Sport: Fastest Mile

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When Runner Glenn Cunningham first made sport headlines in 1931, the world's record for a mile on foot was 4 min., 9.2 sec. A 4:05 mile was unthinkable.

Last week barrel-chested Glenn Cunningham, now 28, and the father of a nine-months old daughter, went to Hanover, N. H. with the express purpose of running a 4:05 mile on Dartmouth's fast board track. This deliberate move was not wholly undramatic. The world's record of 4:06.4, set by England's Stanley Wooderson last summer, had been officially recognized by the International Amateur Athletic Federation just three days before.

Paced by six Dartmouth runners, with handicaps ranging from five to 600 yards, Cunningham ran his race almost exactly as he planned: the quarter mile in 58.5 sec., the half mile in 2:02.5, the three-quarter mile in 3:04.2 and—pumping his piston-like legs as fast as he could—the mile in 4:04.4.

Not only did his amazing performance establish Glenn Cunningham as the fastest miler in the world, but it demonstrated conclusively that he is also the most consistent. Only 18 times in foot-racing history has a man run a mile under 4:10— the dividing line between milers and super milers. Superman Cunningham did it last week for the eighth time. Track experts predicted that Cunningham will do a 4:03 mile.