Steve Spence's 5:00 mile streak ends at 43 years

Is this right? I thought there was a thread a couple months ago going over his sub 5 for the year.

rojo posted in that thread that they contacted Steve and he said he didn't post it. The poster claiming to be Steve Spence was an imposter.

That doesn't necessarily mean this thread is real, but the other one was definitely fake.

Lagat is 44 and we’d have to assume he went under 5 mins sometime around 11 or 12 years old. He’s probably going to be the one to take the record down if he’s interested. Meb probably doesn’t have a streak anymore. Kipchoge’s streak is probably pushing 25 years. Abdi must also have a similar streak to Lagat but I don’t think he started running quite as young.

That's weird, I'm a no-name and I've got 25 years. I feel like I've got at least 5, maybe 10 more for sure, then year by year after that.

zerobody wrote:

That's weird, I'm a no-name and I've got 25 years. I feel like I've got at least 5, maybe 10 more for sure, then year by year after that.

That's the interesting thing about the streak. I never got much faster than 4:40 but I've had the ability to do sub 5 for the last 30 plus years. Admittedly I have not attempted to do it every year but whenever I run a 1500 or mile I end up running the equivalent.

Who’s next? wrote:

Lagat is 44 and we’d have to assume he went under 5 mins sometime around 11 or 12 years old. He’s probably going to be the one to take the record down if he’s interested.

He's 45, and he can still run sub 4, and he would do it if it weren't for all the marathon baloney.

That's actually pretty impressive with your PR. I'm not within 20 seconds of my PR fitness-wise. Then again I'm not really training optimally for a mile either.

This thread got me curious and I found out I didn't keep a log for two years between college and post-college. I know I ran sub 5's as part of workouts, does my streak not count?

I ran sub-5:00 for a 34 year span (but not every year) with a lifetime PR of 4:40 (age 44) before an injury took me out.

The ten years from 50 to 60 is much much harder than the first 30.

Spence is now 57.

I remember watching him win the bronze medal in the heat and humidity at the 1991 Tokyo World Championships Marathon. Followed it up with a good run for 12th at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with the flu. Great career.

Hypothetically I could have done 41 years. Broke 5:00 at age 14 and for the last time at age 55, but there were many years after age 30 that I never bothered to try.

I like how almost every poster in this thread is just using this as an opportunity to talk about their own "streaks" as if anyone asked. Why are distance runners so self-absorbed?

Steve's 43 years is an incredible mental achievement. To stay focused on a goal and not fall off for over 4 decades... fantastic.

Yes his streak is real while theirs are only potential. Let's give him his due.

Jeez you guys wrote:

I like how almost every poster in this thread is just using this as an opportunity to talk about their own "streaks" as if anyone asked. Why are distance runners so self-absorbed?

Steve's 43 years is an incredible mental achievement. To stay focused on a goal and not fall off for over 4 decades... fantastic.

You're just jealous that you were never able to get a sub 5 streak started.

yeah I know what you mean, but by the same token I think there's something about these longevity-of-non-elite-accomplishment streaks that is more relatable to the common person than is the stars' greatest accomplishments. Steve Spence medaling at the world championships doesn't prompt me to think "shoot, I should have entered that race too", but Steve Spence's sub-5 streak, while remarkable and well beyond anything i could do, does at least get me thinking "hmm, I used to be able to run sub-5, and did it X years apart. I wonder if i could have done it every year in there....."

In general, I think we underestimate how tough never missing is. I remember when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had something like 800 straight games scoring in double figures. Any one game, it's "big deal. He was usually the focal point of the offense on his teams, so scoring 10 in a 48-min NBA game is nothing for him", but no slipups at all for nearly 10 years is impressive

[quote]Jeez you guys wrote:

I like how almost every poster in this thread is just using this as an opportunity to talk about their own "streaks" as if anyone asked. Why are distance runners so self-absorbed?

Tim Ensign from Chattanogga 40 years.

Hope he gives it one more shot.

Jeez you guys wrote:

I like how almost every poster in this thread is just using this as an opportunity to talk about their own "streaks" as if anyone asked. Why are distance runners so self-absorbed?

Steve's 43 years is an incredible mental achievement. To stay focused on a goal and not fall off for over 4 decades... fantastic.

It is a forum for discussing running and ... we're runners. We talk about this stuff. I, personally, am interested in what others did as well. Me? I never got a sub-5 streak started but that ole sub-6 is going strong! Major props to Steve for his streak.

Smile because it happened wrote:

The legend Steve Spence took his shot at the 5 minute barrier today with a few of his athletes and alumni pacing him but came up short. He was on track for over half a mile but then slowly fell off. RIP to a legendary streak -- unless he's game to make one more final attempt tomorrow. What a legend of the sport.

Who cares, sub 5 isn't even impressive. That would be a decent time for a 14 year old. He averaged about 5 min miles for an entire marathon. Being able to run 1 mile at your marathon PR is not impressive.

Congrats for not being a fatass, I guess.

lmb wrote:

Tim Ensign from Chattanogga 40 years.

I paced for many of his miles. When he finally broke 5 for the 40th straight year he dove/tripped/collapsed across the line and broke his arm. hahahahahaha what a legend.