BREAKING! Steve Spence runs 4:55 and continues his sub5 steak to 42 years.

Got two threads going on this. As I posted on the other one, very impressive longevity. I imagine the pressure becomes a little greater with each passing year.

Did he just turn 55? The smart way to do it would be to knock one out right before you turn another year older, than run another one just after you do. That way, you have two out of the way, and whole other year to worry about it again.

imarunr wrote:

Got two threads going on this. As I posted on the other one, very impressive longevity. I imagine the pressure becomes a little greater with each passing year.

Did he just turn 55? The smart way to do it would be to knock one out right before you turn another year older, than run another one just after you do. That way, you have two out of the way, and whole other year to worry about it again.

100% no.....dumbest idea ever. Why on earth would you think putting all your eggs in one basket on the last day of the year is smart? Injury, sickness, weather, bad day...any of those and your one chance is over with no second try.

Remarkable. He does it when he's in shape and tries to do it early if he can.

I thought that the streak was in calendar years, not from birthday to birthday, but whatever the case, to keep enough speed to do this and to be healthy enough every year is enormously difficult. Calf injuries alone would knock most out of this frequently after forty.

That's pretty crazy.

I've almost gotten my streak of not running sub five to ten years.

this dude clearly sets the gold standard. before anyone talks about how studly he was in his open days, you better know firsthand how hard it is to keep your s#!+ together after 40. i've managed a 35 year streak of sub-5s, and i try to keep two separate streaks alive, calendar year and age; in case one goes, i can hopefully still sustain the other. not sure if steve subscribes to the same thinking, but despite the fact that there is some publicity about this accomplishment, i suspect this is simply something he does for intrinsic rewards. even if this was still relatively easy for him at 55, i doubt he takes it for granted, knowing it will only get more and more difficult every year.

there's a big difference between people who can do it, who could have done it, who should be able to do it, and who has done it. the only one i know who has done it is steve spence...

I remember Steve running 4:55 for the first mile of the 1990 Columbus Marathon, which he won. That win qualified him for the World Championships of 1991 (Tokyo) where he earned the Bronze Medal.

Damn.

I'm going to break his streak, but for not running a sub 5 mile (I'm at 16 years so far).

William Moore of Dallas is not far behind if not the same. same age

He's still crushing it

Will How many yrs !! ??

You're both missing the point here. imarunr's idea was to run a sub-5:00 twice, on either side of his birthday, which is May 9. So get fit for early May, run a sub-5:00 on May 8 and another on May 10 and claim you've run sub-5:00 for both those years of age.No... has misunderstood and thinks the recommendation was to run the mile twice on either side of New Year's Day, thus crossing off two years with one period of peak fitness.Both of you misunderstand Spence and what he's up to. He does this every summer--gets himself into sub-5:00 shape annually during track season. He's not interested in gimmicks or easy ways to cross of two years' worth of attempts. He likes getting in shape every track season to crank out a sub-5:00 mile. Hell of an accomplishment for a hell of a great guy.

No....... wrote:

imarunr wrote:

Got two threads going on this. As I posted on the other one, very impressive longevity. I imagine the pressure becomes a little greater with each passing year.

Did he just turn 55? The smart way to do it would be to knock one out right before you turn another year older, than run another one just after you do. That way, you have two out of the way, and whole other year to worry about it again.

100% no.....dumbest idea ever. Why on earth would you think putting all your eggs in one basket on the last day of the year is smart? Injury, sickness, weather, bad day...any of those and your one chance is over with no second try.

I eat sub-5 lb. steaks all the time.

I read about this guy a couple years ago since a lot of my HS rivals ended up running for him at Ship (where they hold PA Outdoor Champs), and many have paced him in recent years. Solid D2 program with lots of 2nd-tier in-state talent (basically the best of whoever can't get to Penn State, Pitt, Penn, and who stay in PA).

To setltle the debate, Spence has tried in the recent past to peak in mid-December and get an attempt or two in, maintain fitness, and try again in January. The streak is also recorded in calendar years.

http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/olympian-steve-spence-runs-sub-500-mile-for-40th-consecutive-year

He can't claim the streak because most of his sub 5 miles were not achieved in actual races. They were unofficial time trials, timed and paced by athletes he coaches,

He did achieve this years sub 5 in a race though. It was still paced by his athletes though.

It's like someone claiming a streak of sub 3 hour marathon from on a training runs.

Now, who really has the streak of the most sub 5s?

-7.8/10

Time trials don't count, sorry wrote:

He can't claim the streak because most of his sub 5 miles were not achieved in actual races. They were unofficial time trials, timed and paced by athletes he coaches,

He did achieve this years sub 5 in a race though. It was still paced by his athletes though.

It's like someone claiming a streak of sub 3 hour marathon from on a training runs.

Now, who really has the streak of the most sub 5s?

Time trials don't count, sorry wrote:

He can't claim the streak because most of his sub 5 miles were not achieved in actual races. They were unofficial time trials, timed and paced by athletes he coaches,

He did achieve this years sub 5 in a race though. It was still paced by his athletes though.

It's like someone claiming a streak of sub 3 hour marathon from on a training runs.

Now, who really has the streak of the most sub 5s?

LOL, bravo. This will piss some people off.

This is great. I was a minute per mile slower in the marathon than Steve and am now a minute slower in the mile. I doubt it comes too easy for him nowadays. The dude has a sweet stride for an older gent.

My personal streak is 26 years of climbing the 5.13 grade. Not near as long but then again 5.13 didn't even exist 40 years ago when I took the sport up. Also I didn't climb my first 5.13 until I was 34.

well if someone claimed to have run a road 5-mile under 30 minutes with no witnesses every year for some long streak, i'd be sympathetic to your point and wonder about course measurements and such. But a well-respected guy [to say the least] saying he's done it on a track? seems legit to me. Indeed, wouldn't it be harder to do in a TT than a race?

I broke 5 at age 16 and again as late as age 50, but certainly didn't do so every year in between and am nowhere close to that fast now (55), so to me this seems a remarkable accomplishment. Great consistency, and ability to avoid all the potholes that trip up most of us.

Congratulations, Steve Spence!

No....... wrote:

imarunr wrote:

Got two threads going on this. As I posted on the other one, very impressive longevity. I imagine the pressure becomes a little greater with each passing year.

Did he just turn 55? The smart way to do it would be to knock one out right before you turn another year older, than run another one just after you do. That way, you have two out of the way, and whole other year to worry about it again.

100% no.....dumbest idea ever. Why on earth would you think putting all your eggs in one basket on the last day of the year is smart? Injury, sickness, weather, bad day...any of those and your one chance is over with no second try.

You don't have a clue do you. We have events called Olympic trials, world champs trails, Olympic games etc.one shot one moment in time. Champion athletes as Steve understand this better than anybody and know how to prepare for those moments. They also know bad days do come along with the territory and those days are a part of the game.