Travers makes history as he is the first to break 4 minute mile
A piece of athletics history was made recently in Athlone when John Travers become the first Irish person to run a sub 4 minute mile indoors in the country.
The 26-year-old is a teacher in St Brendan’s and was receiving lots of praise after his fantastic achievement on Wednesday night at the AIT International Grand Prix in Athlone.
He ran a superb 3:59.40 in the mile race, taking third behind Ryan Gregson of Australia (3:57.86) and Poland’s Grzegorz Kalinowski (3:59.19).
John who is a native of Dublin has been living in Sligo for sometime with his partner Emer O’Brien and is a great addition to the Sligo sports scene.
John is coached by Jerry Kiernan and it was a busy week for the runner as he won the National 3000m Indoors the previous Sunday. He said he was still slightly in shock after running the sub 4 minute mile.
He told the Sligo Champion: “It was a bit of a surprise. I’m still recovering at the moment as it was a heavy few days with three races in five or six days.
“I had the Nationals on Sunday and that’s the most I’ve ever done in that short space of time.
“Running a sub 4 minute mile was never done before in Ireland.
“The arena is there only five years so if it was there 30 years ago it would have been done a long time,” he said.
Going into the record books as being the first to achieve it must mean a lot to the athlete.
“It was a special moment, I went to college in Athlone and it was great to do it there.”
There was a good mix of top-class runners competing in the race he added. “There were runners from the likes of Australia, Poland and Sweden, a good mix which meant a lot as it pushes the pace on.”
John said that before the race he felt as though he was after finishing a race. “It felt hard and I did a couple of strides where my legs felt like they were after finishing a race.
“I think I was running on fumes,” he added.
With a weekly average of clocking between 80 to 100 miles, running is very much a big part of John’s life.
“I suppose it all started when I was 17 and doing the Gaisce award in school. One of the options was to do sport so I looked at athletics and I really enjoyed it so I kept at it. My club is the Donore Harriers and I’ve always stayed with them.”
John said what he likes about athletics is the competitive side to it.
“I think I am quite competitive and when everything is good in a race it’s down to yourself and your coach. I’m coached by Jerry Kiernan in Dublin and he’s been my coach now for four years. He’s brilliant and doesn’t beat around the bush. He is a good mentor as well. “At first we had planned that I would go to Dublin regularly but we are expecting a baby soon and recently moved house so it’s more like once a month.”
Having won the National 3000 Indoors the Sunday before, John was not sure if he was going to attempt the sub 4 minute mile the following Wednesday. Luckily he did and now goes into the history books. He said athletics in Sligo is really growing.
“It’s booming in Sligo, I train a lot in Hazelwood and the Sports Complex.
“There are so many runners for a small area and also when you look at it from a recreational point of view.
“The likes of the Fit for Life events are great and other activities in IT Sligo, it’s about keeping active even from a non-competitive side.”
John has a hectic training schedule to be at the top.
“I generally do between 80 and 100 miles a week. My partner Emer is big into running too and was running up until a few weeks ago.“My family were not really that sporty, my older brother played a bit of football but I was more the sporty one.”
They are no doubt very proud of John’s achievement too.
“They were not down in Athlone for the race as I suppose I wasn’t expecting it but it’s been brilliant to see the reaction in the media and that. “Athletics doesn’t really get too much coverage so it’s good.”
Next up for John is aiming to qualify for the European 5k outdoors the first week in August. “I’m going to Belgium in May to try and get the qualifying time. I feel I’m in the shape for it and all going well everything will go to plan,” John added.