Five UVA runners break 4-minute mile barrier on same day

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - It was a record-setting weekend in Boston for a handful of runners from the University of Virginia. Their goal going into the event was simple: to all run the mile in under 4 minutes.

“Half of breaking the 4-minute mile is how much hype is surrounding it. It’s half a physical barrier and half a mental barrier,” Connor Murphy said.

Murphy, in one heat along with teammates Gary Martin and Wes Porter, all ran below four minutes in the mile. Porter says he could feel something special was happening.

“Two laps to go, the crowd roared. I think we all knew at that point we were going to break it, it was just how far would we go under,” Porter said.

Murphy ran the fastest indoor time in UVA History, at just over 3 minutes, 55 seconds.

“I saw the clock and I thought, ‘I have a chance to run really well here,’ and I closed really well and saw the time,” Murphy said.

Martin set a UVA freshman record with a mark of just under 3 minutes, 57 seconds.

“I definitely felt some pressure to just keep making forward progress and keep getting better, but I thought I could do it,” Martin said.

Teammates Nathan Mountain and James Donahue were running in following heats and also went sub-four minutes in the mile.

Remarkably, all five UVA guys on the same day ran the mile in under 4 minutes.

Conor Murphy: 3.55.25

Wes Porter: 3:56:83

Gary: 3:56:83

James Donahue: 3:57:44

Nate Mountain: 3:59:01

“That was probably one of the best moments I’ve ever had in a sporting event, being there and taking it all win with them afterwards,” Martin said.

“We couldn’t have scripted it better going in. That’s what we wanted and we came out with our goal so it felt really good,” Donahue said.

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