Everyone knows about the 4 minute mile. And Roger Bannister is a household name. But we had to ask ourselves, what’s the female equivalent of the 4:00 mile? And have we foregone an important benchmark because women are late to sport — or simply because the goal lacks numerical roundness? Whatever the reason, it’s time to change that. Let’s celebrate the sub-4:30. Because as it turns out, if we want household names, we might have to build the houses.
And thankfully, our friends at Bring Back the Mile have compiled a list of all US women to break 4:30. To date, fewer than 100 American women have ever done it (compared with almost 500 American men running sub-4:00), but one of the cool things you'll notice on this list is the huge increase in numbers over the past four years. There are many more sub-4:30's to be run. This is not only a celebration of the women who have achieved this mark, but also of the notion that we need more women's traditions in sport.
Many more barriers to be broken. Keep going, keep flying. And bring forth your lists to celebrate!
HEAD UP, WINGS OUT!
|
1. Francie Larrieu |
1975 |
|
2. Mary Decker |
1979 |
|
3. Jan Merrill |
1979 |
|
4. CIndy Bremser |
1982 |
|
5. Ruth Wysocki |
1984 |
|
6. Suzanne Girard |
1985 |
|
7. Chris Gregorek |
1985 |
|
8. Sue Addison |
1986 |
|
9. Claudette Groenendaal |
1986 |
|
10. Diana Richburg |
1987 |
|
11. Mary Knisely |
1987 |
|
12. Linda Sheskey |
1987 |
|
13. Vicki Huber |
1988 |
|
14. Suzi Favor |
1989 |
|
15. PattiSue Plumer |
1989 |
|
16. Lynn Jennings |
1990 |
|
17. Gina Procaccio |
1990 |
|
18. Annette Peters |
1991 |
|
19. Shelly Steely |
1992 |
|
20. Ceci St. Geme |
1993 |
|
21. Regina Jacobs |
1995 |
|
22. Juli Henner |
1997 |
|
23. Amy Wickus |
1997 |
|
24. Alisa Harvey |
1998 |
|
25. Amy Rudolph |
1999 |
|
26. Sarah Thorsett |
1999 |
|
27. Mary Jane Harrelson |
2003 |
|
28. Carrie Tollefson |
2006 |
|
29. Erin Donohue |
2006 |
|
30. Tiffany McWilliams |
2006 |
|
31. Treniere Clement |
2006 |
|
32. Shannon Rowbury |
2008 |
|
33. Christin Wurth-Thomas |
2008 |
|
34. Anna Willard |
2008 |
|
35. Lindsay Gallo |
2008 |
|
36. Jenny Barringer |
2009 |
|
37. Sarah Bowman |
2009 |
|
38. Brenda Martinez |
2012 |
|
39. Kim Conley |
2012 |
|
40. Gabriele Anderson |
2012 |
|
41. Katie Flood |
2012 |
|
42. Mary Cain |
2013 |
|
43. Kate Grace |
2013 |
|
44. Brie Felnagle |
2013 |
|
45. Emma Coburn |
2013 |
|
46. Amanda Winslow |
2014 |
|
47. Molly Huddle |
2014 |
|
48. Aisha Praught |
2014 |
|
49. Katie Mackey |
2014 |
|
50. Lauren Penney |
2014 |
|
51. Abbey D'Agostino |
2014 |
|
52. Jordan Hasay |
2014 |
|
53. Morgan Uceny |
2014 |
|
54. Leah O'Connor |
2015 |
|
55. Stephanie Charnigo |
2015 |
|
56. Shelby Houlihan |
2015 |
|
57. Stephanie Garcia |
2015 |
|
58. Amanda Eccleston |
2015 |
|
59. Heather Wilson |
2015 |
|
60. Colleen Quigley |
2015 |
|
61. Lauren Johnson |
2016 |
|
62. Kerri Gallagher |
2016 |
|
63. Heather Kampf |
2016 |
|
64. Shannon Osika |
2016 |
|
65. Rachel Schneider |
2016 |
|
66. Corey McGee |
2016 |
|
67. Alexa Efraimson |
2016 |
|
68. Stephanie Brown |
2016 |
|
69. Elinor Purrier |
2016 |
|
70. Nicole Tully |
2016 |
|
71. Kaela Edwards |
2017 |
|
72. Hannah Fields |
2017 |
|
73. Emily Lipari |
2017 |
|
74. Karissa Schweizer |
2018 |
|
75. Helen Schlachtenhaufen |
2018 |
|
76. Charlene Lipsey |
2018 |
|
77. Sara Vaughn |
2018 |
P.S. Check back, we will continue to refresh!
