What is a 4:08 mile in the 80s worth today in super spikes?

Sorry, unless you're running 3,000 on up, super shoes probably have little effect. Maybe a second or, at most, 2. A 4:08 is probably only worth 4:07 in current shoes. Maybe 4:06.

I dunno, I mean are you even a runner? Back in the late fifties Max Cats was a regular on the North Lancs track scene in the UK. Not much speed, but a real grinder. I think he retired as a 5.09 guy, though was also capable of throwing down a 16.30 5000 any day of the week. Would have been worth about 3.50 / 12.28 today.

More follow up questions:

1. Did they have adequate nutrition?

2. Did they have access to the internet to get access to world class training instead of what their PE coach gave them for workouts?

3. Did they fly all over the US to compete with other milers of like ability?

4. And most importantly, was LRC around back then to gain inspiration?

Given all this I think it would be pretty easy to...oh, nevermind.

80s. Maybe a little faster like 4:06 but once the Jasari's, Ventulas, Eldoret's and Milers came out, hardly any difference. The Jasari + is still my favorite spike.

Factor in the shoes, super fast tracks, not having to run 3 or more races a week, a lot more sports specific weight training, "supplements" and every race is a time trial . and I say 4:01

I for sure miss the days. I remember just getting to pick out spikes on my college team. I was a toe striker solid range all the way to a 29:05 10,000m even though I considered myself a miler. When I selected Max Cats for my primary spike our assisted coach assumed a sprinter accidentally put his order on my slot and I told him nope I am using them in the mile and sure enough it worked. Mine made more sense then a teammate who was using Super Flies with a 10 spike plate crazy agressive for the 800m to Mile distance .

How far back are we talking? Based on the running economy study from SFA, the dragon fly's had slightly lower gains in running economy compared to the alpha fly + vaporfly. Alpha + Vapor were 2.5%-5% for most. Dragon fly's came in just a little lower. Running economy doesn't equal performance gains 1:1 so maybe 1-2% improvement in a mile on a faster track. Maybe 2-5 seconds. Also assumes the person is a high responder. I don't think it's enough to go from 4:08 to 3:59. 4:05ish is my guess.

This is interesting and I appreciate all the responses. I was guessing about 4:05-4:06 with modern tech, and probably a little faster than that with better coaching and teammates.

The family member is also a bit crazy, telling me he ran 27:xx in 10k XC, funny enough. Who knows if he actually ran 4:08. He is confirmed to have run 4:16 in high school and claims to have run 4:08 when he was a freshman in college. He quit running after that, though.

Thank you for the replies.

Wishful thinking!

3:42.99. lol. 4:04 to 4:05

Stories usually get exaggerated by some the more years that pass

I still remember (spending far too much money) customizing zoom milers in my teams colours. Good times.

I liked the Milers better than the Victories that followed.