Drew Hunter does it! Takes down O'Hare + Willis + a 3:33 guy to get biggest win of career at adidas Boost

That sort of race is Hunter’s bread and butter. Had they been at 2:55 or 3:05 at the 1200, I don’t think he would have won. Impressed by his poise down the home stretch when O’Hare wasn’t kicking well.

Was*, excuse me.

Great win. Look for a 3:34/35 this year in Europe, I'd think. In all fairness, O'Hare is coming back up after a CWG, and Willis is clawing back from an injury at age 35.

He nearly fell 400 in as well. That has to take a little out of you.

Would enjoy seeing Hunter and Josh Kerr race. They're around the same age and have similar 1,500 and 800 PRs although Kerr's a little faster. Hunter's doing the smart thing and honing his speed now, but eventually I think it best championship race will be 5,000 meters.

Hunter looks absolutely awful when running though, which is pretty incredible if you think about it. His side to side motion and big arm action + a swinging left arm really makes him look bad -- then he crushes some very good runners the last 200m. Huh.

His form has improved so much, though. It’s night and day compared to where he was a couple years ago.

While a Kerr race might be interesting, I think Kerr would win. I’m more interested to see what Hunter could do against Ingebrigsten. I think that might be very close.

ShipYard wrote:

His form has improved so much, though. It’s night and day compared to where he was a couple years ago.

While a Kerr race might be interesting, I think Kerr would win. I’m more interested to see what Hunter could do against Ingebrigsten. I think that might be very close.

Hunter would lose to the older Ingebrigsten brothers and beat baby Ingebrigsten by a lean. He has too much pride to lose to a 16 year old.

adidasboostfan wrote:

Would enjoy seeing Hunter and Josh Kerr race. They're around the same age and have similar 1,500 and 800 PRs although Kerr's a little faster. Hunter's doing the smart thing and honing his speed now, but eventually I think it best championship race will be 5,000 meters.

I agree. He's going to be a force at 5k.

adidasboostfan wrote:

Would enjoy seeing Hunter and Josh Kerr race. They're around the same age and have similar 1,500 and 800 PRs although Kerr's a little faster. Hunter's doing the smart thing and honing his speed now, but eventually I think it best championship race will be 5,000 meters.

Here we go again with Hunter and the 5k, please people just stop

HE SES YEZ wrote:

[quote]adidasboostfan wrote:

I agree. He's going to be a force at 5k.

Literally, every single Drew Hunter thread his 5k potential gets brought up, every single one

NOP Skeptic wrote:

adidasboostfan wrote:

Would enjoy seeing Hunter and Josh Kerr race. They're around the same age and have similar 1,500 and 800 PRs although Kerr's a little faster. Hunter's doing the smart thing and honing his speed now, but eventually I think it best championship race will be 5,000 meters.

Here we go again with Hunter and the 5k, please people just stop

His 5000 debut will be as anticipated as Wariner when he moved to 800!

Agreed. Hunter just beat some very good runners tonight. He’s finished 2nd, 1st, 2nd, and 1st in his 1500/miles. He looks like he can get top-5 at USAs or even better. He’s right where he needs to be.

That’s a great win. Unfortunately it doesn’t mean anything since it was a slow race.

adidasboostfan wrote:

Would enjoy seeing Hunter and Josh Kerr race. They're around the same age and have similar 1,500 and 800 PRs although Kerr's a little faster. Hunter's doing the smart thing and honing his speed now, but eventually I think it best championship race will be 5,000 meters.

Look. I'll admit I started this thread with !! but people need to calm down.

Are you crazy? Kerr would wipe the floor with Hunter.

He beat some nice names today - that's why I started the thread, but if you look at it he beat a bunch of guys totally off their games.

They were 3:01 at 1200 and only two guys in the field broke 57.6. Nick Willis closed in 58.31 off of 3:01.98. The 3:33 Kenyan must have been jet lagged or not liking the weather as he closed in 58.03. Those are amateurish closes.

Back to Kerr vs Hunter. Hunter ran 3:56.72 tonight and closed in 55.26 off of 3:01.46. Josh Kerr won NCAA indoors in 3:57.02 with a 54.23 last lap.

rojo wrote:

We'll have more including post-race interviews from Boston soon.

https://twitter.com/letsrundotcom/status/997995076860162048

WOOOOOOOOOOOO hell yeah drew hunter!!!!

Is Hunter American born? I can't support any athlete until LRC checks birth certificates for me. It seems like a good result but how can I truly know how good of a run it was without knowing this piece of crucial information?

sbeefyk2 wrote:

That’s a great win. Unfortunately it doesn’t mean anything since it was a slow race.

Oh, brother! "Doesn't mean anything"?

I'm glad you do see Hunter's result as a great win, but are you a slave to the "Time is the Measure of the Man" crapola??? Tell THAT one to Centro after his Rio gold in a pedestrian time of 3:50.00. A reminder: his Rio 1500m win converts (MileSplit) to a 4:08.33 mile...which WOULD HAVE GIVEN CENTRO SECOND PLACE IN THE ADIDAS HIGH SCHOOL BOYS DREAM MILE IN BOSTON SATURDAY EVENING.

Tell THAT to other great time trialers who couldn't do it on the biggest stage, despite their accomplishments against the clock.

Hunter ran a 3:56.72 (a slight PR) and went from 4th to 1st on the final lap. It's "only" a 3:56.72 - yeah, not outrageously supreme compared to the best talent out there, as far as a straight time, but he dominated his race and set a PR.

Look at his main competition's best times - you know, those guys who finished BEHIND Hunter:

Chris O’Hare:

PRs: 3:33.61 1500m (converts to 3:50.63), 3:52.91 mile indoors, 3:53.34 mile outdoors.

Nick Willis:

Double-Olympic 1500m medalist

PRs: 3:29.66 1500m (converts to 3:46.37 mile), 3:49.83 mile

Charles Simotwo:

PR: 3:32.59 1500 (converts to a 3:49.53 mile).

Ranked #8 in the 2017 LRC World Rankings for the 1500. In three Diamond League races in 2017, he finished 2nd, 6th, and 5th. Of the eight men who beat him in DL races, SIX appeared above him in the 2017 LRC World Rankings for the 1500/Mile.

Andy Bayer, US:

PRs: 3:34.47 1500m (converts to a 3: 51.56 mile), 3:52.90 mile

Hunter trounced some immense talent - INCLUDING YOUNG BUCK CHARLES SIMOTWO, whose resume was more impressive than his. Let's just give credit where credit is due - to a young miler who is learning by doing, and so far learning well. Congratulations to Drew Hunter!

Lapped Miler wrote:

Look at his main competition's best times - you know, those guys who finished BEHIND Hunter:

....

Hunter trounced some immense talent - INCLUDING YOUNG BUCK CHARLES SIMOTWO, whose resume was more impressive than his. Let's just give credit where credit is due - to a young miler who is learning by doing, and so far learning well. Congratulations to Drew Hunter!

NO. That's not how it works.

Look at their splits and how they ran tonight.

Simotwo ran closed in 58 off of a 3:01. That's horrible for a top pro. Horrible. Remember, Centro closed a 3:50 indoor miler at Wanamaker in 2016 in 54.02.

If I raced Jim Ryun tonight, I'm real confident I could beat him. A bunch of a high schoolers could easily smoke Leo Manzano right now - Alan Webb as well. Beating someone who has a better PB than you means little if they run horrible.