Alaska News

Alaska runner Dunbar finally nabs sub-4-minute mile

Kodiak runner Trevor Dunbar etched his name in Alaska running history Monday night, becoming the first Alaskan to run a sub-four-minute mile. In winning the mile at the Roughrider Twilight Meet in Portland, Dunbar ran 3:59:06 to enter running territory first blazed by Englishman Roger Bannister in 1954.

"No doubt, no doubt," Dunbar told the website Flotrack afterwards. "I knew rattling off those 59s (quarter-mile splits) and feeling relaxed that it was definitely going to happen, and I save a little extra gear for the last lap. Definitely a sweet feeling." Runner-up Robb Finnerty of the University of Wisconsin led much of the way, but clocked a final time of 3:59:42.

Dunbar, 22, set Alaska state records at Kodiak High and now attends the University of Oregon, where the two-time All-American is a redshirt senior. His splits were 59.4, 59.8, 60.3 and 59.7

Trevor's father, Marcus Dunbar, a one-time national indoor mile champion and the Alaskan who had previously come closest to breaking the mythic 4-minute-mile mark, was on hand to watch his son hit the milestone. Dad, who also attended the University of Oregon, wore a green Ducks hat.

"I wore his old jersey he used to race in, so that makes it a little more symbolic," Trevor said.

"It's been a long time coming," Marcus told Flotrack. "I made several attempts myself and came up short every time. So it's vindication to have Trevor do it because no Alaskan's ever done it. I kind of wanted that to be me at one time, but there's been a lot of guys who came before me and who came after me and we all came up short."

Harlow Robinson, the president of the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame, said, "Trevor Dunbar became a part of Alaska sports history tonight."

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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