After seeing the Track and Field News list of the world’s 1192 sub-four-minute milers in 2011, I decided to start my own list of Canadian sub-four milers and their times when they first broke the elusive barrier.
The Miracle Mile of Englishman Roger Bannister and Aussie John Landy at the 1954 Empire Games in Vancouver was not only the first race in which two men ran the mile in under four minutes, but it was also the first sub-4 mile run in Canada. It would be twelve years before Torontonian Dave Bailey became the first Canadian to break the four-minute barrier for the mile with a 3:59.1 in San Diego on June 11, 1966, and another year before Bailey would be the first Canadian to break four minutes in Canada, running 3:57.7 in Toronto on July 22, 1967. Since then, 52 Canadians have run the mile under four minutes.
Kevin Sullivan holds the current Canadian mile record of 3:50.26 run in Oslo, Norway on July 28, 2000, and Nathan Brannen lowered his own Canadian indoor mile record of 3:55.11 with a 3:54.22 at the Millrose Games in New York on February 15, 2014. Mike Woods became the 38th Canadian under four minutes with a 3:57.48 in Windsor, ON that still stands as the Canadian junior mile record. Justyn Knight ran 3:59.51 at the Penn State National meet on January 31, 2015 to break Ryan Hayden’s Canadian junior indoor record and become the first Canadian junior to break four minutes indoors.
Gabriela DeBues-Stafford set the Canadian women’s indoor mile record of 4:24.80 in Boston on January 26, 2019 and the women’s outdoor mile record of 4:17.87 in Monaco on July 12, 2019.
| 1. | Dave Bailey | 3:59.1 | 11 Jun 66 | |
| 2. | Norm Trerise | 3:59.1 | 5 Jun 70 | |
| 3. | Grant McLaren | 3:59.0 | 29 Jul 72 | |
| 4. | Ken Elmer | 3:58.5 | 20 Jun 73 | |
| 5. | Paul Craig | 3:59.8 | 1 Jun 74 | |
| 6. | Peter Spir | 3:58.71 | 14 Jun 77 | 7. | Dave Hill | 3:55.89 | 26 Aug 77 |
| 8. | Paul Steeds | 3:59.6 | 12 Apr 80 | |
| 9. | John Craig | 3:58.05 | 8 Aug 80 | |
| 10. | Greg Duhaime | 3:59.8 | 8 Aug 81 | |
| 11. | Graeme Fell * | 3:57.5 | 1 Jun 83 | |
| 12. | Paul Williams | 3:58.6 | 1 Jun 83 | |
| 13. | Kelly Britz | 3:59.5 | 1 Jun 83 | |
| 14. | Dave Reid | 3:58.03 | 16 Jun 83 | |
| 15. | Marc Olesen | 3:58.08 | 16 Jun 83 | |
| 16. | David Campbell | 3:58.91 | 16 Jun 83 | 17. | Ron Becht | 3:59.12 | 16 Jun 83 |
| 18. | Alec Ritchie | 3:59.59 | 16 Jun 83 | |
| 19. | Ken Lucks | 3:58.96 | 16 Jul 84 | |
| 20. | Doug Consiglio | 3:55.91 | indoor | 25 Jan 86 |
| 21. | Rob Lonergan | 3:59.29 | 18 Jul 86 | |
| 22. | Brendan Matthias | 3:58.83 | 2 Jun 90 | |
| 23. | Graham Hood | 3:58.75 | indoor | 24 Jan 92 |
| 24. | Allan Klassen | 3:57.31 | 5 Jun 93 | |
| 25. | Kevin Sullivan | 3:59.29 | 19 Jun 93 | |
| 26. | Scott MacDonald | 3:59.40 | indoor | 5 Feb 94 | 27. | Jason Bunston | 3:59.70 | 1 Apr 95 |
| 28. | Steven Agar | 3:57.37 | 11 May 97 | |
| 29. | Steve Howard | 3:58.8 | 14 May 97 | |
| 30. | Jay Cantin | 3:59.90 | indoor | 5 Feb 00 |
| 31. | Richard Tremain | 3:59.71 | 19 Aug 00 | |
| 32. | Nathan Brannen | 3:59.85 | 8 Jul 01 | |
| 33. | Zach Whitmarsh | 3:58.78 | indoor | 2 Feb 02 |
| 34. | Ryan Hayden | 3:58.27 | 18 May 02 | |
| 35. | Ryan McKenzie | 3:58.52 | 1 Jul 04 | |
| 36. | Andrew Ellerton | 3:58.68 | 1 Jul 04 | 37. | Kurtis Benninger | 3:58.75 | indoor | 5 Feb 05 |
| 38. | Michael Woods | 3:57.48 | 28 Jul 05 | |
| 39. | Graeme Wells | 3:58.22 | 25 Jul 08 | |
| 40. | Taylor Milne | 3:56.54 | 11 Jun 09 | |
| 41. | Kyle Boorsma | 3:59.67 | 11 Jun 09 | |
| 42. | Cameron Levins | 3:59.80 | indoor | 30 Jan 10 |
| 43. | Justin Marpole-Bird | 3:58.76 | indoor | 13 Feb 10 |
| 44. | Olivier Collin | 3:57.25 | 24 Apr 10 | |
| 45. | Jeremy Rae | 3:58.52 | indoor | 6 Feb 11 |
| 46. | Geoff Martinson ** | 3:59.55 | 18 July 12 | |
| 47. | Robert Denault | 3:59.39 | indoor | 2 Mar 13 |
| 48. | Lucas Bruchet | 3:57.71 | indoor | 31 Jan 14 |
| 49. | Charles Philibert-Thiboutot | 3:57.85 | 10 Jul 14 | |
| 50. | Justyn Knight | 3:59.51 | indoor | 31 Jan 15 |
| 51. | Keffri Neal | 3:58:02 | indoor | 14 Feb 15 |
| 52. | Adam Palamar | 3:59.91 | indoor | 14 Feb 15 |
| 53. | Thomas Riva | 3:59.00 | indoor | 14 Feb 15 |
| 54. | Mohammed Ahmed | 3:56.60 | 20 Aug 17 | |
| 55. | Corey Bellemore | 3:57.20 | indoor | 27 Jan 18 |
| 56. | Ben Flanagan | 3:57.75 | 5 Sep 18 |
* Graeme Fell ran his sub-4 mile as a British citizen
** Geoff Martinson’s sub-4 mile was a paced time-trial at Oak Bay High School with a camera crew and a funky soundtrack. Watch the video evidence.
Check out Athletics Canada’s All-time Outdoor Rankings which gives me another idea for a post.
Originally posted Feb 17, 2011
I can’t even comprehend how fast that is. Great list!
Brannen ran a 3:55.07 in Toronto, June 11, 2009. Milne was second in 3:56.54 and Benninger fifth in 3:57.18.
That would be three guys faster than Mike Woods’s 3:57.48 and last time I checked Toronto was Canadian soil. Thanks Tom!
I don’t see Grant McLaren’s name and time of 3:59.0 from 1972 in Toronto?
Thanks Rick! I see Grant McLaren’s time on the Athletics Canada All-Time list now so I’m not sure how I missed it (unless it was also subsequently updated). AC has him down as running 3:59.0 in Toronto on July 29, 1972. I found his name on a Trackie forum thread credited with a 3:59.0 in Eugene, OR from July 10, 1972, though I couldn’t confirm it elsewhere. The University of Oregon was hosting the US Olympic Trials at that time so unless there was an all-comers mile event, the July 10 time must have been a mistake. Until I hear otherwise, I’ll go with McLaren’s Toronto time as his first sub-4.
You have Thomas Riva as the most recent addition. But on that same day, two other Canadians Adam Palamar and Keffri Neal also broke 4min. That day actually saw 35 men worldwide run sub 4 min miles worldwide in 4 different locations!
http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/251948-Track-Season-on-Flotrack-2015/article/29908-36-Sub-4s-In-One-Day#.VQbjpHW99CV
correction – 36 men
Thanks for that Craig! What a great day for Canadian milers. It would appear that Neal and Palamar would have run their miles earlier than Riva, so I have updated the list accordingly.
I was two+ years younger than Dave Bailey when I raced in an open mile race with him at Northview HS in 1962. I saw him finish first, just as I hit the top of the last straight. Best run I ever had. Damn he was quick! Great fun and great memory!