The Man Who Ran A 5-minute Mile & Squatted 500lbs In The Same Day

The body shape of an Olympic lifter couldn’t be much further from that of an elite middle-distance runner. They’re two disciplines that really don’t go hand in hand, but athletes have been pursuing an extraordinary double ever since CrossFit CEO Dave Castro wrote in his book about the possibility of someone achieving a sub-five-minute mile and a 500lbs back squat in the same day. Now, Adam Klink, a former Soccer player from Virginia has conquered the challenge. 

He started training specifically to take on the feat after the CrossFit season was ended prematurely due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although Klink is not one of the more-widely known names in the sport, having never competed at the CrossFit Games as an individual, he’s an athlete with serious ability. The 30-year-old finished 149th at this year’s Open and has a second-place finish to his name in the team division of the 2019 Games. A personal best of 550lbs in the squat meant his attention would be focussed on the running side of the challenge, but Klink was confident his youth spent playing soccer - he represented Division 1 Rutgers University as a goalkeeper at collegiate level in the US before taking up CrossFit - had established an endurance which would help him in the mile (we’re assuming he also spent time outfield).

Despite originally claiming he would take five weeks to recover before another attempt after failing the challenge on June 29th, two weeks later Klink decided he felt fresh enough to give it a shot. He didn’t regret it, beating his first mile time by 16 seconds to clock 4:56 and then complete the lift hours later to make history.

Speaking after his original attempt, Klink said: “I like to talk about goal-setting.This is a goal I set for myself a while ago that I wanted to hit. This isn’t to prove anything to anybody.

“I want to encourage other people to set goals and get after them,” he continued. “We are in a time right now where people need that motivation and need to learn how to set goals for themselves and work hard for something. To be able to check that off their list when it’s accomplished.”