The US record-holder was on a promise to become the first runner to break the 4min mile at one of the United States most historic meetings and he proved to be a man of his word

70^th Drake Relays, Des Moines, Iowa, April 27, 1979 Invitational Mile, 1^st place, 3:55.26 (MR)

The Drake Relays goes back over 100 years. When I was a senior in college at UC-Irvine, the meet director asked my coach, Len Miller, if they could fly me out and try to break the four-minute mile for the first time in Drake history. He said: Sure, well bring out a couple of my other athletes and well do it.

But the morning that we were flying out, I came down with a fever. I flew out anyway, hoping that if I had a days rest, and the fever broke, that I Id be fine. But I was sick, and I had a temperature of 120F.

The director asked if I would come out on to the track, even though I was feeling really miserable, and at least say hi to the crowd. Because theyd been advertising it all for weeks, it was just to show that I was actually there.

So I go out there. I dont know if you ever watch baseball movies but I think it was Babe Ruth who pointed out that he was going to hit a home run the next pitch. I guaranteed the crowd that I would come back the next year and I guaranteed that Id break the four- minute mile.

Des Moines is a small country town. University of Drake is a small college, a very tight-knit community and very supportive of track. At that point, I hadnt really been exposed to too many so-called track towns. So the next year came along and I flew out there in great shape.

Id already graduated from college and brought out a team-mate of mine, Ralph Serna, to be my rabbit for the race. The day before was beautiful weather: calm and sunny. On the day that I was attempting to break the four-minute mile, it was cold and blustery. The winds were like 10-15 miles an hour. Just horrible conditions.

So the gun goes off, my team-mate takes off and barely gets under 60 seconds for the first quarter. I think he only made it 600m and was even slowing down so I had to take over the lead.

That Drake Relays crowd was packed. The stadium was full. The crowd realised the weather was not good and that Id lost my rabbit and they literally pulled me through that race. They were just screaming and whistling and clapping around the track. It reminds me of Oslo [the Bislett Games] in that they really care and they lifted me that last quarter. I finished the race and ran 3:55 for the mile after a really strong last lap.

Track athletes in United States, theyre not exactly heroes like they are in the UK. But the rest of the weekend, Id be walking down the street and people recognised me. Id go into a restaurant or a club and they would introduce themselves to me. It was just like being king for a day.

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I didnt make any money. It was because, in exchange for me coming out, they agreed to bring out several of the Irvine athletes. And the same thing happened the next year in 79. I wanted to help my former team-mates get exposure and get them into a class competition. So, really, the team was kind of riding on my coattails to get there and that was fine with me.

I came up with energy I never knew I had. I wish I could have duplicated that in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. What really hurt me was not being able to go to Moscow in 1980 and get the chance to get the exposure of being at an Olympics.

The first World Championships in 1983 was more like running in Zurich. It wasnt the worldwide spectacle that the Olympics was maybe in my mind. It wasnt the same. In 1984 in Los Angeles, I just couldnt handle the pressure, to be honest.

The Coliseum was 30 miles from where I was born and raised. Every interview I did was asking about: How are you going to do in the Olympics? And I just made way too much of it, more than I should have. If I had had the experience of running in 1980, I would have realised its just another meet and gone in and competed.

Instead, I changed my racing tactics, I really changed my racing schedule, I changed my training schedule everything in preparation for 1984. Because we also didnt want to have happen what happened in 83, which was that we went out so slow, that thats pretty much anybodys race.

So the tactics changed: I was going to take the lead at some point, which I rarely did. It was all because of the pressure that I put upon myself, leading into 84. By the time we got to 88, I had a much better attitude and was much more relaxed and confident. But, by that point, I was just a little bit too old and couldnt recover from racing three days in a row.

During that time frame from around 1979-88, count how many sub 3:50 milers there were. There had to have been 15 all competing at the same time, in that same generation. If you compare that to any other time in history, theres nothing like it.

So you didnt have any easy races. Everywhere you went, there was either John Walker or Seb Coe or Steve Ovett or Eamonn Coghlan or Sydney Maree the list goes on and on of just tremendous competitors. You had to be at the top of your game for every single race that you went to.

But Drake was so meaningful. Not because it was a world record, or a spectacular time. It was just the crowd involvement and the crowd support and the acknowledgement afterwards. In America, unless youre a professional football or basketball player, you dont get recognised. And it was just a unique experience that never was duplicated and I dont think ever could be duplicated. It was just a really special moment.

Factfile
Born: May 5, 1956
Events: 800m, 1500m and mile
PBs: 1:45.05, 3:31.76, 3:47.69

International achievements:
1988: Olympic 1500m final, fifth
1987: Pan American Games 1500m bronze
1983: World Championships 1500m silver