Kansan sets world record ... running backward faster than most people can run forward
In 1965, Wichita East’s Jim Ryun ran the first sub-four-minute mile in high school history.
Kansas now claims another running feat, albeit in the opposite direction.
Aaron Yoder, Bethany College track and cross country coach, set the “retrorunning” world record at 5 minutes, 30 seconds last Friday.
What is retrorunning? Running in reverse.
Yoder is from Hillsboro and now lives in Lindsborg. Retrorunning has taken him all over the planet, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he had to set this record virtually back home in Kansas.
Taking part in the New York Road Runners’ “5th Avenue Mile” event, Yoder had his eye on breaking the Guinness World Record he previously set in 2015 at 5:54. Since that run, he’s set the record again, at 5:51, but the paperwork to process it has been stalled.
There was no stalling Yoder last week.
Yoder said selecting a place to run was one of the biggest challenges he faced. He needed to find a perfectly paved road desolate enough where he could run for five and a half minutes. He picked a spot near Marquette.
Without anyone to run against, and having to run with his cellphone in hand to mark his progress, he broke his best mile time by 21 seconds.
“I was talking with my mom last night and said, ‘It seems so natural for me because I’ve been doing it for so long and there is so much training involved,’ but the shock value is still there,” Yoder said.
News outlets flocked to the story. The New York Post, Men’s Health, Runner’s World and many others helped put Yoder, and Kansas, in the national spotlight.
“I love this state, and I’m just so proud to be a Kansan,” Yoder said. “With the rich tradition of milers here — Jim Ryun, Glenn Cunningham, (Archie) San Romani — even though I’m going backward, it’s kind of maybe, ‘Be in that conversation,’ if I can be. ...
“I’m just trying to soak it all up and tell myself, ‘God has given me some great opportunities and gifts that I can use. This was really uplifting. I’m not numb to it yet.”
Yoder also joins Halstead’s Conrad Nightingale, a steeplechase runner, as a world record holding running from Kansas.
That said, Yoder isn’t doing all of this strictly for personal gain. In his 10th year at Bethany, Yoder reinvests the path he has run into his students and athletes.
“I’m trying to give everything I know,” Yoder said. “I’ve been there, done that, got the T-shirt, but yet, I haven’t stopped because it’s not really about that. You can give a lot of lessons when you’ve traveled around the world, and when you’ve had this pressure of having your country expecting you to bring back gold medals. For me, it’s simply keeping my foot on the pedal.
“To do it for sheer vanity, that’s so shallow, and it won’t take you that far. That’s why I can go a lot longer and a lot faster: I know why I’m doing it, and it’s for those around me.”
Yoder started running backward as a kid because his treadmill wouldn’t go fast enough forward. In high school, he became a state champion in the 1,600 meters. But when a chronic knee injury took hold, he was forced to rethink his running.
At 32, he has set a world record running backward in a time that would put most people to shame running forward. Yoder said his ultimate goal is to run a mile under 5 minutes; he knows he isn’t there yet, but he also believes it’s possible.
Continuing to development is Yoder’s aim. Already a world champion and world record-holder, Yoder said those achievements aren’t as satisfying as improving over time.
For that reason, he sees endless possibilities for what’s still to come.
“I went into the run thinking, ‘Let’s just have a good day, go under the record and have a good run at it,’” Yoder said. “It just felt like at the end of it, I still had a lot more to give.”
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 5:00 AM.