ventolin^3 wrote:
bannister was long before my time - obviously knock off 4s for dirt track & maybe another 1 - 2 for non-ideal pacing
i'd say as fast as 3'53 in the '70s
keino, obviously had race of his life in mexico
people may laugh, but using NCAA altitude tables + wind/altitude calculator give his 3'34 as ~ 3'27 !?
if you use some logic & assume my suggested 3'24/3'25 for ryun in '67 had slipped to 3'30 ( sea-level ) by mexico because of the chronic fatigue syndrome following his mononucleosis ( 3'30 shape being good enough to win most of following games but still huge drop from his '67 shape - remember, he coudn't even make top 3 of the 800 trials going in as wr holder ! ), then keino beating him by ~ 3's again comes out at 3'27/3'28 - he reminds me a lot of silas kiplagat nowdays, albeit slightly superior on that day
I never realized Ryun had CFS. How long did he suffer from it? That would explain the deterioration in his performance, as his cardiac output would've suffered. If he truly had CFS, I'm surprised he could perform as well as he did.
That said, I think the best you can say about Ryun was that his 3:51 was worth a second per lap. Any other extrapolation is mere speculation and a stretch. Was he the greatest middle distance runner ever? I have no idea, but he was the greatest US prep middle distance runner ever, was way ahead of his time, ushered in the era of sub-3:50 milers by making it seem possible, and definitely belongs in the conversation. Personally, if he were running today, but training the same way, I think he would have the American record. But, again, that's mere speculation.