Ethan Strand Runs 3:48.32 in Boston to Crush NCAA Mile Record
Eight weeks after breaking the NCAA 3,000 record at Boston University, Strand took down the mile record on the same track
By Jonathan GaultBOSTON – Ethan Strand swears the plan coming into Saturday’s John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University was just to knock out an NCAA qualifying time in the mile. But, as American track fans are quickly learning, Ethan Strand is a predator at the end of races. If he smells blood, he is going to move in for the kill.
Strand first caught a whiff with three laps to go. The North Carolina senior was on pace for that NCAA qualifier, running in fourth behind Northern Arizona’s Colin Sahlman, when he sensed the gap to pros Robert Farken and Adam Fogg stretching a bit wider than he liked. Strand had made a few half-moves earlier in the race, moving onto Sahlman’s shoulder but failing to make the pass. This time, he went with authority, and after dropping a 27.68 lap – the fastest of the race to that point – he was with the leaders.
As Farken, who had relentlessly pushed the pace in search of Josh Kerr’s 3:48.87 European record, began to tire entering the final lap, Strand moved in for the kill. And unlike his last time on the BU track – when he edged out UNC teammate Parker Wolfe to set the collegiate record in the 3,000m in December – there was no doubt about the winner as Strand blew by Farken and powered away to win in 3:48.32 (55.47 last 400, 27.10 last 200), throwing his arms out in celebration as a grin spread across his face.
“Last time, I knew we were going to run pretty fast,” Strand said. “I didn’t quite know today. I wanted to come in, open up the season, get qualified in case I wanted to run the mile at nationals. So to come out here and run that is pretty cool.”
3:48.32 is more than “pretty cool.” It is more than two seconds faster than the previous collegiate record of 3:50.39, set four years ago by Oregon’s Cooper Teare. It makes Strand the fifth-fastest American miler of all-time, indoors or out, behind only Yared Nuguse, Alan Webb, Steve Scott, and Cole Hocker. And it moves Strand all the way up to #3 on the all-time world indoor list, bumping a gentleman by the name of Hicham El Guerrouj down to fourth place.
Behind Strand, Farken (3:49.45) set a German indoor record (he barely missed Jens-Peter Herold’s outdoor mark of 3:49.22 from 1988) while Great Britain’s Adam Fogg (3rd in 3:49.82) narrowly missed his 3:49.62 pb from last year. It was just the second time in history, after last year’s Wanamaker Mile, that three men broke 3:50 in an indoor mile (4 did it a Millrose last year).
Improvements in shoe technology during the late 2010s and 2020s has made comparing times across the eras an increasingly difficult task. But even if you compare Strand just to collegians of his era, he is two seconds faster than everyone else. Granted, he benefited from near-perfect racing conditions on Saturday, with Farken serving as the perfect pacesetter on the world’s fastest indoor track.
Shoes or not, it is now clear that Ethan Strand is the real deal. Strand is strong (he was 8th at the NCAA cross country championships), fast (he closed his 7:30 NCAA 3k record in 26.47 for his last 200), and he is beginning to show that he can shift gears and win races. But while you can make a name for yourself by running fast at BU in December and January, you become a legend by winning titles.
“You run super fast times but at the end of the day, they’re times,” Strand said. “What sticks around forever are winning championships. So that’s definitely my focus over the next few months.”
Strand will get his first crack at the NCAA indoor championships, which will be held from March 14-15 in Virginia Beach. He does not yet know which event(s) he will run there, but the mile, 3k, and distance medley relay are all options.
“I’d say whatever combination we can score the most points,” Strand said.
The scary thing is, Strand may not be done improving this year. After his 7:30 3k on December 7, he took a week off and since returning to training has only touched mile pace once in a track workout according to both Strand and coach Chris Miltenberg. I asked Miltenberg whether he was worried Strand had run too fast too soon, given the long outdoor season ahead of him (the US championships are not until the first week of August). Miltenberg said no – because he has seen what Strand has done in training and knows he has not been pushing too hard.
“I’ve had a really good last month of training,” Strand said. “Not too much specificity. Had one workout last week where I got down to, I think I ran a 69 for a 500. The rest is just longer threshold stuff, hills, and then we do sprint a bit on Mondays sometimes.”
Full analysis below video and results.
Last Lap Video
🚨 WRITE IT IN THE RECORD BOOKS 🚨@UNCTrack_Field‘s Ethan Strand becomes the third-fastest performer EVER in the WORLD in the indoor mile, clocking 3:48.32 to win the BU Terrier Classic.#BUTerrierClassic pic.twitter.com/ghuN8UHOkq
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) February 1, 2025
Full Results *Lap by lap splits here
- Ethan Strand (North Carolina) – 3:48.32
- Robert Farken (On Athletics Club) – 3:49.45
- Adam Fogg (UA Baltimore Distance) – 3:49.85
- Flavien Szot (Nike) – 3:52.67
- Tyler Billard (Great Yarmouth AC) – 3:52.73
- Colin Sahlman (Northern Arizona) – 3:52.82
- Derek Johnson (New Balance) – 3:53.13
- Piers Copeland (Unattached) – 3:54.42
- Justine Kipkoech (Eastern Kentucky) – 3:54.62
- Alexandre Selles (Unattached) – 3:55.28
- Matthew Beaudet (Saint-Laurent Select) – 3:57.11
DNF – Hazem Miawad – Empire Elite
The US has another burgeoning middle-distance star
It is an incredible time to be a fan of American miling. Six months ago in Paris, Americans Cole Hocker, Yared Nuguse, and Hobbs Kessler went 1-3-5 in the Olympic final, and none are older than 25. Two weeks ago, Washington’s Nathan Green, who won the NCAA 1500-meter title as a 20-year-old in 2023, ran 3:50.74 for the mile in Seattle. Earlier on Saturday afternoon, 19-year-old Simeon Birnbaum, a sophomore at Oregon, ran 3:52.81 in Fayetteville to become the third-fastest American teenager ever, trailing only future Olympic medalists Cole Hocker (3:50.55) and Jim Ryun (3:51.1). And now Strand and his 3:48. Don’t blink or you may miss the next American miler coming off the assembly line.
Strand, who finished 12th in the Olympic Trials 1500 final last year, said the event is so loaded right now that he considered moving events prior to this indoor season.
“After the 1500 last year, I got beaten by four collegiates in the Olympic Trials final, I was 9th in the [NCAA] final, so it’s like, maybe I do need to take a step up and focus on the 3k/DMR,” Strand said. “Now the mile’s an option [again].”
Following this event is going to require a shift in mindset from US distance fans. Just three years ago, the US placed only one man in the World Championship final: Josh Thompson, who finished last. In 2025, there will be no tougher national team to make for this year’s Worlds in Tokyo.
At the NCAA level, superspikes and a crop of talented runners have led to a complete overhaul of the NCAA recordbook in the mile. Edward Cheserek’s 3:52.01, which stood as the collegiate record as recently as four years ago, is now barely in the all-time top 10.
Updated NCAA all-time NCAA indoor mile list
1. 3:48.32 Ethan Strand, North Carolina 2025
2. 3:50.39 Cooper Teare, Oregon 2021
3. 3:50.46 Anass Essayi, South Carolina 2023
4. 3:50.55 Cole Hocker, Oregon 2021
5. 3:50.74 Nathan Green, Washington 2025
6. 3:51.73 Luke Houser, Washington 2024
7. 3:51.85 Ronan McMahon-Staggs, Washington 2025
8. 3:51.90 Joe Waskom, Washington 2023
9. 3:52.01 Edward Cheserek, Oregon 2017
10. 3:52.03 Morgan Beadlescomb, Michigan State 2022
10. 3:52.03 Brian Fay, Washington 2023
Update: Strand is the guest on our podcast this week which you can listen to here on your favorite podcast player or in the Spotify player below.
Is this the year the NCAA mile curse dies?
The only bad news for Strand today is that in recent years, it has been very bad luck to break the NCAA record in the men’s 1500 or mile. The last nine men to break the collegiate record in one of those events did not win the NCAA title that season, dating back to BYU’s Miles Batty in 2012 (who was on hand to congratulate Strand in Boston).
Will Strand finally bring the curse to an end in Virginia Beach?
Athlete | Year | Event | Time | Won NCAAs? |
Miles Batty | 2012 | Mile | 3:54.54i | No |
Chris O’Hare | 2013 | Mile | 3:52.98i | No |
Lawi Lalang | 2014* | Mile | 3:52.88i | No |
Edward Cheserek | 2017 | Mile | 3:52.01i | No |
Josh Kerr | 2018 | 1500 | 3:35.01 | No |
Cooper Teare | 2021* | Mile | 3:50.39i | No |
Sam Tanner | 2021 | 1500 | 3:34.72i | No |
Yared Nuguse | 2021 | 1500 | 3:34.68 | No |
Eliud Kipsang | 2022 | 1500 | 3:33.74 | No |
Ethan Strand | 2025 | Mile | 3:48.32i | ??? |
*Lalang and Teare won NCAA outdoor titles in the 5,000 in the same year in which they broke the mile record. But both men were beaten at NCAA indoors.
OAC’s new addition Robert Farken wanted to make a statement today
Farken, who changed groups from OAC Europe (coached by Thomas Dreissigacker) to OAC Boulder (coached by Dathan Ritzenhein) in the fall, was hoping to run the 1500 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix on Sunday but could not get into the meet. He wanted to show that he belonged by breaking the European record of 3:48.87, and though he did not quite get there, he still looked impressive in his first race of the season.
Farken said he left OAC Europe – where his training consisted of a steady diet of double threshold – on good terms. He just felt that, at age 27 and the end of an Olympic cycle, it was time for him to make a change. Farken missed a spot in the Olympic 1500 final by one place last year and is hoping a new stimulus will propel him to the next level.
“It’s a complete change,” Farken said. “At the end of the day, coming from double threshold, any other training system would be very nice for me or very refreshing, just because it’s something new. If someone comes off the training that I’m doing now and had been doing that training for 10 years and go to double threshold, it would be just as nice for him because it’s just a change. You’ve gotta mix it up every now and then to reach new levels. And I’m pretty sure I’m going to be able to reach those new levels.”
Did you see our recap of yesterday’s BU action? Catch up here:
Talk about 2025 on our world-famous fan forum / messageboard:
- ETHAN MF STRAND 3:48.32 CR
- Ethan Strand’s new CR was set on a cheat track, he will not run 3:48 outdoors
- Official Day 1 BU John Thomas Terrier Classic Discussion Thread
- Elise Cranny 4:20.83
Correction: An earlier version of this article said Simeon Birnbaum was the fastest American teenager in the mile since Jim Ryun. Cole Hocker actually ran faster than both of them as a teenager.