The word "mile" comes from the Latin "mille," meaning thousand. A mile was 1,000 Roman strides, a stride being two paces.
The current world record in the mile is 3:43.13, set by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco on July 7, 1999. The current women's record is 4:12.56 by Svetlana Masterkova of Russia, set on August 14, 1996.
Roger Bannister averaged 15.037 miles per hour when he first broke four minutes. El Guerrouj averaged 16.134 mph during his WR.
The longest-standing world record in the mile was 4:01.4, set by Gunder Haegg of Sweden on July 17, 1945. It stood for eight years, 293 days before Bannister broke it.
The shortest period between world records is two days. Steve Ovett of England lowered the WR to 3:48.40 on August 26, 1981. Sebastian Coe, also of England, broke that record on August 28 with a 3:47.33
The first American to break four minutes was the University of California's Don Bowden, who ran 3:58.7 on June 1, 1957.
The oldest person to go under four minutes was Eamonn Coghlan of Ireland, who was 41 when he ran 3:58.15. The oldest person to break five minutes was Derek Turnbull of New Zealand, clocking 4:56.4 at age 65. The oldest under six minutes was Scotty Carter of Massachusetts with a 5:57.2 at 75. The oldest under seven minutes was Harold Chapson of Hawaii with a 6:43.3 at age 80.
The fastest mile by a high school runner is 3:53.43, by Alan Webb of Virginia on May 27, 2001.
A two-year study of more than four million high school students during the early 1980s found that the average boy took 7:40 to run a mile. The average girl took 9:51.
The so-called "metric mile" of 1500 meters is 119 yards, 21 inches short of a Roman mile.
A 3:42.43 at 1500 meters is the equivalent of a 4:00.00 mile.
The current 1500m record of 3:26.00 by El Guerrouj equates to a 3:42.27 mile. Qu Yunxia's women's 1500m world record of 3:50.46 equates to a 4:08.66 mile.
Daniel Komen's 7:20.67 world record at 3,000m is equal to 7:56 for two miles.
On a scientifically-based table of comparative performance, a 4:00.00 mile is equal in effort to a 2:12:30 marathon. The current WR of 3:43.13 equates to a 2:03:10 marathon.
The fastest mile by a racewalker is 5:38.2, on an indoor track.