3:59.2
June 5, 1970, Eugene
On the race: The only time Savage broke four minutes in the mile was in front of a home crowd at Hayward at the Twilight Invitational, the day before his 22nd birthday. He remembers the exact splits of the race: 60, 60, 61, and then a 58 the last lap. Five men broke four minutes that day, including Steve Prefontaine, who beat the standard for the first time. Savage was more of a steeplechaser than a miler. He had placed second at nationals in the steeplechase the year before.
On Bowerman: Savage mostly trained under Dellinger during his time at Oregon, but it was Bowerman who wrote and planned the workouts. Savage does specifically remember a certain month when he personally upped his mileage from 350 miles a month to 400 miles a month and inevitability ended up running slower. Bowerman was not happy with him after this. Bowerman was also not happy with him for having a girlfriend.
On his life now: Savage ran a couple of races in Munich after graduating. He married his girlfriend (whom he had met in Bean East). He had wanted to keep running until his mid-30s, but had to work and raise a family and it became too much for him. He doesn’t run anymore. “I think my Achilles would explode,” he said. He worked in sales most of his life and is retired now. He is still a track fan and goes to a few meets every year.
