runner of the year, broke 4:00 in the mile for the first time at the Warwick Fast Times Relays. Based on his recent performances and his 4:00.11 PR from 2010, the breakthrough mark was not all that surprising. But the circumstances surrounding this performance were truly surreal. The "Reality Mile" has been run at this top-level High School relay meet on and off for the last 15 years, with the goal of getting a sub-4 in front of ~1300 high school runners competing in the running hotbed of Warwick, NY, where my father Richard (Furst) has been the girls coach since 1976. It is sponsored by the Warwick Valley Booster Club. Last year, Bobby and I battled it out, but came up just short with 4:00.26 and 4:00.61.This year the meet was delayed partway through due to weather, then finally cancelled as bedtime approached for the high school students. The timers had packed up their cameras, pace setter was on his way back to Long Island with his high school team, and the "Reality Mile" was all but dead. However, the event organizers (my dad) convinced the timers to unpack their cameras, brave the rain and lightening, and wait an hour for the remaining milers to get warmed up and race. Then two guys who were standing in the parking lot in their flip-flops, Mike Coffee (who had just finished a 17 mile run up and down a mountain) and Shane Gianetti (whose 800 PR is 1:58) volunteered to get us "as far as they