Jim Ryun
Encyclopedia
James Ronald Ryun (born April 29, 1947) is an American
former track athlete
and politician
, who was a Republican
member of the United States House of Representatives
from 1996 to 2007, representing the 2nd District
in Kansas
. In the 2006 election
, Ryun was defeated by Democratic
challenger Nancy Boyda
. In the Kansas Republican primary
on August 5, 2008, he was defeated by Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins
.
Years prior to his political career, Ryun had an athletic career that saw him become a world-class runner
and the last American to hold the world record in the mile run
. His career was highlighted by many world record times, although in his three tries he never won an Olympic
gold medal
.
magazine's "Sportsman of the Year
" award, as well as the James E. Sullivan Award
as the nation's top amateur athlete, the ABC
's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year, and was voted Track & Field News' Athlete of the Year as the world’s best track & field athlete. Ironically, Ryun did all of this before he was permitted to run for the school he attended, University of Kansas, since NCAA rules at the time did not allow freshmen to compete in NCAA competition. In 1967 Ryun ran a world record in the indoor half mile (1:48.3) and outdoors lowered his world-record time in the mile from 3:51.3 to 3:51.1, a record that stood for almost eight years. That same year he set the world record for the 1500 meters in 3:33.1, running his last lap in a blazing 53.3 seconds and his final 1,200 meters in an amazing 2:46.6.
In NCAA competition Ryun was the 1967 NCAA outdoor mile champion. He was also the NCAA indoor mile champion in 1967, 1968, and 1969, and in 1968 doubled back to win the 1968 NCAA indoor two-mile (3 km) championship race (handing Gerry Lindgren
his only NCAA championship loss). Ryun's 1969 win in the mile helped the Kansas Jayhawks win the NCAA indoor track championship that year. With his University of Kansas teammates he also anchored a world record in the sprint medley relay (3:15.2) and twice in the distance medley relay (9:33.8 at the Drake Relays in 1967 and then 9:33.0 at the Kansas Relays in 1969, Ryan's 3:57.6 anchor leg for the mile being his last collegiate race on his home track).
Today, over 40 years after he set them, Ryun still holds the American junior (19 and under) records at 880 yd (1:44.9), 800 m (1:44.3), 1,500 m (3:36.1), and two miles (8:25.1). In all, he broke the American record for the mile four times: once as a high school senior (3:55.3 on 27 June 1965), twice as a college freshman (3:53.7 on 4 June 1966 & 3:51.3 on 17 July 1966), and once as a college sophomore (3:51.1 on 23 June 1967).
Ryun participated in the 1964
, 1968
, and 1972 Summer Olympics
, but the gold medal eluded him. Having completely recovered from mononucleosis in the spring of 1968, he won a silver medal in the 1500 meters that autumn in the high altitude of Mexico City
, losing to Kip Keino from Kenya, whose remarkable race remained the Olympic 1,500-meter record for 16 years. (Before the race Ryun had thought that a time of 3:39 would be good enough to win in the high altitude of Mexico City. He ended up running faster than that with a 3:37.8, but Keino's 3:34.9 was too tough to beat at that altitude. Years later, in 1981, he told Tex Maule in an interview for The Runner magazine, "We had thought that 3:39 would win and I ran under that. I considered it like winning a gold medal; I had done my very best and I still believe I would have won at sea level." Ryun was attacked by some writers who believed he had let his nation down. "Some even said I had let down the whole world. I didn't get any credit for running my best and no one seemed to realize that Keino had performed brilliantly.") In the 1972 Munich, Germany games, he was tripped and fell down during a 1500-meter qualifying heat. Although the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) acknowledged that a foul had occurred and tapes from a German television station clearly demonstrated that Ryun was tripped, U.S. appeals to have Ryun reinstated in the competition were denied by the IOC.
Ryun’s 1500-meter world record, run in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during the US vs. British Commonwealth meet in July 1967, was one of Ryun’s greatest running performances. Track and Field News reported that “after 220 yards of dawdling, a record seemed out of the question.” However, after 440 yards, which Ryun, in third, passed in 60.9 seconds, Kip Keino took the lead and ran the next lap in 56 seconds (the fastest second lap ever run at the time). Ryun, just behind, passed the 880-yard mark in 1:57.0. At 1320 yards the two were side by side in 2:55.0. Ryun pulled away to finish in 3:33.1, a record that stood for seven years. With a last 440 yards of 53.9 and a last 880 yards of 1:51.3, Cordner Nelson of Track and Field News called it “the mightiest finishing drive ever seen,” and said of Ryun’s performance, “This was most certainly his greatest race.”
Ryun's final season as an amateur in 1972 included the third-best mile of his career (at the time, also the third fastest in history: a 3:52.8 at Toronto, Canada on July 29), a 5,000-meter career best (13:38.2 at Bakersfield, CA on May 20), and an inspiring win in the 1,500 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials. He left amateur athletics after 1972 and for the next two years ran professionally on the International Track Association circuit. After this, he retired from track competition altogether. In 1980 he began running various road races for charity purposes, eventually achieving a 10 km best of 31:36.
Notes:
& 1967, the first athlete to win this prestigious award two years in a row.
The 1966 Sports Illustrated
Sportsman of the Year
award.
The 1966 James E. Sullivan Award
, presented to the best amateur athlete in the U.S.
The 1966 ABC
Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year award
Jim Ryun’s Track & Field News World Rankings:
In 1980 Ryun was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame
and in 2003 he was inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame
.
. He now lives in Lawrence
, though he was listed in the House roll as "R-Topeka
." He also owns a farm in Jefferson County
.
Ryun and his wife, Anne, whom he married in 1969, have four children and seven grandchildren. He and his sons, Ned Ryun
and Drew, have co-authored three books: Heroes Among Us, The Courage to Run, and In Quest of Gold- The Jim Ryun Story.
After graduating from the University of Kansas in 1970 with a degree in photojournalism, Ryun moved to Eugene, Oregon
; looking for a good training situation to continue his track career. Six months later, he moved to Santa Barbara, California
, where he and his family remained for nine years. He and his family moved back to Lawrence in 1981.
Raised in the Church of Christ
, Ryun and his wife are members of Grace Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Lawrence.
. He won the three-person Republican primary with 62 percent of the vote, defeating former Topeka
mayor Doug Wright and Cheryl Brown Henderson, the daughter of the plaintiff in the historic Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
desegregation case. In the general campaign, Ryun was in tight race with Democrat
John Frieden, a prominent Topeka trial attorney, who outspent Ryun $750,000 to $400,000. Ryun won that contest with 52 percent of the vote.
He was re-elected in 1998, 2000 and 2002, receiving more than 60 percent of the vote each cycle.
In 2004, Democrat Nancy Boyda
, a former moderate Republican, ran a campaign with spending near that of Ryun's, $1,105,838 (compared to Ryun's $1,136,464). Ryun defeated her by a margin of 55% to 42%.
In the 2006 election
, Boyda was again the Democratic nominee, with Roger Tucker of the Reform Party USA
also on the ballot. Initially expected to win, Ryun found his campaign faltering as internal polling by both Boyda and Republicans revealed a Democratic lead. In response, Ryun's campaign recruited both President Bush
and Vice President Cheney
to visit Topeka
to campaign and raise campaign funds for Ryun. Ryun was defeated in an upset
by Boyda, 51% to 47%.
In March 2007 Ryun confirmed that he would run for his old seat. In the Republican primary, he faced Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins
, a moderate who has served two terms as State Treasurer, a partial term in the Kansas Senate and two years in the Kansas House. Ryun lost to Jenkins, 51% to 49%.
Ryun generally supported George W. Bush
's legislative agenda, voting to support it 89% of the time, average for a House member who was from the same party as the sitting President. In 2003, he voted against the $373 billion end-of-session spending bill because he considered it to be too costly and had come to Congress to support fiscal restraint.
Ryun broke with the President over two major initiatives, No Child Left Behind and Medicare
reform legislation that included a prescription drug benefit. In voting against No Child Left Behind, Ryun said he believed states should have more control over their own education system. In opposing the Medicare bill, Ryun said the bill didn't provide enough reform to keep future costs from soaring.
In 2006, the National Journal
rated Ryun as the nation's most conservative
member of Congress. He was a member of the Republican Study Committee
, a caucus of 103 fiscally and socially conservative House Republicans.
bill designed to weaken the Endangered Species Act of 1973, an amendment to the Energy Policy Act of 2005
, by Congresswoman Lois Capps to remove section 1502, a provision that would provide liability protection for manufacturers of the gasoline additive MTBE, and the movement to increase fuel economy standards.
Ryun also scored a 0 on League of Conservation Voters
's ("LCV") scorecard. Many of REP's critical issues were present on the scorecard.
In 2006, Ryun improved his REP scorecard when he voted pro-environment on 2 of 7 critical issues. This earned him a 17 percent. He voted to help reduce the impact the Army Corps of Engineers had on the environment. The issues in which he voted against the REP were ones involving oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
, renewable resource programs, and the movement to end debate and accept the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act.
's legal defense trust.
for $410,000, The townhouse had been purchased about two years earlier, for $429,000, to house Buckham's consulting firm Alexander Strategy Group
and DeLay's ARMPAC.
After questions were raised as to the purchase of Ryun's townhome, his office released official documents showing that Ryun paid $80,000 more than the tax assessed value of the house, that he put another $50,000 into house repairs and that another home on the same block was sold for $409,000 on the same day he bought his home. According to property records, the other home does not have a garage or a back patio and is on a land area about half the size of Ryun's. It was assessed in 2006 as worth $528,000, compared to $764,000 for Ryun's home. In contrast, homes across the street from Ryun's were sold for over $900,000.
resigned in October 2006, following revelations he had sent sexually explicit e-mails to teenage congressional pages, Ryun contended that he barely knew Foley, had never spent time with him, and was unaware that they lived directly across the street from each other in Washington, D.C.
"I know that [we were neighbors] only because somebody has mentioned that, too, already," he told reporters at the time. However, it was later revealed that Ryun and Foley had hosted a joint fundraiser on their street on May 18, 2006, called the "D Street Block Party." An invitation to the fundraiser included side-by-side pictures of Ryun and Foley. Ryun's campaign manager later admitted that Ryun had always known he was Foley's neighbor.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
former track athlete
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, who was a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
member of the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from 1996 to 2007, representing the 2nd District
Kansas's 2nd congressional district
Kansas's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Kansas covering most of the eastern part of the state, except for the core of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The district encompasses less than a quarter of the state...
in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. In the 2006 election
United States House elections, 2006
- House of Representatives prior to the election :As of November 7, 2006, the U.S. House of the 109th Congress was composed of 229 Republicans, 201 Democrats and 1 Independent . There were also four vacancies...
, Ryun was defeated by Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
challenger Nancy Boyda
Nancy Boyda
Nancy Boyda is a former Democratic congresswoman representing .On November 4, 2008, Boyda was defeated for re-election by Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins, after serving one term....
. In the Kansas Republican primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
on August 5, 2008, he was defeated by Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins
Lynn Jenkins
Lynn Jenkins is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. She is a member of the Republican Party. As of the 112th Congress, she is the senior member of Kansas' House delegation...
.
Years prior to his political career, Ryun had an athletic career that saw him become a world-class runner
Running
Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...
and the last American to hold the world record in the mile run
Middle distance track event
Middle distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle distance event. The 880 yard run, or half mile, was the forebear to the...
. His career was highlighted by many world record times, although in his three tries he never won an Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
.
High school athletic achievements
- In 1964 Ryun became the first high school runner to break four minutes for the mileFour-minute mileIn the sport of athletics, the four-minute mile is the act of completing the mile run in less than four minutes. It was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister in 3:59.4. The 'four minute barrier' has since been broken by many male athletes, and is now the standard of all male professional...
, running 3:59.0 as a junior at Wichita High School EastWichita High School EastWichita High School East, known locally as East, is a public, co-educational secondary school located near the center of Wichita, Kansas With a student population of 2,200, it is the largest high school in the state. Originally known as Wichita High School, East was the first of eight traditional...
in Wichita, KansasWichita, KansasWichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
. - Established the high school and U.S. open mile record 3:55.3 as a senior in 1965, a record that stood as the high school record for 36 years until broken by Alan WebbAlan Webb (athlete)Alan Webb is an American athlete. He holds the American record in the mile, with a time of 3:46.91. He competes professionally for Nike.-High school:...
's 3:53.43 in 2001. It is also the last time an American male high school athlete broke an open American record in a major outdoor track and field event. In this record race he beat the reigning Olympic champion and former world record holder Peter SnellPeter SnellSir Peter George Snell, KNZM, MBE is a former New Zealand athlete, now resident in Texas, United States. He had one of the shortest careers of world famous international sportsmen, yet achieved so much that he was voted New Zealand’s "Sports Champion of the Century"...
of New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. - His 3:58.3 to win the mile at the 1965 Kansas High School State Meet is still the record for the fastest time ever in a race that includes only high school competitors.
- Today he still holds five of the six fastest mile times in U.S. high school history (all sub-four minute), with Alan Webb’s record race holding the other spot.
- With five sub-four minute miles he is the only high school athlete in history with more than two such times. (Alan Webb has two, while Marty LiquoriMarty LiquoriMartin Liquori is an American middle distance athlete.Liquori first rose to fame when he became the third American high schooler to break the four-minute mile by running a 3:59.8 in 1967, three years after Jim Ryun first did it.He grew up in Cedar Grove, New Jersey and attended Essex Catholic...
, Tim DanielsonTim DanielsonTimothy Ralph "Tim" Danielson is a former American middle distance runner. He is one of only five U.S. high school athletes to ever run the mile in under four minutes.-High school:...
, and Lukas VerzbicasLukas VerzbicasLukas Verzbicas is a Lithuanian long-distance runner and triathlete. He won the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in 2009 and in 2010 , and the Nike Cross Nationals invitational in 2010 , becoming the first runner to win both FLCC and NXN in the same year, and only the third to win FLCC...
have one each.) - He is the only athlete to run a four minute mile as a high school junior.
- After his junior year he qualified for the 1964 Summer Olympics1964 Summer OlympicsThe 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...
in the 1500. He made it to the semifinal round, where he was eliminated. - As a high school senior he was voted the fourth best miler in the world by the experts at Track & Field NewsTrack & Field NewsTrack & Field News is a magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson & Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field.The magazine provides coverage of athletics in the U.S.A. from the high school to national level as well as covering the sport on an international bases. The magazine...
. - ESPN.comESPN.comESPN.com is the official website of ESPN and a division of ESPN Inc. Since launching in 1995 as ESPNet.SportsZone.com, the website has developed numerous sections including: Page 2, SportsNation, ESPN 3.com, ESPN Motion, My ESPN, ESPN Sports Travel, ESPN Video Games, ESPN Insider, ESPN.com's...
has him rated as the number 1 high school athlete of all time, beating out people such as Tiger WoodsTiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
and LeBron JamesLeBron JamesLeBron Raymone James is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association . Nicknamed "King James", he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar while a...
.
Post high school athletic career
In 1966, at age nineteen, Ryun set world records in the mile and the half-mile runs, and received Sports IllustratedSports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
magazine's "Sportsman of the Year
Sportsman of the Year
Since its inception in 1954, Sports Illustrated magazine has annually presented the "Sportsman of the Year" award to "the athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement." Both Americans and non-Americans are eligible, though in the past the...
" award, as well as the James E. Sullivan Award
James E. Sullivan Award
The James E. Sullivan Award, presented by the American Amateur Athletic Union , is awarded annually in April to "the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States". Often referred to as the Oscar of sports awards, it was first presented in 1930. The award is named for the AAU's founder and past...
as the nation's top amateur athlete, the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year, and was voted Track & Field News' Athlete of the Year as the world’s best track & field athlete. Ironically, Ryun did all of this before he was permitted to run for the school he attended, University of Kansas, since NCAA rules at the time did not allow freshmen to compete in NCAA competition. In 1967 Ryun ran a world record in the indoor half mile (1:48.3) and outdoors lowered his world-record time in the mile from 3:51.3 to 3:51.1, a record that stood for almost eight years. That same year he set the world record for the 1500 meters in 3:33.1, running his last lap in a blazing 53.3 seconds and his final 1,200 meters in an amazing 2:46.6.
In NCAA competition Ryun was the 1967 NCAA outdoor mile champion. He was also the NCAA indoor mile champion in 1967, 1968, and 1969, and in 1968 doubled back to win the 1968 NCAA indoor two-mile (3 km) championship race (handing Gerry Lindgren
Gerry Lindgren
Gerald Paul Lindgren is an American track and field runner who is widely recognized as having been the best high school long distance runner in the United States at the time....
his only NCAA championship loss). Ryun's 1969 win in the mile helped the Kansas Jayhawks win the NCAA indoor track championship that year. With his University of Kansas teammates he also anchored a world record in the sprint medley relay (3:15.2) and twice in the distance medley relay (9:33.8 at the Drake Relays in 1967 and then 9:33.0 at the Kansas Relays in 1969, Ryan's 3:57.6 anchor leg for the mile being his last collegiate race on his home track).
Today, over 40 years after he set them, Ryun still holds the American junior (19 and under) records at 880 yd (1:44.9), 800 m (1:44.3), 1,500 m (3:36.1), and two miles (8:25.1). In all, he broke the American record for the mile four times: once as a high school senior (3:55.3 on 27 June 1965), twice as a college freshman (3:53.7 on 4 June 1966 & 3:51.3 on 17 July 1966), and once as a college sophomore (3:51.1 on 23 June 1967).
Ryun participated in the 1964
1964 Summer Olympics
The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...
, 1968
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...
, and 1972 Summer Olympics
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....
, but the gold medal eluded him. Having completely recovered from mononucleosis in the spring of 1968, he won a silver medal in the 1500 meters that autumn in the high altitude of Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, losing to Kip Keino from Kenya, whose remarkable race remained the Olympic 1,500-meter record for 16 years. (Before the race Ryun had thought that a time of 3:39 would be good enough to win in the high altitude of Mexico City. He ended up running faster than that with a 3:37.8, but Keino's 3:34.9 was too tough to beat at that altitude. Years later, in 1981, he told Tex Maule in an interview for The Runner magazine, "We had thought that 3:39 would win and I ran under that. I considered it like winning a gold medal; I had done my very best and I still believe I would have won at sea level." Ryun was attacked by some writers who believed he had let his nation down. "Some even said I had let down the whole world. I didn't get any credit for running my best and no one seemed to realize that Keino had performed brilliantly.") In the 1972 Munich, Germany games, he was tripped and fell down during a 1500-meter qualifying heat. Although the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
(IOC) acknowledged that a foul had occurred and tapes from a German television station clearly demonstrated that Ryun was tripped, U.S. appeals to have Ryun reinstated in the competition were denied by the IOC.
Ryun’s 1500-meter world record, run in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during the US vs. British Commonwealth meet in July 1967, was one of Ryun’s greatest running performances. Track and Field News reported that “after 220 yards of dawdling, a record seemed out of the question.” However, after 440 yards, which Ryun, in third, passed in 60.9 seconds, Kip Keino took the lead and ran the next lap in 56 seconds (the fastest second lap ever run at the time). Ryun, just behind, passed the 880-yard mark in 1:57.0. At 1320 yards the two were side by side in 2:55.0. Ryun pulled away to finish in 3:33.1, a record that stood for seven years. With a last 440 yards of 53.9 and a last 880 yards of 1:51.3, Cordner Nelson of Track and Field News called it “the mightiest finishing drive ever seen,” and said of Ryun’s performance, “This was most certainly his greatest race.”
Ryun's final season as an amateur in 1972 included the third-best mile of his career (at the time, also the third fastest in history: a 3:52.8 at Toronto, Canada on July 29), a 5,000-meter career best (13:38.2 at Bakersfield, CA on May 20), and an inspiring win in the 1,500 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials. He left amateur athletics after 1972 and for the next two years ran professionally on the International Track Association circuit. After this, he retired from track competition altogether. In 1980 he began running various road races for charity purposes, eventually achieving a 10 km best of 31:36.
World records
| Distance | Time | Date | City |
|---|---|---|---|
| 880 yards | 1:44.9 | October 6, 1966 | Terre Haute, IN |
| 1,500 meters | 3:33.1 | July 8, 1967 | Los Angeles, CA |
| One Mile | 3:51.3 | July 17, 1966 | Berkeley, CA |
| One Mile | 3:51.1 | June 23, 1967 | Bakersfield, CA |
| One Mile (indoor) | 3:56.4 | February 19, 1971 | San Diego, CA |
Notes:
- Since 880 yards is longer than 800 meters the 1:44.9 was also converted into an en-route time at 800 m of 1:44.3, which equaled the existing world record, and remained the world and American record until broken by Rick WohlhuterRick WohlhuterRick Wohlhuter is an American athlete who competed mainly in the 800 meters.He graduated from Notre Dame and qualified for the 1972 Olympic Games, held in Munich, Germany. He also competed for the United States in the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, Canada in the 800 and 1500 meters...
's 1.44.6 in 1973. - The 3:33.1 1,500 m mark remained the world record for six years until broken by Tanzania’s Filbert BayiFilbert BayiFilbert Bayi is a former Tanzanian middle-distance runner of the 1970s who set the world records for 1500 metres in 1974 and the mile in 1975...
's 3:32.2 in 1974. - The 3:51.1 mile mark remained the world record for eight years until broken by BayiFilbert BayiFilbert Bayi is a former Tanzanian middle-distance runner of the 1970s who set the world records for 1500 metres in 1974 and the mile in 1975...
's 3:51.0 in 1975.
Athletic awards
Track & Field News Athlete of the Year award for both 1966& 1967, the first athlete to win this prestigious award two years in a row.
The 1966 Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
Sportsman of the Year
Sportsman of the Year
Since its inception in 1954, Sports Illustrated magazine has annually presented the "Sportsman of the Year" award to "the athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement." Both Americans and non-Americans are eligible, though in the past the...
award.
The 1966 James E. Sullivan Award
James E. Sullivan Award
The James E. Sullivan Award, presented by the American Amateur Athletic Union , is awarded annually in April to "the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States". Often referred to as the Oscar of sports awards, it was first presented in 1930. The award is named for the AAU's founder and past...
, presented to the best amateur athlete in the U.S.
The 1966 ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year award
Jim Ryun’s Track & Field News World Rankings:
- 800/880
-
-
- 1966 — 1
-
- 1500/Mile
-
-
- 1965 — 4
- 1966 — 1
- 1967 — 1
- 1968 — 2
- 1969 — 7
- 1971 — 6
- 1972 — 9
-
In 1980 Ryun was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame
National Track and Field Hall of Fame
The National Track and Field Hall of Fame located within the Armory Foundation at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, between 168th and 169th Streets, in Washington Heights, in the New York City borough of Manhattan, is a museum operated by The Armory Foundation in conjunction with USA Track & Field...
and in 2003 he was inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame
National Distance Running Hall of Fame
The National Distance Running Hall of Fame was established on July 11, 1998, to honor those who have contributed to the sport of distance running...
.
Personal
Ryun was born in Wichita, KansasWichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
. He now lives in Lawrence
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...
, though he was listed in the House roll as "R-Topeka
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
." He also owns a farm in Jefferson County
Jefferson County, Kansas
Jefferson County is a county located in Northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 19,126. Its county seat is Oskaloosa, and its most populous city is Valley Falls...
.
Ryun and his wife, Anne, whom he married in 1969, have four children and seven grandchildren. He and his sons, Ned Ryun
Ned Ryun
Ned Ryun is the founder and president of American Majority, an organization that identifies and trains candidates and activists who will become involved in local government, school district governance, or state legislatures...
and Drew, have co-authored three books: Heroes Among Us, The Courage to Run, and In Quest of Gold- The Jim Ryun Story.
After graduating from the University of Kansas in 1970 with a degree in photojournalism, Ryun moved to Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
; looking for a good training situation to continue his track career. Six months later, he moved to Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, where he and his family remained for nine years. He and his family moved back to Lawrence in 1981.
Raised in the Church of Christ
Church of Christ
Churches of Christ are autonomous Christian congregations associated with one another through common beliefs and practices. They seek to base doctrine and practice on the Bible alone, and seek to be New Testament congregations as originally established by the authority of Christ. Historically,...
, Ryun and his wife are members of Grace Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Lawrence.
Career prior to election to Congress
Before being elected to the House of Representatives in 1996, Ryun had operated Jim Ryun Sports, a company that ran sports camps, and worked as a motivational speaker at meetings of corporations and Christian groups around the country. Among his projects, Ryun, who has a 50% hearing loss, helped the ReSound Hearing Aid Company develop a program called Sounds of Success, aimed at helping children with hearing loss. Since 1973, Ryun and his family have hosted running camps every summer for high school aged runners and continue to do so.Elections
Ryun was first elected in 1996 to fill a seat vacated by Republican Sam BrownbackSam Brownback
Samuel Dale "Sam" Brownback is the 46th and current Governor of Kansas. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011, and as a U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 1996...
. He won the three-person Republican primary with 62 percent of the vote, defeating former Topeka
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
mayor Doug Wright and Cheryl Brown Henderson, the daughter of the plaintiff in the historic Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
desegregation case. In the general campaign, Ryun was in tight race with Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
John Frieden, a prominent Topeka trial attorney, who outspent Ryun $750,000 to $400,000. Ryun won that contest with 52 percent of the vote.
He was re-elected in 1998, 2000 and 2002, receiving more than 60 percent of the vote each cycle.
In 2004, Democrat Nancy Boyda
Nancy Boyda
Nancy Boyda is a former Democratic congresswoman representing .On November 4, 2008, Boyda was defeated for re-election by Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins, after serving one term....
, a former moderate Republican, ran a campaign with spending near that of Ryun's, $1,105,838 (compared to Ryun's $1,136,464). Ryun defeated her by a margin of 55% to 42%.
In the 2006 election
United States House elections, 2006
- House of Representatives prior to the election :As of November 7, 2006, the U.S. House of the 109th Congress was composed of 229 Republicans, 201 Democrats and 1 Independent . There were also four vacancies...
, Boyda was again the Democratic nominee, with Roger Tucker of the Reform Party USA
Reform Party of the United States of America
The Reform Party of the United States of America is a political party in the United States, founded in 1995 by Ross Perot...
also on the ballot. Initially expected to win, Ryun found his campaign faltering as internal polling by both Boyda and Republicans revealed a Democratic lead. In response, Ryun's campaign recruited both President Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and Vice President Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
to visit Topeka
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
to campaign and raise campaign funds for Ryun. Ryun was defeated in an upset
Upset
An upset occurs in a competition, frequently in electoral politics or sports, when the party popularly expected to win , is defeated by an underdog whom the majority expects to lose, defying the conventional wisdom...
by Boyda, 51% to 47%.
In March 2007 Ryun confirmed that he would run for his old seat. In the Republican primary, he faced Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins
Lynn Jenkins
Lynn Jenkins is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. She is a member of the Republican Party. As of the 112th Congress, she is the senior member of Kansas' House delegation...
, a moderate who has served two terms as State Treasurer, a partial term in the Kansas Senate and two years in the Kansas House. Ryun lost to Jenkins, 51% to 49%.
Political actions
Ryun served on the Armed Services, Budget and Financial Services committees.Ryun generally supported George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's legislative agenda, voting to support it 89% of the time, average for a House member who was from the same party as the sitting President. In 2003, he voted against the $373 billion end-of-session spending bill because he considered it to be too costly and had come to Congress to support fiscal restraint.
Ryun broke with the President over two major initiatives, No Child Left Behind and Medicare
Medicare (United States)
Medicare is a social insurance program administered by the United States government, providing health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over; to those who are under 65 and are permanently physically disabled or who have a congenital physical disability; or to those who meet other...
reform legislation that included a prescription drug benefit. In voting against No Child Left Behind, Ryun said he believed states should have more control over their own education system. In opposing the Medicare bill, Ryun said the bill didn't provide enough reform to keep future costs from soaring.
In 2006, the National Journal
National Journal
National Journal is a nonpartisan American weekly magazine that reports on the current political environment and emerging political and policy trends. National Journal was first published in 1969. Times Mirror owned the magazine from 1986 to 1997, when it was purchased by David G. Bradley...
rated Ryun as the nation's most conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
member of Congress. He was a member of the Republican Study Committee
Republican Study Committee
The Republican Study Committee [RSC] is a caucus of over 170 conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives...
, a caucus of 103 fiscally and socially conservative House Republicans.
Environmental record
In 2005, Ryun scored 0 percent on the Republicans for Environmental Protection ("REP") scorecard. There were 12 issues that were considered by the REP to be critical environmental issues. Jim Ryun voted with what the REP would consider pro-environment on none of the issues voted upon. These issues consisted of the drilling of oil and natural gas,Congressman Richard Pombo'sRichard Pombo
Richard William Pombo is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, having represented California's 11th congressional district from 1993 to 2007...
bill designed to weaken the Endangered Species Act of 1973, an amendment to the Energy Policy Act of 2005
Energy Policy Act of 2005
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 is a bill passed by the United States Congress on July 29, 2005, and signed into law by President George W. Bush on August 8, 2005, at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico...
, by Congresswoman Lois Capps to remove section 1502, a provision that would provide liability protection for manufacturers of the gasoline additive MTBE, and the movement to increase fuel economy standards.
Ryun also scored a 0 on League of Conservation Voters
League of Conservation Voters
The League of Conservation Voters is a political advocacy organization founded in 1969 by American environmentalist David Brower in the early years of the environmental movement. LCV's mission is to "advocate for sound environmental policies and to elect pro-environmental candidates who will adopt...
's ("LCV") scorecard. Many of REP's critical issues were present on the scorecard.
In 2006, Ryun improved his REP scorecard when he voted pro-environment on 2 of 7 critical issues. This earned him a 17 percent. He voted to help reduce the impact the Army Corps of Engineers had on the environment. The issues in which he voted against the REP were ones involving oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge...
, renewable resource programs, and the movement to end debate and accept the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act.
Legal defense trust contribution
Along with 89 other House members, Ryun gave a one time contribution of $1,000 to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLayTom DeLay
Thomas Dale "Tom" DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, when he resigned because of criminal money laundering charges in...
's legal defense trust.
Townhouse purchase in 2000
On December 15, 2000, Ryun bought a townhouse in the District of Columbia from U.S. Family NetworkU.S. Family Network
U.S. Family Network, Inc. was founded in 1996 by Ed Buckham, who also served as the organization's consultant. USFN was a tax-exempt 501 corporation founded in Virginia, with its principal offices located in the District of Columbia in the same building as Buckham's consulting firm Alexander...
for $410,000, The townhouse had been purchased about two years earlier, for $429,000, to house Buckham's consulting firm Alexander Strategy Group
Alexander Strategy Group
Alexander Strategy Group was an American lobbying firm involved in the K Street Project, founded by Ed Buckham and his wife Wendy. Buckham is a former chief of staff of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, and the firm openly promoted its access to DeLay. Its chief lobbyist was Paul Behrends.In...
and DeLay's ARMPAC.
After questions were raised as to the purchase of Ryun's townhome, his office released official documents showing that Ryun paid $80,000 more than the tax assessed value of the house, that he put another $50,000 into house repairs and that another home on the same block was sold for $409,000 on the same day he bought his home. According to property records, the other home does not have a garage or a back patio and is on a land area about half the size of Ryun's. It was assessed in 2006 as worth $528,000, compared to $764,000 for Ryun's home. In contrast, homes across the street from Ryun's were sold for over $900,000.
Connection to Mark Foley
After Rep. Mark FoleyMark Foley
Mark Adam Foley is a former member of the United States House of Representatives. He served from 1995 until 2006, representing the 16th District of Florida as a member of the Republican Party....
resigned in October 2006, following revelations he had sent sexually explicit e-mails to teenage congressional pages, Ryun contended that he barely knew Foley, had never spent time with him, and was unaware that they lived directly across the street from each other in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
"I know that [we were neighbors] only because somebody has mentioned that, too, already," he told reporters at the time. However, it was later revealed that Ryun and Foley had hosted a joint fundraiser on their street on May 18, 2006, called the "D Street Block Party." An invitation to the fundraiser included side-by-side pictures of Ryun and Foley. Ryun's campaign manager later admitted that Ryun had always known he was Foley's neighbor.
External links
- Associated Press profile
- SourceWatch Congresspedia — Jim Ryun profile
- National Track & Field Hall of Fame entry
- Kansas Sports Hall of Fame entry
- Youtube video of 1968 Olympic 1500 final
- Youtube video of 1967 World Record
- Youtube video of high school record