Jim Ryun and Wes Santee, both former world mile record-holders while enrolled at Kansas University, will compete in a special mile run at the International Senior Games on April 17 in Bermuda.
Ryun, 48, established mile records of 3:51.3 at Berkeley, Calif., in 1966 and 3:51.1 at Bakersfield, Calif., in 1967. Ryun was also the first high school runner to crack four minutes in the mile.
Ryun never won a gold medal in the Olympics. In ’64 at Tokyo, he was slowed by illness. In ’68 at Mexico City, he finished second to Kip Keino of Kenya. And in ’72 in Munich, he tripped and fell during a qualifying heat.
Ryun, who lives in rural Lawrence, has not run a competitive mile since he was on a short-lived pro track circuit following his graduation from KU.
Santee, 64, twice set world indoor mile records, first with a 4:04.9 clocking in 1954 at East Lansing, Mich., then with a 4:03.8 time the following year.
Santee also set a world outdoor 1,500-meter record in ’54 when he was clocked in 3:42.8 at Compton, Calif.
Santee never won a medal in the Olympics. He failed to qualify in the 5,000-meter final at the ’52 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.
Santee, who lives in Lawrence and in Prescott, Ariz., hasn’t run a competitive mile since he was in the Marine Corps in the late 50s.
“I still work out, but I’m not going to set any world records,” Santee said. “I have been doing a lot of jogging, though, because I’m going to carry the Olympic torch in Topeka in May.”
Also scheduled to run in the special mile are Ron Clarke of Australia, Michel Jazy of France, Peter Snell of New Zealand and Jim Grelle of Portland, Ore.
Ryun and Santee will return to Lawrence after the Senior Games to be honored at the Kansas Relays on April 20. All former KU Olympics track athletes have been invited to this year’s Relays.
The International Senior Games, which will also feature a team of former NBA standouts in basketball competition, will run from April 13 to April 27.
ESPN plans to televise a special program on the Games sometime in June.
