Josh Thompson Competes in Vegas Elite

By MORDECHAI YADEGAR II

The Progress

Moapa Valley High School 2011 alumnus Josh Thompson, continued his 2023 professional outdoor track and field season last week competing at the Vegas Elite Twilight Invitational hosted by Liberty High School on Friday evening.

After a season opener at the Bryan Clay Invitational racing an 800 (1:48.66), Thompson was invited to race in the Legends Mile to potentially make history and to become the first person to break the four-minute mile on Nevada soil.

Back in 2016, Thompson became the first ever Nevada-born runner to break the prestigious four-minute mile barrier. Running for Oklahoma State University, he competed in the Husky Classic open mile running a time of 3:58.33. This was nearly a month after he set a personal best of 4:10.59.

Thompson has broken the four-minute barrier multiple times with a personal record of 3:52.49.
On Friday night, there was one thing left to do and that was break that barrier again, on Nevada soil. On Friday, April 21st, The sun was down, the lights were on, and the crowd was ready to potentially witness a sub four-minute mile performance.

To assist Josh and others, it was agreed that a pacer, Nathan Carlin, a freshman at SUU that graduated from Foothill High School in 2021, would do the first 800 meters.

It was 8:11 p.m and the gun went off. Carlin sprinted for the lead and Thompson was on his tail. They came through the first lap in 1:01, already a little off pace. They needed to pick it up if they wanted to dip under the barrier.

Coming around for the second lap, Carlin stepped aside and Thompson crossed in 2:02. Colin Schultz, a Liberty High School graduate who runs for “Run Flagstaff” was staying right on Thompson’s back. He was another sub-four (3:57) Nevadan trying to break the barrier. They really needed to turn on the jets now.

Thompson began separating from Schultz and the rest of the field. Coming into the bell lap he crossed at 3:01.

Last lap, Thompson was giving it everything he had. He was sprinting up the home stretch where family, friends, and spectators were cheering him on. He crossed the finish line in 4:01.49, just short of the sub-four minute mark.
It was an amazing race. Everyone was blown away by the amazing performance.

Although Thompson did not break the 4-minute barrier, he still was able to nab the fastest mile on Nevada soil, besting the previous Nevada record of 4:03.85 set in 1985 by Tom Wysocki.
“I’m a little disappointed that I couldn’t do it,” said Thompson, “but I’ll have to try again next year.”

He will now continue his season in hopes to make it to the Outdoor World Championships this summer in Budapest. Last year he competed in the 1500-meter Final representing Team USA at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon.