I just picked this news up from the Reed Magazine blog:
Chem major Paul Whittredge ’12 shattered a
longstanding Reed track record on Saturday, running two miles in 10:21.7
seconds, and demolishing the previous time, which had stood since 1956,
by almost 17 seconds. His training partner, Jack Flowers ’15, also beat the old record, finishing just four seconds behind Paul. (for rest of story and photo see “Chem Major Shatters Track Record”)
The fact that the old record has been around nearly as long as I have (b. 1955), and that Paul and Jack had to travel off-campus for their run, makes me wonder: would more Reedies take up running if we had a better track? The Reed magazine also mentions that Paul’s thesis project involves ‘zinc fingers’. Here’s a Wikipedia link that will help the curious get started on this topic.