I know a great kid who basically jogged 8:40 minute pace for his first 5km (27:10 or so) and then ran the next race at a more honest effort of 23:00. Then, over the course of the season he eventually broke 20 (barely).
He came back to this year and ran 19:30, 18:30, 17:30 in the first three meets. A year of maturity, training and coaching for a very talented yet undeveloped kid means he basically dropped 10 minutes in 13 months.
love hearing about kids who find their paths
Yes! Me too! Though to be fair, his dad and big brother were/are both great runners. The kid has a super high ceiling once he fully goes through adolescence.
I went from a 29:19 7.5k at U17 to a 33:17 U18. But in addition to not having stamina I really bombed that 7.5k bc I went out stupidly quick (like 5:20ish first mile).
Back then 7.5k was a regular U18 championship distance. Roughly went from ~200th in my country to top 10 the next year.
One guy I know ran like 15:50ish 5k at 16 and was 13th or so at WYC in the steeple 2 years later (8:56) and in his last U20 year 8:46 without pacers (European U20 champ) and 3:44 for 1500. It was insane bc with 17 he was ok and with 18 almost world (youth) class hahaha. Really had great coaching. Unfortunately he ended his career very early to become a doctor. Good times:)
Whats the most improvement you have ever seen in a kid in 1 year I've heard of kids going 5:20 one season next with no training going nearly 4:40 usually that's just growing up but curious to what others have seen
I don't have specific times but I had a kid who was a rolly polly 8th grader smiling as he was at the very back of the pack in invitationals turn into a real runner who contributed to 4 teams making states.
He came the first day of 9th grade much taller and thinner and he said- I decided over the summer that I want to be a good runner so I ran a lot.
This is very similar to a kid on our team this fall. Never going to win any medals or a state meet, but his XC progression is below. Excited to see him break 5:00 this spring considering he was 6:18 freshman year.
This is very similar to a kid on our team this fall. Never going to win any medals or a state meet, but his XC progression is below. Excited to see him break 5:00 this spring considering he was 6:18 freshman year.
24:31 21:52 20:07 17:55
I had a freshman drop three minutes between his freshman and sophomore year.
I feel alot of kids have crazy improvement in Highschool from just growing up if that makes sense its like a switch when I was in 7th grade I ran around 8 8th grade I ran a 5:49 then No training from 8-9th I ran 5:21 most improvement is just getting bigger especially me on the shorter side
When I was in HS... We had a guy who was a swimmer. Came out for cross country as a Senior. Won every single race that year up until State.... where he got second. Immediately went to swimming. Got out of swimming March. Did no running during the swimming season. On six weeks of training at about 25 miles a week and basically only doing races for speedwork... he ended up winning State in the two mile.
Just was telling someone about the fun HS progression of one of the kids on our HS team recently.
5k XC / 3200 / 1600
Frosh - 24:15 / x / 6:18
Soph - 20:40 / 13:00 / 5:45
Jr - 19:30 / 11:30 / 5:09
Sr - 17:35 / 9:55 / 4:37
No offense but that isn’t particularly crazy, nor an extreme one year drop
No offense taken, as it diverged somewhat from the original question, but...
I thought his progression was relevant interesting as he made made fairly large jumps every year throughout high school. He wasn't a kid who just made a jump because he went from not running to running. He even ran in middle school. He just kept at it and made solid progress every year.
He went through 5k of the his first college 8k in ~16:30 too, so continues to progress well.
Just was telling someone about the fun HS progression of one of the kids on our HS team recently.
5k XC / 3200 / 1600
Frosh - 24:15 / x / 6:18
Soph - 20:40 / 13:00 / 5:45
Jr - 19:30 / 11:30 / 5:09
Sr - 17:35 / 9:55 / 4:37
No offense but that isn’t particularly crazy, nor an extreme one year drop
I stand by my comment. I know 2 or 3 guys personally who had very similar drops. I'm not saying it bad but it is by no means crazy. It's just consistent.
24 low to 20 high? Good, not insane
20 high to 19 mid? Good
19 mid to 17 mid? Good, not insane
Don't see what all the fuss is about, it's about the progression of what someone who truly cares and works hard for but has average talent should achieve.