Former Dorchester Club Ed Bird has broken the four-minute mile for the first time, writes Nigel Harding
Bird, from Charminster, was running for the University of Kentucky in the Razorback Invitational at Fayetteville, Arkansas, reputedly the fastest indoor circuit in the world.
He hit top speed on the penultimate 200m lap (28.62s) and held on to win as a chasing trio from University of Oregon also broke four minutes. Bird’s 3:58.18 ranks 37th for a British miler running indoors.
National Union of Track statisticians reported in June 2022 that 1,755 different athletes had achieved the mark, starting with Roger Bannister in 1954
Meanwhile, other Dorset-based athletes from, Poole Athletics' Club endured success of their own.,
Melissa Courtney-Bryant, one of fewer than 150 women to have broken four minutes for 1500m, went fourth on the British all-time 3,000m rankings behind Paula Radcliffe, Laura Weightman and Laura Muir.
The Poole AC ace posted 8:28.69 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston, Massachusetts. She boosted her personal best and the Welsh national record, set a year ago at the same meeting, by nine seconds. Olympic bronze medallist Georgia Bell finished sixth in 8:36.96.
William Rabjohns also achieved a 3:48.93 third place for England over 1500m in the Reykjavik International Games and followed up with the bronze medal for the men’s short course at the BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) Cross-Country Championships in Cardiff (8.2km in 24:26). Emily Parker was sixth over the women’s long course (8.2km in 27:21).
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