Ex-Cal Runner Aids in Faith Kipyegon's Historic 4-Minute Mile Bid

A year ago at the Paris Olympics, one-time Cal middle-distance runner Georgia Hunter Bell tried to beat Kenyan legend Faith Kipyegon.

On Thursday at another Paris venue, Bell tried to help the three-time gold medalist make history.

Bell, 31, was among 13 pacesetters whose mission was to aid Kipyegon in her bid to become the first woman to break 4 minutes in the mile run.

Kipyegon came up short in her attempt to break the barrier first taken down 71 years ago by Britain’s Roger Bannister.

But she made a valiant try at Stade Charléty, running 4:06.42 — faster than her official women’s world record of 4:07.64.

“I’ve proven it’s possible . . . if not me, then somebody else,” Kipyegon said.

Bell, who most recently ran at Cal in 2017, told Runner’s World that participating in the event felt historic.

She first heard about Kipyegon’s plans in March and the entire pacesetting team trained with Kipyegon in advance of the event to settle on roles. “I just thought that I absolutely wanted to be involved if I could and help in any way. It was equally cool and crazy,” Bell said.

Kipyegon’s time will not count as a new world record because the race was an exhibition featuring 11 male pacesetters and unapproved spikes. The event was sponsored by Nike and dubbed “Breaking4: Faith Kipyegon vs. the 4-Minute Mile.”

Kipyeyon, a 31-year-old mother of a 7-year-old daughter, said she may try again to eclipse the 4-minute barrier.

Bell made a stunning return to the sport last summer, climaxed by a British national record and bronze-medal finish in the 1,500 — essentially the metric mile — at the Paris Games.

Kipyegon won the gold on the day, her third in a row in the event at the Olympics.

Bell was one of two women among the pacesetter crew on Thursday. Both Bell and fellow Brit Jemma Reekie were positioned behind Kipyegon from the start and dropped out after two laps.

Several male runners served as a shield in front of Kipyegon, helping her to draft off their wake. Former Stanford distance star Grant Fisher, who won bronze medals in both the 5,000 and 10,000 at Paris last summer, ran much of the race just off Kipyegon’s right shoulder, helping pace her and providing verbal encouragement.

She also ran with the aid of trackside wave lights, which were programmed to help pace her to a 3:59.99 clocking. “I gave everything,” she said. “But I think the wave lights gave everything today too. But maybe next time I can catch up with them.”

Kipyegon ran wearing Victory Elite FK shoes. The Nike-generated shoes had a carbon-fiber outsole plate and six titanium pins to minimize weight. The upper material weighed just 3 grams and the entire shoe checked in at less than 3 ounces.

Kipyegon came through three laps in 3:01.84, meaning she needed to run 58 seconds or faster over the final quarter mile to crack 4 minutes. Clearly exhausted by the finish, she couldn’t quite get it done.

Runner’s World magazine published some intriguing numbers to give context to Kipyegon’s effort:

— She ran an average split of 61.3 seconds for 400 meters.

— Her average speed for the race was 14.6 mph.

— The equivalent mile time for men, according to World Athletics scoring tables, is 3:42.84 — faster than the current world record.

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