Objectives To determine the impact of running a sub-4 min mile on longevity. It was hypothesised that there would be an increase in longevity for runners who successfully completed a sub-4 min mile compared with the general population. Methods As part of this retrospective cohort study, the Sub-4 Alphabetic Register was used to extract the first 200 athletes to run a sub-4 min mile. Each runner’s date of birth, date of their first successful mile attempt, current age (if alive) or age at death was compared with the United Nations Life Tables to determine the difference in each runner’s current age or age at death with their country of origin-specific life expectancy. Results Of the first 200 sub-4 min mile runners (100% male), 60 were dead (30%) and 140 were still alive. Sub-4 min mile runners lived an average of 4.7 years beyond their predicted life expectancy (95% CI 4.7 to 4.8). When accounting for the decade of completion (1950s, 1960s or 1970s), the longevity benefits were 9.2 years (n=22; 95% CI 8.3 to 10.1), 5.5 years (n=88; 95% CI 5.3 to 5.7) and 2.9 years (n=90; 95% CI 2.7 to 3.1), respectively. Conclusion Sub-4 min mile runners have increased longevity compared with the general population, thereby challenging the notion that extreme endurance exercise may be detrimental to longevity. Data sharing not applicable as no datasets generated and/or analysed for this study. Not applicable - all data were obtained from free publicly available databases or information sources.

中文翻译：

---

超越死神：前 200 名跑进 4 分钟一英里的男子运动员的寿命

目标 确定跑 4 分钟以下一英里对寿命的影响。据推测，与普通人群相比，成功完成 4 分钟内一英里的跑步者的寿命会更长。方法 作为这项回顾性队列研究的一部分，使用 Sub-4 字母登记系统提取了前 200 名跑过 4 分钟一英里的运动员。将每位跑步者的出生日期、首次成功完成一英里尝试的日期、当前年龄（如果活着）或死亡年龄与联合国生命表进行比较，以确定每位跑步者的当前年龄或死亡年龄与其原籍国的差异-特定预期寿命。结果 在前 200 名不到 4 分钟一英里的跑步者（100% 男性）中，60 人死亡（30%），140 人仍然活着。跑步时间低于 4 分钟一英里的跑步者的平均寿命比预期寿命长 4.7 年（95% CI 4.7 至 4.8）。当考虑完成的十年（1950年代、1960年代或1970年代）时，长寿效益分别为9.2年（n=22；95% CI 8.3至10.1）、5.5年（n=88；95% CI 5.3至5.7）和2.9年年（n=90；95% CI 2.7 至 3.1）。结论 与一般人群相比，低于 4 分钟一英里的跑步者的寿命更长，从而挑战了极限耐力运动可能不利于长寿的观点。数据共享不适用，因为本研究没有生成和/或分析数据集。不适用 - 所有数据均来自免费的公开数据库或信息源。