PARKER VALBY FIRST COLLEGIATE EVER UNDER 15!!! 14:56.11

Hmmm. I'm not so sure about that.

I think at this point it's too close to call as to who has the higher ceiling.

Valby herself said that people are seriously underestimating how much work she does. But if she can only handle 3 running days a week I don't think she will crosstrain her way much beyond what we see already. She is able to stay near peak for a longer time and does not seem to wear out. But lets see what happens down the road away from the BU superdelux.

If she was she would be running 14:30s. So no.

Did anyone listen to Valby's interview just now? She acts like she does not know anything about running and everything is a surprise to her. She said she did just 2 workouts since nationals. Incredible engine and talent.

Valby will take a minute off that time by the Olympics. Lock for a medal. That was just a Tempo run.

I will get downvoted for this but I feel like it is an act and comes across as fake. She downplays her effort in every interview and it is very annoying.

It’s nuanced. Your ceiling is restricted by how much you can run. Look at Monson vs Eilish McColgan let’s say. The former keeps upping her mileage and getting better and better. The latter has had more success early on with lower mileage but is struggling to get to the next level or handle marathon training.

She just listens to her coaches; we aren’t sure whether she can compute splits on the fly, yet. No prob.

Wasn't Muir enrolled in college- University of Glasgow, when she ran 14:48? I guess she didn't compete for the track team.

You got to remember, after Parker Valby broke her foot, she came out and ran 15:20 from just pool running. So she said that in the post-race interviews, indicative of her being as shocked about it as everyone else. But then people came on her and said “no way”, “she’s making that up”, etc. etc.

No, Valby was just sick. She didn't want to tell anyone. Didn't anyone else see her vomit at the 3K mark? 14:56 when sick is simply amazing.

My point was that I think she very well could have bern conveying genuine surprise, whereas, a few here interpreted it as her being deceitful.

If she climbs up on the ARC trainer and fully extends...she can just scrape that ceiling.

As a Tuohy AND Valby fan, I find it disappointing how many people think the success of one negates the success of the other. Last year, Tuohy was on fire during indoors while Valby was injured. This year, Valby is on a winning streak and Tuohy is (likely) taking a break. It's part of what makes this sport exciting. Personally, I'll celebrate exciting talent, broken records, and solid races however they come along.

Jeez, they are both phenomenal athletes with high ceilings. Touhy's had a great streak of races for a while there, but is having a dip right now due to some unfortunately timed illness and perhaps being a bit tired and worn down. It seemed this year things, didn't come together to put together the sub-15 although from her 3K performance and XC performance she was likely in shape for it at various points.

Valby struggled with injury during indoors and at various other points such as the year before when she broke her foot. She is having a phenomenal year and everything clicked at outdoors, XC, and now.

They are both great athletes, one season one will be up when the other is down and vice versa.

Valby may have a higher ceiling on less conventional running training, but Touhy seems to be durable and able to handle consistent, high training loads for a prolonged period of time, which is necessary as a pro to realize your potential. Who ends up being the better pro is ultimately unknowable, but I anticipate we will see those two making teams well into the future.

In my experience most of the time women who can't seem to run high mileage without injury and need to cross train that much to stay healthy usually need to adjust their fuelling because they are underfuelling whether it is due to disordered eating or inadvertantly not realizing how much they need to eat to support high level training. This tends to be especially the case with bone injuries (like breaking your foot repeatedly as Valby has). If she can make some adjustments to that side, who knows where her ceiling is.

I have thought this too. She is very likeable, but the "I don't know what I'm doing" bit doesn't seem as genuine as it once did. She is a great runner who works hard. She should own it and not feel compelled to play the dumb blonde.