1st 1500 meter 1995 1st 1500 meter 1996 3rd 1500 meter 1998 1st indoor mile 1998
Highest world ranking
2001: #1 in USA (Track and Field News)
Paul McMullen (19 February 1972 – 4 March 2021) was an American middle-distance runner who specialized in the 1500 meters. Paul was known by some as "the pride of Cadillac" after qualifying and competing in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.
Early life
McMullen was born 19 February 1972, son of Doug and Theresa McMullen. He grew up in Cadillac, Michigan with his brother Phil and sister Sarah. An early physical education teacher noticed his speed and told him he should run track. Years later, when he was a 6-foot-2-inch, 165 pound tight end on his high school's football team, he and a few football teammates joined the track team during the football off-season. By his senior year of high school, McMullen won the Michigan state title in the mile.[1]
Running career
McMullen received a small athletic scholarship to Eastern Michigan University and ran under legendary EMU coach Bob Parks.[1] McMullen graduated in accounting in 1995 and was well prepared for a running career: as of 2022, he retains EMU's fastest time at 3:38:74 in the 1500 meter run, the second fastest time in the 800 meter run, and stands all-time 32nd of 75 men in the 5000 meter run.[2] Although he had struggled in his early college days, red-shirting his first collegiate year, he became an eight-time All-American and was inducted into the Drake Relays Hall of Fame in 2000 and into EMU's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003.[1]
In 1997, McMullen lost parts of two toes when his foot slipped under a lawnmower he was operating.[4] He returned to the sport in December 1998 and was able to run even faster than before the accident. Runner's World referred to him, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, as "the world's fastest eight-toed miler."
Sponsors
After graduation in 1995, he ran three seasons for Asics Shoes and four seasons for Saucony Shoes before enlisting in the United States Coast Guard at age 29 and served four years as a surface swimmer and Federal Boarding Officer on the Great Lakes. McMullen still holds the Coast Guard's Cape May New Jersey Training Center 1.5-mile run record of 7:09 which he ran on week 6 of basic training in December 2002. McMullen last broke the four-minute mile at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon at the age of 32, yet soon retired from running after failing to make the 2004 Olympic Team while representing the US Coast Guard.
Personal life
McMullen had two children from his first marriage (Jill Stamison), Olivia and David, aged 19 and 14 respectively at the time of his death. McMullen married secondly to his high school girl-friend, Nuria DeSoto Queralto of Spain in December 2011. His wife Nuria of just under ten years gave birth to their first child Catalina on July 5, 2014. Paul is brother to Phil McMullen, a fireman paramedic in the East Bay Area of San Francisco, California, and former world class decathlete.
Later life
Before his death, McMullen worked as a Life Safety Consultant for EPS Security and competed in masters road cycling events during the summer. He was the founder and Coach of Chariots of Fire youth running club.[1][5]
Death
Paul McMullen was killed on 4 March 2021 in a skiing accident in Northern Michigan. He was 49 years old.[1][6]
*Distances have varied as follows: Mile (1940–2002) and 1932, 2007 and odd numbered years since 2011, 1500 meters (1933–1939), (2003–6, 2008–2010) and even numbered years since 2010
