What's the world record for the solo mile - no pacers, no rabbits, no one else on the track?

Oh Please wrote:

Old rules like "must be set in competition" are so lame and out-dated, similar to amateur only rules of days gone by.

If a guy can run a solo mile in 3:42, it should be a record, as long as the course and timing were certified, and whatever drug testing also took place.

In running, we know that doing it solo would be a hell of a lot harder than doing it in a race (putting up a really fast time).

We should organize time trials, the race of truth, just like cycling does.

+1.

you can certainly agree on the details (officially certified track for championships? full video recording? note: hand-stopped or electronically stopped? witnesses in the form of lawyers or not? drug testing?). the biggest problem, however, is likely to be drug testing.

when someone runs solo, i pay more respect. mentally it is the hardest.

maybe the fascinating new level in covid times. i think if that were promoted by letsrun and also the official associations, it could be something big.

komen did 3:55 in practice but at th beginning of a ladder.

We have seen a few of these kids doing races with a handful of competitors. If videoed, why does it not count as a state record?

Jericho Miles was the first thing I thought of when the question was asked. We must both be old.

Also Tom Byers (most famous as "the Rabbit that Won" ending Ovett's unbeaten streak) ran a solo sub 4 back home so his father could see him break 4 minutes in person.

kingojamin wrote:

I thought Jim Ryun won wire-to-wire in his 3:51(?) WR time.

I'm not sure when Ryun went to the front in that race. He did run most of it alone if not all. But the OP's criterion here is that there was no one at all on the track when the time was recorded.

I just think athletes these days would find it incredibly hard. Even athletes that run those blazing times on the world circuit just follow the rabbits for 1000 Meters then kick.

Anyone ever see the Jericho Mile?

YMMV wrote:

Back in the day, Prefontaine ran a 3:59 solo for his fans in Eugene as a meet had been cancelled due to wildfire smoke. He was coughing hard after that.

It was actually a 2,000m — a (successful) American record attempt.

I think the time was 4:59, but as has been discussed before on these boards, that doesn’t guarantee a sub-4:00 1609m within it!

It's worth noting that Tim Cheruiyot ran a 3:28 1500 to win WC's in 2019, running wire-to-wire. That's probably a more impressive time than whatever the fastest wire-to-wire mile time happens to be...

The British Milers Club put on a challenge two weeks ago, but people were free to choose a course and run on Strava. A couple of thousand Brits had a crack at it. Take the accuracy of any one person's run with a pinch of salt, but one guy clocked a 4:02 and several 4:07...

https://data.opentrack.run/x/2020/GBR/bmcmile/event/T1/1/1/

Inevitably this will be repeated, maybe monthly, when tracks are open. The general rule is "submit some evidence"; we're trusting people and just trying to have some fun. Lots of UK-run virtual events - especially BMC races - will be happy to accept guests from anywhere...green icon means entries are open.

https://data.opentrack.run/x/?type=VIRTUAL

Not sure if the Bislett Impossible Games has a mile on the programme? Anyone know?

What we need is some prize money and publicity for some elite solo time trials this summer...

HRE wrote:

Records can only be set in actual competition so there can be no such record. When Ron Clarke wanted to break his 10,000 meter WR in Oslo in 1965 the only other runner willing to race was Jim Hogan. They needed a third entrant for the record to count and spent the day before the race driving all over Oslo looking for someone who was running to ask him if he'd be willing to run and finish (needed three finishers) the 10,000 so the record could be ratified.

Dear heavens, HRE, have an imagination.

Of course there's no regulated, IAAF, by-the-books time. That's not what we're asking for.

I ran a 3:41 on a track once! But of course it was a 'solo' effort and there was no one there to see...

Roger Bannister basically did this when he broke 4. That wasn’t a real race. He did have pacers though

Well, Jim Ryun ran 3:51 basically solo in 1967 on cinders. He blew the field away by 100m. Ran like 59, 60, 59, 53 splits.

rogerbannisterdumasses wrote:

Roger Bannister basically did this when he broke 4. That wasn’t a real race. He did have pacers though

Bannister only lead the last 200m of that race. He ran behind pacers for 1400m.

Right, but wrote:

HRE wrote:

Records can only be set in actual competition so there can be no such record. When Ron Clarke wanted to break his 10,000 meter WR in Oslo in 1965 the only other runner willing to race was Jim Hogan. They needed a third entrant for the record to count and spent the day before the race driving all over Oslo looking for someone who was running to ask him if he'd be willing to run and finish (needed three finishers) the 10,000 so the record could be ratified.

Dear heavens, HRE, have an imagination.

Of course there's no regulated, IAAF, by-the-books time. That's not what we're asking for.

Of course someone could have people running solo time trials and keep records of who ran fastest. That hasn't been done yet. The OP's question was about what the record is for someone running alone with no one else involved and as of now such a record doesn't exist. That's all I was saying.

Qwilfish wrote:

Hounddogharrier wrote:

I doubt a solo run could be done much faster than 3:55.

Are you kidding? Guys like Tim Cheruiyot or Taoufik Makhloufi would do this easily

At the 2014 world relays, the Kenyans all pretty much soloed 3:32 on their way to the 4x1500 world record. Some of the Americans soloed around 3:38 I think.

HRE wrote:

kingojamin wrote:

I thought Jim Ryun won wire-to-wire in his 3:51(?) WR time.

I'm not sure when Ryun went to the front in that race. He did run most of it alone if not all. But the OP's criterion here is that there was no one at all on the track when the time was recorded.

________

He might as well have been the only one on the track that day. No one in that race assisted him.

Simple Runner wrote:

HRE wrote:

I'm not sure when Ryun went to the front in that race. He did run most of it alone if not all. But the OP's criterion here is that there was no one at all on the track when the time was recorded.

________

He might as well have been the only one on the track that day. No one in that race assisted him.

Amazing video, amazing runner , amazing race .