By workday, Tony Young of Seattle is a mild-manered loan officer for small businesses at Venture Bank, "with a sprinkling of commercial lending." By weekend, he's SuperMiler!
He's young, indeed, especially after claiming his first individual world record over the weekend at age 46. It came at the Portland Track Festival at Mt. Hood Community College, which featured one of the fastest Masters miles of all time.
And Young, running in the orange top of Club Northwest, was the star, taking the lead after a half-mile and running four laps in 4 minutes, 16.09 seconds to beat the listed M45 age-group world record of 4:16.75 by New Zealand's David Sirl in 1987. (He also crushed the listed American record of 4:18.83 by Ken Sparks in 1990.)
"I knew the American record was 4:18 and the WR record was 4:16 something," Young wrote me after the race. "Since it was only my second effort on the track this season, I had a couple of attainable (goals) first: Finish on both feet! Get under 4:20 if I can. Try and negative split the race (2:10/2:06). Hold off a fast charging Pete!"
"Pete" would be national cross country champion Pete Magill of South Pasadena, Calif. -- also 46. Magill helped set the pace the first two laps and finished in a superb 4:21.34. A little further back, 58-year-old Nolan Shaheed, the professional trumpet player from Pasadena, Calif., was ninth in 4:43.85 -- just off the 4:40.4 M55 world record by Australia's Jack Ryan in 1977. Shaheed still holds the M55 American record of 4:42.7, set a year ago in Canby, Ore.
Dave Clingan of Portland, Ore., the race organizer, handed out prize checks as follows: $200 to Young, $150 to Magill and $100 to 36-year-old Jonathan Swanson of McMinnville, Ore., whose early pace-setting made the record race possible.
Clingan described conditions as "near perfect. About 70 degrees, sunny and very slight breeze." In the stands, someone shot video of the race. A link can be found on my blog at masterstrack.com.
Most amazing thing about the video? The meet announcer never once mentions a world record in the making. Typical.
Not so typical was Young's time -- which on the World Masters Athletics Age-Graded Tables corresponds to an Open (ages 20-30) mark of 3:51.20. The only question now is: When will John Hinton race Young? On May 17, Hinton ran the 1500 meters in 3:57.77 -- his fourth sub-4 of the year in the metric mile. That's roughly equivalent to a 4:16.5 mile.
But in the Young household, Dad is struggling mightily to remain the fastest miler. At the Washington State High School Track Championships the previous weekend, Young's son Mack (then 15) ran a 4:19.20 mile (actually 1600 meters) to take seventh. Mac is the No. 2 sophomore in the state.
Coincidentally, the elder Young's high school best was 4:19, clocked in winning the Kentucky state prep championship back in 1979. Born in Chicago, Tony grew up in western Kentucky and later spent five years in the Navy. He went west and ran track for Cal State Los Angeles and clocked a 4:00.8 mile split during a distance medley relay and ran a 3:43 1500 (equivalent to a sub-4 mile).
On the letsrun.com message board, Young on Sunday wrote: "Yes, my son (16 today) is shocked that I beat his HS times this week, but has told me that it won't last. I love it!"
And Masters are loving Dad's super world record as well. And it should last.
Tags: Masters Mile Record
