DAVIDSON, North Carolina — If you've ever walked a medium- to large-sized dog, you're well aware of what happens when a squirrel or other critter scurries by – a tug, a yank and sometimes a small jog on the part of the human to regain control.
So let's imagine turning that small jog into, say, a one-mile run.
Then, the jog into a full-out sprint – in under 4 minutes.
That's what two-time U.S. Olympian Anthony Famiglietti apparently did on Feb. 9 this year with a dog named Bailey Rose, and it was all caught on film.
Famiglietti says 3:59 is a new world record, topping the previous 4:13 mark.
The 40-year-old has been training to break 4 minutes on the track as a masters runner — 40 or older, in most cases — and is getting help from US mile record-holder Alan Webb, who famously ran 3:53 in high school.
His mile PR is currently 3:55, run at Icahn Stadium in New York in 2006.
According to Famiglietti's YouTube page, Bailey's owners, Jason and Katie, came into his gym in late January and said they "had a fast dog and couldn't find anyone fast enough to keep up with her" and asked him to test out how fast she really was. The run was his and Bailey's first time meeting, Famiglietti says.
"The dog full-on sprinted, as far as she could get away from me the whole time," Famiglietti told Sports Illustrated, when referencing Bailey, who is a Border Collie-Whippet mix rescue. "I was dying laughing. This dog is the best dog ever. She just wants to run full-tilt non-stop."
Famiglietti's YouTube page says the greenway course was measured to be 5,285 feet at the shortest possible route, 5 feet farther than a mile. It notes that Bailey didn't always run the tangents, thus likely running an even longer route. Several witnesses attended and filmed the run, the caption reads.
For good measure, pun intended, a second video was posted to Famiglietti's YouTube page showing a wheel measurement of the course in its entirety.
Famiglietti, also known as "Fam," lives in Mooresville, North Carolina, and runs professionally for Reckless Running, a brand he co-founded with his wife Karen.
The middle- to long-distance runner twice represented Team USA in the Olympic 3000-meter steeplechase at the 2004 Athens Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympics. He finished 24th and 13th, respectively.
Famiglietti is also a two-time U.S. champion in the 3K steeple, having won 2002 USAs and the 2008 Olympic Trials, and has been runner-up in the event three times at USAs in 2001 and 2005 and the 2004 Olympic Trials.
