EWU loses sub-four minute miler Maplestone

 

Last updated 1/7/2021 at 1:37pm

CHENEY – Legendary Eastern Washington University miler Bob Maplestone — a member of multiple halls of fame — passed away Saturday, Jan. 2. University Athletics Department officials said he was 74 and at the time of his death lived in the Edgewood, Wash., near Tacoma.

A sub four-minute miler originally from Cardiff, Wales, he was the first Briton to run a mile indoors in under four minutes (3:59.5) in 1972 and went on to have a time of 3:58.5 outdoors in 1973. His eventual best in the mile was 3:57.6.

Maplestone was NAIA champion in the indoor mile in 1971 and 1972, the outdoor mile in 1971 and the outdoor 1,500 meters in 1972. As a junior and senior he added second-place outdoor finishes in the mile to his resume. He was coached at Eastern by Jerry Martin, who was an assistant coach in 1971 and then spent his first three seasons of his illustrious career as head coach from 1972-74.


He was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1981, and was a member of the inaugural class of inductees into the Eastern Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996. He returned to EWU in fall 2019 to help honor the 1980 Eastern men’s track and field squad as the first squad in that sport to be inducted into Eastern’s HOF.

He still holds three Eastern records outdoors and a pair indoors, as he won seven Evergreen Conference individual titles in track and field — three each in his junior and senior seasons. He also won a NAIA District 1 title on the track and three in cross country.

Although his indoor mile record was never officially recognized by the UK, Maplestone set Britain’s indoor mile record in February of 1972 with a 3:59.2 time at the San Diego Indoor. A few months later, he beat Jim Ryun at the Drake Relays en route to setting the meet’s mile record with a 4:00.4 time.


His running career also included a pair of titles in the 1,500 meters at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore. He nearly qualified for the 1972 Munich Olympics after finishing third at the U.S. Championships in the 1500 with a Welsh record time of 3:39.7.

After earning his Eastern degree in technology in 1974, he went on to earn his master’s degree in industrial engineering from Oregon State. He had a successful teaching (mechanical engineering) and coaching career at Highline Community College in the Seattle area.

 

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