Offaly man breaks four minute mile barrier

AN Offaly man broke through one of athletics' most cherished barriers when he ran a sub four minute mile last week.

Killeigh's Mark Milner ran 3.59.20 when he travelled to Boston, Massachusetts with his University of Portland team to compete at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, hosted by Boston University.

An 800 metres specialist, his mile time represented a significant improvement of 1.5 seconds from his previous personal best of 4.00.79.

Milner will be returning home from the USA for Christmas before returning to Oregon for the indoor season.

He is the second Tullamore Harriers member to break four minutes for the mile this year. Ballycommon man James Dunne became the first last February when he ran 3.57.26 in Boston.

While the 4 minute mile no longer retains the lure that it did when Roger Bannister first broke it in 1954, and for several years afterwards, it still remains a big milestone for athletes and it is a major item ticked off on Milner's list of goals.

Meanwhile James Dunne set a new Tullamore Harriers' record for the 3,000 metres when he ran 7.52.86 at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, hosted by Boston University. Dunne was part of the University of Georgetown team and he improved his previous personal best almost two seconds.