Mills, Schul, Ashenfelter Head All-Star List Scheduled to Compete in Annual Tulsa Run

TULSA, Okla. —  Olympic gold medal winners Billy Mills, Bob Schul and Horace Ashenfelter will participate in the 1.8-mile Fun Run portion of the annual Tulsa Run on Oct. 25.

Joining them will be Jim Ryun, the first high school runner ever to break 4 minutes in the mile, and Buddy Edelen, a Tulsa resident who is a former world record holder in the marathon. Both competed in the Olympics.

Mills, who won the gold in the 10,000-meter race in 1964, was scheduled to participate in a 15-kilometer race with Robby Benson, the actor who played Mills in the movie, “Running Brave,” but Benson was forced to withdraw for medical reasons.

Schul also won a gold medal in the 1964 games in the 5,000 meters. Ashenfelter won the 3,000-meter event in the 1952 games.

Another Olympic competitor, Frank Shorter, will also compete in the 15-kilometer race. He has been in all but one of the nine Tulsa runs.

The women’s field in the 1986 Tulsa Run will be headed by Olympian France Larrieu-Smith, who was the top woman finisher in the 1985 Tulsa Run.

The event features a 15-kilometer or 9.3 mile race from downtown along the Arkansas River and back to downtown. At the same time, the 3-kilometer Fun Run is staged along a shorter downtown portion of the course.