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Larry Bird

NBA

Larry Bird

Boston Celtics forward, three-time NBA champion and three-time MVP

Make Larry Bird your rival

2 sourced records. Each exercise has a top recorded mark and its evidence. Check the date, age, effort and method before you compare.

Larry Bird mile

Larry Bird's recorded mile is 5:08. Performance date: 1978. Age at the time: 21–22. The recorded effort was a max or PR. The source at bringbackthemile.com gives this mark. Source type: interview.

Compare your mile with Larry Bird

College basketball player, before his senior season at Indiana State

Source quote and limits
“My best time in the Mile was 5:08, going into my senior year at Indiana State.”

A Few Words About Running from the Great Larry Bird

Bird speaks in a Runner's World interview by Dan Simmons, reprinted on Bring Back the Mile on 15 April 2015 (runnersworld.com is not reachable for the fetch tool). Date: going into his senior year at Indiana State (1978-79 season), so 1978. He adds: Usually I ran it in 5:30, 5:35. Same interview gives the 1985 five-miler as 32 and a half minutes, I think (hedged, and the site already has the official 33:46). [Found by worker b.]

  1. 1978

    • Mile5:08

      Max or PRCollege basketball player, before his senior season at Indiana State

      Said in an interview, bringbackthemile.com1978 · age 21–22

      Quote and details
      “My best time in the Mile was 5:08, going into my senior year at Indiana State.”

      A Few Words About Running from the Great Larry Bird

Larry Bird 5-mile run

Larry Bird's recorded 5-mile run is 33:46. Performance date: 1985-03-10. Age at the time: 28. This was a competition result. The source at bostonglobe.com gives this mark. Source type: news report. Confidence is medium.

1985 Shamrock Classic, Boston · Boston Celtics forward, age 28, during the NBA season

Source quote and limits
“Bird finished 247th of 1,182 runners, clocking the distance in 33:46”

Unstoppable and unforgettable: Recalling Larry Bird’s 60-point night in 1985 (Boston Globe, 2021-05-04)

The Boston Globe reports 33:46 for the five-mile race. Runner’s World, May 2015, gives the same time in its print photo caption. Boston.com dates the race to March 10, 1985, but reports 33:40 in its 2017 oral history; the discrepancy is 6 seconds. This record uses the later Globe time, supported by the magazine caption. Bird’s recalled 32.5-minute time is hedged and is not used. Race division was 220 lb and over; no exact bodyweight is given.

  1. 1985

    • 5-mile run33:46

      CompetitionBoston Celtics forward, age 28, during the NBA season

      News report, bostonglobe.com1985-03-10 · age 28medium confidence

      Quote and details
      “Bird finished 247th of 1,182 runners, clocking the distance in 33:46”

      Unstoppable and unforgettable: Recalling Larry Bird’s 60-point night in 1985 (Boston Globe, 2021-05-04)1985 Shamrock Classic, Boston

Compare your mileSubmit evidence for Larry Bird

Photo: Kurt Shimala, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped.