On the BeerMile podcast Chris Chavez said that in hs he ran 25.1 for the 200m. That means he realistically had 56 second speed or faster for 400m in high school (if true). This result makes me wonder if that was the truth because I can’t see anyone with that natural speed still being a runner and being so slow over the mile
Also, whoever is questioning why he hyped up the mile against a 57 year old... Are you really that thick in the skull? You think the two of them were taking this very seriously?? Of course it was a “no-win situation” you d*psh*t, the only goal was to get people talking or paying ANY attention to the meet, and oh yeah, have fun??? (Ever heard of that?)
Also, if you really think Chavez is too verbose or “brings the talk back to himself”, try listening to ANY other good running podcaster and you’ll find they bring it back to themselves infinitely more than Chavez does. Of course he drops the random “I’m running a mile” every once in a while, he is a RUNNER hosting a podcast on f*ckin RUNNING. And if you think he is too long-winded, lol. These are typical conversation skills that many LRC’ers are probably confused by due to their own lack of general people skills. Also, commentating through multiple 10ks is long.
hoarse wrote:
On the BeerMile podcast Chris Chavez said that in hs he ran 25.1 for the 200m. That means he realistically had 56 second speed or faster for 400m in high school (if true). This result makes me wonder if that was the truth because I can’t see anyone with that natural speed still being a runner and being so slow over the mile
Probably a relay/tailwind time. He clearly carries too much bulk to carry that out to 400m, much less a mile or longer. He might thrive off of a switch (even temporary) to keto.
"On the BeerMile podcast Chris Chavez said that in hs he ran 25.1 for the 200m. That means he realistically had 56 second speed or faster for 400m in high school (if true). This result makes me wonder if that was the truth because I can’t see anyone with that natural speed still being a runner and being so slow over the mile"
As someone who ran 24s in the 200m and 54s in the 400m, my best mile time was 4:58 during the indoor season after my biggest mileage summer/xc season of my life. 5:20 for Chris seems pretty reasonable if he's just hobby jogging all these years post hs
He's posted some decent workouts but they don't quite indicate sub-5. He also raced it like a noob. Hopefully he sticks with it instead of chasing some marathon goal next.
Malcolm Gladwell is a beast on the other hand. He just missed his age group "world lead" (which I recently learned many masters runners pay attention to).
Gladwell ran a 4:20 age graded. I saw some of his workouts on Strava and they were... Not hugely impressive. Like, he did 2x400 in 75 seconds and a few 200s. Just goes to show how far talent and competitive instinct can take you. Chavez, at 27 and training well to only run 5:23 is a disappointment. Legs not feeling good
Chavez is a Mook clown,,, boyyyyy he runs maybe 15 miles a week but only if a photographer is present. His articles are also lacking proper journalistic qualities. I wonder if gladwell and chavez hooked up after
When is Jonathon Gault going to race so we can evaluate his time and performance as a runner?
Damn that's a good mile for an old goat like Gladwell!
Yes, Gladwell is good at something (hint: not writing books). But, yeah, I have nothing snarky to say about that time at that age; that's legit.https://thebaffler.com/latest/narrative-napalm-kulwin
THERE ARE INFINITE KINDS OF IRRESPONSIBLE BOOKS that a well-credentialed media insider can write.
First are the total farces of fact. These include former New York Times chief Jill Abramson’s mangling of basic details about her subjects in her book on new media, or the time that Naomi Wolf, once an adviser to Al Gore, learned on the air in an interview with the BBC that the thesis of her latest book was based on her complete misreading of a nineteenth century legal definition.
A second variety of irresponsible books are those whose primary purpose is to market their authors at the expense of humane and rational thinking and behavior. For example, The Problem From Hell allowed Samantha Power to parlay her journalism into a Beltway policy career as the human face of the American forever war. Hillbilly Elegy’s J.D. Vance is reportedly preparing a run for the Republican nomination for Senate in his home state of Ohio.
And then there are books whose fusion of factual inaccuracy and moral sophistry is so total that they can only be written by Malcolm Gladwell.
Thoughts:
Nice run by Gladwell. I was there and he probably had a few more seconds in him given how he closed.
The digs on Chavez’s weight in here are completely absurd. He looked pretty normal-sized to me. At his age I ran 4:40s at what I think is about the same weight with 3-4 days of running and lifting/basketball otherwise (probably 5’9.5” and 155-160 lbs). Not everyone has to be a stick (and yes I was skinnier when I ran a lot and prepped for a marathon).
I'm fine with all of this. It is weird that this got a lot of attention. I guess that's a good reflection on where our sport is. Chavez is a bit of a self-promoter throwing in a sub-5 mile attempt in between real pro races when there are plenty of people faster but nowhere near the pro level who don't get those opportunities. But you can't deny that Citius is great for the sport.
Chavez is a toolbag but can’t hate a guy for covering the sport. Just stay in your lane Chris, pun intended, and cover the sport. Don’t act like you are training like a pro with dreams of breaking 5.
the macdaddy wrote:
blue man wrote:
Only 10% of fully trained high school runners break 5.
5:23 is fast as hell all things considered.
Most of my 4:20/4:30 college buddies can’t break 7 anymore.
Running is tough!
Agreed.
Humility from Rojo!! I love it! I think it could be your greatest coaching accomplishment, Rojo, if you were able to coach Chavez to a sub 5:00 mile. I doubt he would agree to it, but it would be great fodder for the podcast.
Percent of the world's population that can break 5:00? Miniscule. Way less than 1%. Well, I guess you threw in the whole "if they train their whole life" thing. The problem is that very few people actually care about being in shape to any degree, so we don't really know their actual potential.
Since I've been working as an EMT for the last couple of months, I now value just being able to walk up and down the freaking stairs....never mind running even 1 mile.
rojo wrote:
KTHXBAI wrote:
5:23 probably beats Rojo, who's only 47.
Probaby? I hate to admit this but in one of the lowest admissions of my life, the answer has to be certain.
I watched this race live. When I saw it, I was like, "My god Chris looks horrific. There is no way he breaks 5:00."
It looked so slow to me. I was like, "Surely I have to be able to do that. There is no way I look that bad when I run." I was going to even go to the track today and just set on 85 second pace.
Then I went to the JK conversion chart and looked up what a 5:23 mile is . It was one of the worst discoveries in my life. "My God. No way could i touch that right now. "
So congrats to Chris. I proactively forfeit any matcb race he wants to challenge me to. IT's also motivated me to get in shape.
Admittedly, I've only run twice in a month due to a knee problem but even if that hadn't happened, no chance.
So what have I learned? No way is anyone filming me until I get in shape. Actually it should be I'll never let any one film me while running ever again in my life. Or if I get filmed, only let them film them with me racing someone else of my ability.
On a serious note, I think this is the perfect example of how 99% of letsrun has no idea how talented they are. There are TONS of people who can train their whole life and never break 5:00. What percent of theworld's population could ever train and break 5:00?
Also on a serious note, who coaches Chavez? Did Chis think he was in anything close to 5:00 shape as 5:23 is a LONG Way off.? If his coach thought he was in 5::00 shape, then he needs a new coach. Should I coach him remotely?
Next time you are in St Augustine we will set up a race just for you.
I don't know why people are so hard on Chris Chavez. I'm a 36 y/o female runner, and I really admire him. The guy is a writer for Sport Illustrated, founded his own running website and podcast network, interviews some of the biggest names in running, and he isn't even 30 yet. No, he isn't the fastest runner. But who cares? He puts himself out there and works to improve himself, which is what every runner is doing. I think he's very relatable. There aren't many people who can relate to trying to break 4 in the mile. But there are a lot who can relate to trying to break 5:00. I also LOVE the idea of having average people race each other and placing bets on it. It's a great way to bring more interest to the sport. Next time there's a contentious bill in Congress, let's get the Republicans and Democrats to each form a DMR team, and the winner gets their version of the bill passed.
One thing that is clear from these posts is that Chavez would certainly be way more legit if, rather than actually go run a mile in front of a worldwide audience, he just posted about how he could easily do it on a message board.
Gladwell looked smooth for a 5:15 which at age 57 is pretty damn impressive
taken wrote:
If you think lesser talent is embarrassing, then you really don’t understand what running is about.
What I do understand is , both these keen recreational runners , do not have the athletics genetics for Pro Golf, even if they both started at age 2.
Great and heartfelt post, rojo.
LRC is a great site but sometimes people aren't aware of how talented they are, even at other distances.
Recently, on one of the threads, posters were saying "it's easy" to break 2:40 in the Marathon...one even went to say that "I could do 2:22..."
If they said 3:40, yes.
But not 2:40.