Last Thursday night, the Blue Jeans Mile record books were re-written at the CITIUS MAG x Lost Boys Track Club Blue Jeans Mile at the East River Park track in New York City. Spencer Brown, best known for his accomplishments as a middle distance runner for Georgetown or his Youtube channel “The Athlete Special”, ran a men’s world record time of 4:16.63 to win the final race of the night. Jackie Katzman, a runner from Cornell, led three women under the previous women’s world record with her 5:29.30 in the first race of the night.
The previous official world record of 4:34.3 was ran by Pierce Flanders in Topeka, Kansas. Last Thursday morning, an unofficial world record of 4:19 was run by Sean Keveren in Nashville, Tennessee but it was later determined that his jeans did not comply with the 100% cotton or denim regulation that we initially set forth in our introduction to the event. We recognized the time but put an asterisk next to it.
Jackie Katzman finished fifth overall in the first section of the race but became the first woman to run under 5:30 with her 5:29.13. Leigh Anne Sharek crosse the finish line just a second behind her in 5:30.87. Lena Placzek ran 5:1.25 to also get under Anna Saats’ previous world record of 5:56.56.
It was a great time. Lots of laughs were shared. This really escalated into something much bigger than we ever imagined. The next big attempt will come from Utah on Monday morning as NCAA 10K runner-up Rory Linkletter attempts his own blue jean mile on BYU’s track. On Friday night, the Sir Walter Miler will host its own blue jeans mile in collaboration with us and the good folks at Raleigh Denim. More information on that race can be found at the end of this post.
For an inside look at Spencer Brown’s day and lead-up to the world record, check out the latest episode of The Athlete Special.
For more information on racing the Blue Jeans Mile at Sir Walter Miler, check here.