Pennsylvania senior Gary Martin breaks 57-year-old record with a sub-4-minute mile

The Archbishop Wood star runs a 3:57:98, the first high schooler to break 4 minutes without a pacer since Jim Ryun in 1965.

Archbishop Wood senior Gary Martin ran an unassisted sub-four-minute mile this week, the first high school athlete to do so since Jim Ryun in 1965.

AMAZING feat by @ArchbishopWood's Gary Martin who ran a sub 4-minute mile today at the Philadelphia Catholic League Outdoor Championships. He ran it in 3:57:98!
Martin becomes just the 14th American high school athlete to break 4 minutes, and is now 3rd all time outdoors! WOW!!! pic.twitter.com/hC2DCgKsX1

— Jamie Apody (@JamieApody) May 15, 2022

Fourteen high schoolers have run a sub-four-minute mile since Ryun in 1965, but all of those races came with help from pacers, or "rabbits." 

Three other high schoolers broke four minutes in a high school-only race, but they all used pacers to help hold their speed. Martin is the only runner to break four minutes without one.

The University of Virginia commit pulled off the feat at the Pennsylvania Catholic League Championship on Monday.

“To have everyone going crazy over what I had just done was really cool. To my teammates coming up and hugging me, my coach hugging me, and other kids from other schools coming up and patting me on the back. It was cool,” Martin said, via CBS News.

In 1965, Ryun's best time during a high school race was a 3:58.3 mile. The Olympian broke four minutes six times in his high school career running for Wichita East in Kansas.