Paul McMullen
Paul McMullen (February 19, 1972 – March 4, 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. McMullen finished tenth at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg, Sweden and the 2001 World Championships in Athletics in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He won the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials 1500 m and was a semi-finalist Atlanta Summer Olympics the same year. He won National Championships in 1995 (1500 m), 1996 (1500 M) and  1998 (Indoor Mile). His personal best 1500 m time was 3:33.89 minutes, achieved in July 2001 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. In 2001, Track and Field News ranked him at number one in the US. In 1997, McMullen lost parts of two toes when his foot slipped under a lawnmower he was operating. He returned to the sport in December 1998, and as the results above indicate, 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." Paul McMullen attended Eastern Michigan University  and graduated in accounting. After graduation, he ran three seasons for Asics Shoes and four seasons 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 then later retired from running  after failing to make the 2004 Olympic Team while representing the US Coast Guard. Hall of Fame inductions: He was inducted into the Drake Relays Hall of Fame in 2000 and Eastern Michigan's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003. Before his death, he 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 running club. McMullen was married to his high school girl-friend Nuria De Soto Queralto of Spain. He has two children from his first marriage, Olivia, 13  and David, 8. His wife Nuria of three years gave birth to their first child Catalina on July 5, 2014. Paul is also brother to Phil McMullen (a fireman paramedic in the East Bay Area of San Francisco, California and former world class decathlete). Paul was killed on March 4, 2021, in a skiing accident in Michigan. He was 49 years old.