Donavan Brazier gets his sub four minute mile: 3:59:30 in 2017-18 indoor season Opener

Donavan Brazier ran 3:59:30 last weekend in his indoor season opener. Well, that’a nice indication that Mr. Brazier, the man who broke Jim Ryun’s 50 year old (to the day) NCAA record in 2016. In 2017, Donovan Brazier won the US Champs and moved on to the London 2017 World Championships, not making the final.

Donavan Brazier, NB Indoor, photo by PhotoRun.net

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Remember, Donavan Brazier went pro after his freshman year, so the guy is junior year in college age. He is learning lots each year, and this young man has some serious wheels. As he gets fitter and more experienced, we will see some serious hardware in his hands. But his distinction right now, with this mile is that it seems to be the earliest we have seen a sub 4 minute mile in an indoor season.

Nice going, Donavan!

A few more things on Mr. Brazier’s opener. Besides his 3:59.30 mile being quite early in an indoor season, Donavan Brazier is now the 493rd American man under 4 minutes for the mile plus, after the mile, Mr. Brazier ran a 46 split 400 meters on a 4x400m relay! Not a bad opener.

One final note about the mile. Behind Donavan was 2012 Olympic silver medalist, Leo Manzano, in 4:02.

Race on, Donavan.

Good season opener for the boys
A post shared by Donavan (@donavanbrazier) on Dec 9, 2017 at 6:48pm PST

Author

Larry Eder
Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys. Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."
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