Bernie Sanders, 4:37 HS miler, says he can go the distance in presidential run

A 4:37 mile in late 50's on a 11.5 lap to the mile wooden track is pretty good.

Bernie is definitely jewish but he says he is not extremely religious and does not practice all that often. He is not atheist though.

A 4:37 mile in late 50's on a 11.5 lap to the mile wooden track is pretty good.

I may not agree with Sanders' policies, but a 4:37 HS Mile does not suck in any circumstance. What was your state ranking in the mile in comparison to peers?

Great article from the WaPost on Bernie with lots of quotes from his HS teammates:

"Bernie was a very well-known runner from his freshman year," Howort said about Sanders when we spoke this week. Sanders was "probably the top runner in the city for ninth graders," he said. "He was an elite runner at that point."

Howort came to Madison as a sophomore and was a foot shorter than Sanders. By the time both were juniors in the 1957-1958 school year, Howort was a strong runner, too. "I think he underestimates himself when he says he was just a good runner," he said of Sanders. "Was he a great runner? Maybe not. But he was a very good runner. He was better than just 'good'."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/29/the-untold-story-of-bernie-sanders-high-school-track-star/

Howort coached track at Grady HS in Brooklyn. I don't doubt Sanders' claim of 4:37. Track in Brooklyn was very strong back then. He appears healthier than more energetic than Clinton.

good reporting in that article. I like journalism that involves actual legwork, investigation, and tells us something new and in detail with proof, as this article does.

1. First of all HS cross-country runners in New York City ran 2 1/2 miles at VanCortland Park. 2 1/2 miles during Bernie Sanders' HS career. That is a few yards more than 4 kilometers. The difference is negligible: practically meaningless and hardly worth mentioning. In any event, there were no events measured in metric distances run at that time in NYC HS track meets.

2. 4:37 was a very very good time for a HS runner in the late fifties. I was a competitive runner in the 880 yards, 1000 yards and 1 mile, graduating a year after Bernie. I was about as good as he was. I ran a 4:36 mile a 2:00.2 880 and was the Bronx Public HS Champion in the 1000 yard run for Bronx Science HS my senior year in 1960. I don't remember running against Bernie although I must have been in a cross-country race he was in one time or another. Judging from the article in the Times, our 2 1/2 times were pretty close - around 14 minutes. I do remember his teammate Dan Jelinsky, who once edged me out in a 1000-yard race and Madison's fine Distance Medley Team.

3. I need to correct a misimpression about how good Bernie's 4:37 mile was in the context of that time. I know for certain that a New York Schoolboy star, Tom Laris of George Washington HS, set A NATIONAL SCHOOLBOY INDOOR MILE RECORD at Madison Square Garden in the 1957-1958 track season. His time? 4:16.8. Laris was a fiend of mine and we stayed in touch. Schoolboys weren't running 4:10 minute miles, much less 4:00 miles in the late 1950s. That's ridiculous. Bernie's time was roughly 20 seconds slower than Laris' time - the fastest time run i n the nation during his HS years. That would compute to perhaps a 4:18-4:20 mile today - not a national class time, but good enough to win many important meets, probably even some State Championships today.

4. It is no stretch to say that Bernie Sanders was an excellent schoolboy runner in the context of the New York City public high school standards of his time. He was not an excellent runner by national standards, but he was a legitimate New York City Schoolboy Star.

5. I hope that offers some clarification.

6. As for the individual who posted that "nobody likes atheists", that is certainly not true he or she ought to think twice before posting such wild and species generalizations. Same on him or her.

1. First of all HS cross-country runners in New York City ran 2 1/2 miles at VanCortland Park. 2 1/2 miles during Bernie Sanders' HS career. That is a few yards more than 4 kilometers. The difference is negligible: practically meaningless and hardly worth mentioning. In any event, there were no events measured in metric distances run at that time in NYC HS track meets.

2. 4:37 was a very very good time for a HS runner in the late fifties. I was a competitive runner in the 880 yards, 1000 yards and 1 mile, graduating a year after Bernie. I was about as good as he was. I ran a 4:36 mile a 2:00.2 880 and was the Bronx Public HS Champion in the 1000 yard run for Bronx Science HS my senior year in 1960. I don't remember running against Bernie although I must have been in a cross-country race he was in one time or another. Judging from the article in the Times, our 2 1/2 times were pretty close - around 14 minutes. I do remember his teammate Dan Jelinsky, who once edged me out in a 1000-yard race and Madison's fine Distance Medley Team.

3. I need to correct a misimpression about how good Bernie's 4:37 mile was in the context of that time. I know for certain that a New York Schoolboy star, Tom Laris of George Washington HS, set A NATIONAL SCHOOLBOY INDOOR MILE RECORD at Madison Square Garden in the 1957-1958 track season. His time? 4:16.8. Laris was a fiend of mine and we stayed in touch. Schoolboys weren't running 4:10 minute miles, much less 4:00 miles in the late 1950s. That's ridiculous. Bernie's time was roughly 20 seconds slower than Laris' time - the fastest time run i n the nation during his HS years. That would compute to perhaps a 4:18-4:20 mile today - not a national class time, but good enough to win many important meets, probably even some State Championships today.

4. It is no stretch to say that Bernie Sanders was an excellent schoolboy runner in the context of the New York City public high school standards of his time. He was not an excellent runner by national standards, but he was a legitimate New York City Schoolboy Star.

5. I hope that offers some clarification.

6. As for the individual who posted that "nobody likes atheists", that is certainly not true he or she ought to think twice before posting such wild and species generalizations. Same on him or her.

1. First of all HS cross-country runners in New York City ran 2 1/2 miles at VanCortland Park. 2 1/2 miles during Bernie Sanders' HS career. That is a few yards more than 4 kilometers. The difference is negligible: practically meaningless and hardly worth mentioning. In any event, there were no events measured in metric distances run at that time in NYC HS track meets.

2. 4:37 was a very very good time for a HS runner in the late fifties. I was a competitive runner in the 880 yards, 1000 yards and 1 mile, graduating a year after Bernie. I was about as good as he was. I ran a 4:36 mile a 2:00.2 880 and was the Bronx Public HS Champion in the 1000 yard run for Bronx Science HS my senior year in 1960. I don't remember running against Bernie although I must have been in a cross-country race he was in one time or another. Judging from the article in the Times, our 2 1/2 times were pretty close - around 14 minutes. I do remember his teammate Dan Jelinsky, who once edged me out in a 1000-yard race and Madison's fine Distance Medley Team.

3. I need to correct a misimpression about how good Bernie's 4:37 mile was in the context of that time. I know for certain that a New York Schoolboy star, Tom Laris of George Washington HS, set A NATIONAL SCHOOLBOY INDOOR MILE RECORD at Madison Square Garden in the 1957-1958 track season. His time? 4:16.8. Laris was a fiend of mine and we stayed in touch. Schoolboys weren't running 4:10 minute miles, much less 4:00 miles in the late 1950s. That's ridiculous. Bernie's time was roughly 20 seconds slower than Laris' time - the fastest time run i n the nation during his HS years. That would compute to perhaps a 4:18-4:20 mile today - not a national class time, but good enough to win many important meets, probably even some State Championships today.

4. It is no stretch to say that Bernie Sanders was an excellent schoolboy runner in the context of the New York City public high school standards of his time. He was not an excellent runner by national standards, but he was a legitimate New York City Schoolboy Star.

5. I hope that offers some clarification.

6. As for the individual who posted that "nobody likes atheists", that is certainly not true he or she ought to think twice before posting such wild and species generalizations. Same on him or her.

Thanks very much for your perspective. It was likely hard to train as a distance runner in the city and in most cities you find not great distance runners at the high school level.