Woodbury senior Peyton Shute ran the 4th-fastest mile in South Jersey history Saturday at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston.
Shute ran 4:13.36, fastest ever by a South Jersey Group 1 runner and 3rd-fastest by a New Jersey Group 1 miler behind Shore Regional’s Drew Maher in 2018 [4:11.10] and John Carlotti of Bernards in 1983 [4:11.3].
His time is fastest in New Jersey this year, bumping Luke Schagelin of Morris Knolls, who ran 4:13.92 at the Armory last month.
Shute ran within about half a second of the Gloucester County indoor record of 4:12.79 set by Kingsway’s Kyle Rakitis at 2022 Ocean Breeze Nationals.
Shute split 62.85, 63.33, 64.23 and 62.98, closing in 31.17.
The Valentine Invite is always the deepest and fastest mile in the world.
The race – or races – produced 43 sub-4 finishers, 93 under 4:05, 168 under 4:10 and 302 under 4:20.
Shute was one of four South Jersey milers to run between 4:13.19 and 4:13.55 in the race. Audubon graduate Scott Hubbard, a Rowan sophomore, ran 4:13.19; West Deptford graduate Jacob Cobb, a sophomore at MIT, ran 4:13.21; and Rakitis, a junior at Rutgers, ran 4:13.55.
Hubbard’s previous PR was a 4:18.03 last week at Ocean Breeze. We’ll have more on his race soon. Cobb’s previous PR was 4:15.50 last week, also at Boston University.
Shute has an outdoor mile PR of 4:12.13 from last year’s West Philly Nationals. For comparison purposes, a 4:13.36 full mile is the equivalent of a 4:11.89 for 1,600 meters.
All-Tine South Jersey Indoor Mile List
4:11.42 … Miles Schoedler [Ocean City], 2011
4:12.49 … Brett Johnson [Ocean City], 2009
4:12.79 … Kyle Rakitis [Kingsway], 2022
4:13.36 … Luke Petela [Haddon Twp.], 2015
4:13.36 … Peyton Shute [Woodbury], 2024
4:13.40 … Greg Pelose [Haddonfield], 2016
4:15.16 … Marc Pelerin [Cherokee], 2002
4:15.35 … Stone Caraccio [Kingsway], 2020
4:15.5 … Marty Ludwikowski [Cherry Hill West], 1975
4:16.01 … Chris Platt [Haddonfield], 2003
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 