Leo Manzano prepares for the St. Louis Track Club elite mile on May 23. Manzano ran 3:55.29. Courtesy of Big River Running

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Organizers, runners and fans got what they wanted - and then some - when three competitors in the St. Louis Track Club Elite Men’s mile, part of the Big River Festival of Miles, broke the four-minute barrier. The performances were the first to go sub-4 in Missouri since June 1963.

Leo Manzano’s time of 3 minutes 55.29 seconds was the fastest ever outdoors in Missouri and the third fastest time of the year in the mile. Following his 14th-place finish last week in the adidas Classic 1,500 meters, it’s safe to say that Manzano restarted his mojo on Saturday night. Congratulations, too, to Derek Scott and  Tommy Schmitz, who also beat the mark.

The only downer of the evening was that Mike Rathmann, one of the beneficiaries, was unable to attend. Rathmann, who suffered a severe neck injury last summer, was released from the hospital earlier in the day, but a medication snafu left him queasy and tired, too wrung out to attend. His mother, Toots, was there, though, and beaming.

And what a difference a year makes for the night’s other beneficiary, Brigette Schutzman, who ran track and cross country at St. Louis U. She was lively, animated, walking on her own, jumping off the desk in the press box, chattering away. Her immediate plans include writing a book about her experience - from the night she was a car accident, through six weeks in a coma, through learning to walk and talk again. It was great to chat with her. The only problem: I couldn’t keep up.

Celebrity update: Martin Kilcoyne talked smack, but Kurt LaBelle got the final word, winning the celebrity 100-yard dash in 13.74.

Great night. Lots of fun. A great cause. Nice job to organizers, participants and a crowd that generated a few gigawatts of electricity.