Welsh Athlete Who Grew Roots In Washington State Dies At 74

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Bob Maplestone, a Welsh miler who starred in the early 1970s at Eastern Washington and became a fixture in the state, died Jan. 2. 

The Spokane Spokesman Review's great columnist, John Blanchette, wrote about Maplestone's passing.

Maplestone was remembered Tuesday by Peter John L. Thompson of Eugene for his skill on the track and his friendship off of it.

"He was the best type of friend, where you start off every time you meet as if there had been no intervening time," Thompson wrote.

Maplestone ran 3:59.5 for the mile indoors in San Diego in February 1972 — 18 years after Roger Bannister's historic first sub-four — and later ran a lifetime best 3:57.6 outdoors. 

Maplestone didn't realize he had broken the British record and did not submit the paperwork for it, so "officially" he did not hold the record at the time. Regardless, he was the first to achieve the sub-four feat indoors.

He went on to a successful teaching and coaching career at Highline Community College, south of Seattle.