The Sub-Four Minute Mile Barrier

My First Sub-Four Minute Mile

The first time I broke the four minute mile barrier for 1-mile was April 11th, 2005. It was and still is a very special day in my running career. Even though my personal best going into the competition was a few seconds outside of four minutes I had a strong feeling and faith that I would break the barrier that day. Here is the video of the race I posted on my YouTube channel and an article written by the Daily Bruin (UCLA's school newspaper) about the race.

Video: My First Sub-4 minute mile

Daily Bruin Article: http://www.dailybruin.com/articles/2005/4/11/m-track-miracle-mile/

First black high school kid to run a Sub-Four minute mile

In the video below I wonder if the kid running is the first black high school kid to run the mile under four minutes?

The truth is he's probably not the first. Furthermore, the achievement of a black high school kid running a sub-four minute mile in high school sports has yet to be achieved. Honestly, aside from the first name (Henry) of the runner mentioned in this Adidas commercial I don't know the identity of the kid running in what for me is a very inspirational commercial.

I think this commercial conveys a powerful message because it represents the idea of progress in an event (the 1-mile run) and a sport (middle and long distance running) that black Americans and most minorities in America have yet to fully take part in.

Personally, as a black or African-American distance runner I've always recognized the lack of participation of minorities in the sport of distance running in America. The majority of minorities with American citizenship whom I've had the honor to befriend and compete against were originally born and have spent a majority of their lives living outside the US. With this fact in mind I've always wondered where the minorities born and raised in America were; why there weren't more people who looked like me running.

There are many possible answers to this question, one possible answer being:

distance running is a sport, activity and way of life that's never been introduced or popularized in the black communities of America like football or basketball has been.

The lack of participation in and a lack of understanding of distance running amongst minorities has led and continues to keep buried a sport and tool I believe can uplift and revolutionize the landscape of black communities and the lives of minorities if it was introduced as a new traditional activity and way of living.

Is this the first black high school kid to run a sub-four minute mile? Probably not, but that doesn't mean some young boy just like him isn't waiting to be inspired by us, his peers, his neighbors and his relatives to become the first. Just look at the setting of this commercial: a community with no soft trails, no track and no peers to run along side him.

If Henry (the character in this commercial) can be inspired internally by a dream and externally inspired by peers to be the first I think its only right we help make this dream and dreams like it a reality in our own communities. If running, an act as simple as walking, could save your life and inspire the lives of others (a life just like Henry's) don't you think it's worth giving it a try?!

Youtube Video/Adidas Commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZekgUoo2boI

"I had to run..."

"I had to run. Running was my saving grace, a not-so-ordinary talent I possessed. There was a freedom in movement against the wind that could not be put into words. This was my sacred ritual and rite of passage." 

The above quotation is from the powerful story called The Olympian: An American Triumph  by Craig T. Williams. It's about John Taylor Baxter, Jr., the first African-American Olympic Gold Medalist. I've chosen the above quote as the opening lines of the first post of this blog to mark the first steps of my journey of inspiring minorities, and specifically, African-Americans to lace up their walking shoes and invite the sport of running to be a part of their daily lives. 

In 1865 slavery was officially abolished and freedom officially established throughout the United States of America with the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, which states:

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

In the post civil war era John Baxter Taylor, Jr. was the first African-American to use running as a tool to build on the freedom that many Americans fought so hard to establish during the American Civil War (1861-1865). His life is a great example of how the tool of running transitioned from being used to create freedom when it wasn't available to all Americans (i.e. the Underground Railroad) to being used to build upon it once it became available to all Americans.

The simple act of putting one foot in front of the other has been so influential to the positive transformation of my own character that I feel compelled to share it with others. Through my exploration of the history of African-Americans and other minorities in the sport of distance running in America I hope to reveal a greater understanding and appreciation for the positive impact it can have on a person's quality of life. Through my exploration I hope to discover and share stories like John Taylor's that'll inspire others to find within themselves the desire to set themselves free from the limitations of the broader experience of human existence and fight to run towards living a life worth remembering.