Colorado University Athletics
Top Performances Countdown: Klecker Runs Fastest Mile Ever In State Of Colorado
April 21, 2020 | Track and Field
Joe Klecker made history on Jan. 31 at CU's Indoor Practice Facility in the CU Invitational when he ran the fastest mile ever on Colorado soil. His time of 4:01.00 was 27/100 of a second faster than the previous record set at 4,000 feet of elevation, more than 1,000 feet lower than Boulder.
Klecker's race is No. 7 on our countdown of top performances of 2019-20.
What made Klecker's race so remarkable--besides running at such a high elevation--was that he had no runners to pace him on the track; he ran alone against the clock. While there were 10 other competitors in the race, he finished more than 10 seconds ahead of the second-place runner, CU teammate Eduardo Herrera.
His time was just 1.01 seconds off being the first sub-4-minute mile in the state.
"It means a lot, there [have] been so many great runners in this state," Klecker said humbly after the race. "I don't know if it's totally indicative, a lot of great runners didn't have this facility to run in. So it's great but at the same time I'm sure a lot of CU guys can probably run around what I did. But that being said, I'm happy to run faster than I did three years ago. Just to get that state record by a quarter second or something, I'm happy with that."
Klecker finished the indoor track season strong, qualifying for the NCAA Championships with the No. 6 seed in the 5K and the No. 7 seed in the 3,000 meters. Despite having the fastest mile time in the nation, he was not going to run the mile at nationals. Unfortunately due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NCAA Championships were cancelled before they started.
Â
Klecker's race is No. 7 on our countdown of top performances of 2019-20.
What made Klecker's race so remarkable--besides running at such a high elevation--was that he had no runners to pace him on the track; he ran alone against the clock. While there were 10 other competitors in the race, he finished more than 10 seconds ahead of the second-place runner, CU teammate Eduardo Herrera.
His time was just 1.01 seconds off being the first sub-4-minute mile in the state.
"It means a lot, there [have] been so many great runners in this state," Klecker said humbly after the race. "I don't know if it's totally indicative, a lot of great runners didn't have this facility to run in. So it's great but at the same time I'm sure a lot of CU guys can probably run around what I did. But that being said, I'm happy to run faster than I did three years ago. Just to get that state record by a quarter second or something, I'm happy with that."
Klecker finished the indoor track season strong, qualifying for the NCAA Championships with the No. 6 seed in the 5K and the No. 7 seed in the 3,000 meters. Despite having the fastest mile time in the nation, he was not going to run the mile at nationals. Unfortunately due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NCAA Championships were cancelled before they started.
Â
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and FieldColorado T&F/XC: 2016 HOF Sara Gorton Slattery
Monday, August 12
Bailey Hertenstein @baileyh_ Wins the Pac-12 5k Championship @cubuffstrack #gobuffs
Monday, May 13
Pac-12 TRACK Championships - Wrap Up
Monday, May 13
@cubufffstrack First Crack at NEW Potts Field #gobuffs
Wednesday, April 10