Trio target four-minute mile
The four-minute mile was once considered a staggering achievement, but has since become common for elite athletes.
The current world record for the mile of 3:43.13, set by Moroccan star Hicham El Guerrouj back in 1999, proves that the elite just kept raising the bar after the four-minute mark was broken in 1954 by Britain's Roger Bannister in 3:59.4.
But the four-minute barrier still holds huge significance for some of WA's best middle- distance runners as they prepare to take on the mile at the WA Athletics Stadium on Saturday night as part of the Jandakot City Track Classic.
Athletics WA records show the great Herb Elliott was the last West Australian man to break the four-minute mark on WA soil - way back in 1958.
But Joshua Tedesco, Ethan Heywood and Marc See hope that's all about to change when they race the event in Elliott's name on Saturday night.
Tedesco backed 1500m State champion See to end the drought.
See, 25, ran 4:08.92 in the same event last year as Kenyan James Magut blew away the field.
But in a 2015 field dominated by locals, See hopes to realise a dream in front of his home crowd.
"It's going to come down to the wire," he said.
"Training has been going pretty well and I've done some reasonable races on this track in the last few months. "I've just got to hope I can run a couple of seconds faster."
See said many local rivals were in good form and it would be a big boost to crack the milestone.
"It'd mean a hell of a lot," he said.
"In WA we don't really get many accolades. Everyone over the eastern States runs faster.
"Anyone who does well in Perth usually takes the opportunity to leave.
"For those of us who are staying here and training here it's good to have a run in Perth and prove that we can do it so we get the next-generation guys coming up believing they can do a decent time and make a team."
Heywood, 22, and Tedesco, 23, have recently returned from six weeks of cross-country training and competition in the eastern States and hope to go under four minutes for the first time.
All three are working towards the national championships in Brisbane at the end of next month.
