles tendinitis. If nothing else it's good to have a running goal and not have it tied to an event, road-race etc and just you against the track and the clock. One of these years I will NOT break the sub 5 and that is OK.

I'm only 30, but since college, I've got a full-time job and family and I've given up on beating my PRs from college. So I've made it my goal to break 5 every year for as many years as possible. I first broke it at 15. So I'm at 15 years of doing it. So this Steve Spence story gives me some hope. It's not the most amazing thing in the world to do, but it's a good healthy goal for someone who doesn't have the time to train a lot. Having this goal will keep me in shape for years. Running sub 5 takes being pretty darn healthy.

As a 50 year old - I would like to echo the response that maintaining the health and fitness to break 5:00 is no easy task - even for someone with Steve's talent.

I too have attempted (successfully) to do the same since the age of 14. The "Mile" is the best distance.

Cheers

ty

congrats to you too Tony. Consistency through all the health and family and work stuff we all experience at one time or another is really impressive.

Someone posted the '92 marathon trials results up above. Jim Hage (8th place in that race) is another who has shown remarkable consistency in the sport. He has some incredbily long every-day running streak going, and he's still a force in the M50-54 division at DC-area road races. Extremely nice guy, as seems to be endemic (IMO) among great runners.

cheers,

Dave