He was the first amateur runner to surpass Walter George's professional record in the mile, set nearly 30 years previously.

Missing the 1911 season, he re-emerged in 1912, finishing sixth in the IC4A cross country, then surprising many by tying mile record holder John Paul Jones over that distance at the IC4A championships.

But Jones launched into his drive as the bell for the final lap sounded and Taber couldn't respond.

Taber won the AAU championship over the mile later that year with a 4:262⁄5 clocking, then went to St John's College, Oxford,[3] as a Rhodes Scholar.

[1] In 1915, he decided to make an attempt to break Jones' mile record, and he trained with coach Eddie O'Connor for six months to do so.

He defeated Kiviat on June 26 in 4:151⁄5 in the Eastern Trials for the AAU, then won a mile at the Milrose AA in 4:173⁄5 a few weeks later.

While some raised objections over the pacing involved and the lack of any race, the IAAF ratified the record, and it stood until Paavo Nurmi eclipsed it in 1923.