Jim Ryun relishes memory of the last mile record set in the United States

At 30, Jim Grelle was an outlier in a sport that did not foster longevity, still among the world’s best distance runners eight years after he captured the 1959 NCAA title as an Oregon senior.

That he had continued to thrive despite the sport’s draconian and antiquated rules regarding amateurism, that he had bounced back from missing the 1964 U.S. Olympic team by inches, breaking the American record in the mile a year later, elevated Grelle to elder statesman status and a unique perspective he shared with humor and candor.