First Fastest Name Date Venue Date Venue Time Time 1 Sir Murray Halberg 3:57.50 ht 6 August 1958 Dublin IRL 3:57.10 5 September 1958 Oslo NOR 2 Sir Peter Snell 3:54.40 ht 27 January 1962 Whanganui 3:54.03 17 November 1964 Auckland 3 John Davies 3:58.80 ht 15 February 1963 Dunedin 3:56.80 17 November 1964 Auckland 4 Bill Baillie 3:59.20 ht 1 February 1964 Whanganui 5 Ian Studd 3:58.61 13 August 1966 Kingston JAM 6 Dick Quax 3:57.80 ht 18 March 1970 Auckland 3:56.23 9 July 1976 Zurich SUI 7 Dick Tayler 3:58.80 ht 23 January 1971 Dunedin 8 Tony Polhill 3:59.00 ht 15 July 1971 Turku FIN 3:57.00 15 September 1972 London GBR 9 Rod Dixon 3:59.60 ht 26 January 1972 Lower Hutt 3:53.62 30 June 1975 Stockholm SWE 10 Sir John Walker 3:58.80 7 July 1973 Victoria CAN 3:49.08 7 July 1982 Oslo NOR 11 Euan Robertson 3:58.94 26 August 1977 West Berlin GER 12 Peter O'Donoghue 3:58.20 30 January 1982 Auckland 3:57.69 16 July 1984 Burnaby CAN 13 John Bowden 3:58.84 30 January 1982 Auckland 14 Tony Rogers 3:59.50 20 March 1982 Auckland 3:55.18 16 July 1984 Burnaby CAN 15 Michael Gilchrist 3:59.60 26 June 1983 Edinburgh GBR 16 Kerry Rodger 3:59.50 ht 13 February 1985 Whanganui 17 Peter Renner 3:59.70 ht 13 February 1985 Whanganui 18 Alan Bunce 3:59.10 17 August 1990 Gateshead GBR 19 Phil Clode 3:57.70 12 January 1991 Auckland 20 Richard Potts 3:59.80 15 December 1993 Christchurch 21 Robbie Johnston 3:59.96 19 February 1994 Auckland 22 Hamish Christensen 3:59.91 18 January 1995 Wellington 3:56.13 16 January 1999 Hamilton 23 Martin Johns 3:54.10 26 May 1996 Eugene USA 24 John Henwood 3:59.35 6 February 1997 Christchurch 25 Stephen Willis 3:59.04 22 January 2000 Whanganui 26 Simon Maunder 3:59.28 22 January 2000 Whanganui 27 Adrian Blincoe 3:58.19 i 9 February 2002 New York USA 3:54.40 7 September 2003 Rieti ITA 28 Nick Willis 3:58.15 i 7 February 2003 Notre Dame USA 3:49.83 11 June 2014 Oslo NOR 29 Paul Hamblyn 3:58.41 23 February 2005 Auckland 30 Gareth Hyett 3:59.80 11 February 2006 Whanganui 3:57.46 21 July 2007 Brasschaat BEL 31 Max Smith 3:56.46 21 July 2007 Brasschaat BEL 32 Hayden McLaren 3:57.78 i 14 February 2009 Boston USA 33 Jason Woolhouse 3:59.80 13 March 2009 Christchurch 34 Julian Matthews 3:58.57 i 12 February 2011 Boston USA 3:56.91 20 February 2016 New York USA 35 Hamish Carson 3:59.11 27 January 2012 Whanganui 3:56.72 19 January 2016 Whanganui 36 Malcolm Hicks 3:59.87 27 January 2012 Whanganui 37 Zane Robertson 3:56.13 20 April 2012 Walnut USA 3:52.73 11 July 2014 Dublin IRL 38 Julian Oakley 3:58.89 5 June 2014 Concord USA 3:57.22 (I) 14 February 2015 Boston USA 39 Eric Speakman 3:57.30 19 January 2016 Whanganui 3:56.66 30 January 2021 Whanganui 40 Theo Quax 3:58.13 i 15 February 2020 Seattle 41 Samuel Tanner 3:54.97 30 January 2021 Whanganui 42 George Beamish 3:59.13 30 January 2021 Whanganui 43 Oli Chignell 3:59.77 30 January 2021 Whanganui i= indoor ht = hand-timed 1. The fastest first outdoor sub 4-minute mile by a New Zealand athlete was 3:53.51 by Nick Willis on 19 June 2004. 2. Twenty four of the 42 New Zealand athletes who have broken the 4-minute mile barrier, have broken it once only. 3. John Walker broke the 4-minute mile barrier 135 times. 4. The decade 2000-2009 was the most prolific decade for first time sub 4-minute miles. The barrier was beaten by nine New Zealand athletes for the first time in this decade. 5. Whanganui is the New Zealand venue where the greatest number of first sub 4-minute miles were achieved by New Zealand athletes – 13 athletes in total. 6. On four occasions, two New Zealand athletes have broken the sub 4-minute mile barrier for the first time in the same race. They were John Bowden and Peter O’Donoghue on 30 January 1982 in Auckland, Kerry Rodger and Peter Renner on 13 February 1985 in Whanganui, Stephen Willis and Simon Maunder on 22 January 2000 in Whanganui, and Hamish Carson and Malcolm Hicks on 27 January 2012 in Whanganui. And on one occasion in Whanganui on 30 January 2021, three athletes (Samuel Tanner, George Beamish and Oli Chignell) broke the sub 4-minute barrier for the first time in the same race. .