Seventh Grader Runs 4:30 and 2:03

word. wrote:

OMG OMG OMG he is SO GOOOOOOD!!!!!!! And guess what, he's going to go sub-4 in high school and break the 4:00 mile barrier!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More likely, he has been running since the age of 4 and will burn out before his freshman year of high school OR just keep running the same times. I am SO tired of hearing about 7-year old running prodigies. The times he has run right now literally mean nothing.

heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy bro. Thanks for your "helpful" comment, but I think you're a little too butthurt/jaded/cynical/angry/agro/roided out/jealous to jump in on this one. K, pal? So why don't we keep things a) positive, b) accurate (7th grade not 7y/o), and c) chill.

Maybe he'll burn out and quit, maybe he'll "just" run 4:14 SR year, or maybe he'll continue to improve. Doesn't matter today, but I'm impressed by his talent as we speak.

later, my son.

Astonishing times for that age, and particularly for South Carolina, which produces very few distance runners. Good luck for his future!

Big deal. LV was a lot faster than that. Of course, LV was 20 years old in the seventh grade.

4:30is very quick, though.

Peaking 12-year-olds seems dumb. I bet he stops running or is a low 4 guys at the end of hS

alliance wrote:

Big deal. LV was a lot faster than that. Of course, LV was 20 years old in the seventh grade.

And still younger than Cheserek was when the transplanted Kenyan was a 7th grader himself. Heh. Truth is funny.

I don't know if truth is funny or not because I haven't seen it here on letsrun.Except for this post.

Toast Burn wrote:

alliance wrote:

Big deal. LV was a lot faster than that. Of course, LV was 20 years old in the seventh grade.

And still younger than Cheserek was when the transplanted Kenyan was a 7th grader himself. Heh. Truth is funny.

The big jump in performance seems a little suspicious... He must be on the juice. How else could you account for rises in testosterone like that?

Puberty

Very impressive times, but consider Mary Decker who as a 14-year old ran a 2:02.4 880 and 4:37 mile in 1973.

Is this the fastest time ever for a US 7th grader? I can't imagine it being that much faster than 4:30.

While impressive, these threads are pointless because they turn into ridiculous speculation.

I predict the runner gets bored and plays club soccer through high school.

I knew a runner who ran 4:28 in 8th grade. He got quite a bit faster but never became legendary or anything.

Fixed this for you.

DedicatedRunner wrote:

Very impressive times, but consider that known drug cheat Mary Decker who as a 14-year old ran a 2:02.4 880 and 4:37 mile in 1973.

word. wrote:

OMG OMG OMG he is SO GOOOOOOD!!!!!!! And guess what, he's going to go sub-4 in high school and break the 4:00 mile barrier!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More likely, he has been running since the age of 4 and will burn out before his freshman year of high school OR just keep running the same times. I am SO tired of hearing about 7-year old running prodigies. The times he has run right now literally mean nothing.

when did you run 4:30/2:03? I don't think his times mean nothing, considering he is the fastest kid in the nation his age.

I realize this kid is very young and may or may not become a top high school runner. But if this topic isn't worthy of a thread on LetsRun.com, I don't know what is.

It's not worth a thread on letsrun because it puts undue pressure and spotlight on a kid who likely will never amount to anything in the running world. Part of that will be because of the pressure and spotlight.

word. wrote:

OMG OMG OMG he is SO GOOOOOOD!!!!!!! And guess what, he's going to go sub-4 in high school and break the 4:00 mile barrier!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More likely, he has been running since the age of 4 and will burn out before his freshman year of high school OR just keep running the same times. I am SO tired of hearing about 7-year old running prodigies. The times he has run right now literally mean nothing.

You are incorrect, most of our elite runners ran incredible times at a young age. Perhaps not as fast as this young lad, but that's how many elites became runners by realizing in middle school that running was something they were good at. They did not run as fast as this young lad becasue they probably didn't train as much and were doing other sports, but they were usually good at a young age. And, young phemons like this don't alway become H.S. champions, but they still end up becoming very good.

Having a thread about him on letsrun might add a tiny bit of pressure, but not a lot in the grand scheme of things.

I doubt he reads these boards. I certainly hope he doesn't!

Besides, somebody has to be the best. If HE wasn't so fast, the pressure would simply move to another kid. In a perfect world, there would be no pressure on him. But pressure comes with the territory when you are that good.

I know nothing about Dolan Owens. For all I know running is just something he is good at. Hopefully he is also playing soccer, baseball, etc... like lots of other seventh graders and excelling at those sports too. Hell, I HAVE a seventh grader and I don't know a single one who only runs track.

Hopefully Dolan will keep his mileage low, do his best, and have fun until he decides if he wants to run in high school/college.

Confirmed. He is listed in the Taco Bell results from last weekend. 4:30.x 7th grade. Looks like he was middle of the pack in the second fastest of 5 heats.

Incredible really assuming he is 7th grade aged (turning/turned 13 in 2014 lets say), I have no idea. If he is 8th grade aged, its still amazing and on par with the elite 8th graders in the nation but its not as absurd.

I also remember this guy who ran 1:54 as a 14 y.o.

It was easy to predict that he would burn out... And if he received a dollar every time he heard that about himself, he would have been a millionaire before age 18...

His name Kevin Sullivan....

Unfortunately for every Kevin Sullivan, there are 1000 young phenoms that do burn out...