Fan Out West[] wrote:
Try this perspective:
Jakob's 7:54.10/2-mile WR averages 3:57/mile.
This is where the guessing starts.
Believe no one currently alive could run back-to-back-to-back 4-flat miles for a 12:00/3-mile.
However, could Jakob or someone else -- at peak fitness -- average 4:02/mile to split 12:06 at the 3-mile mark?
Then, adding another 26 seconds for the remaining 172 meters (60 sec/400 pace), run 12:32 for 5000?
These simple calculations put Cheptegei's 12:35 in perspective; he effectively averaged 4:03/mile.
If you think someone running today could break 12:30, then you believe that someone can run 3 consecutive miles in 4:01 each.
For my money, we first need to see the 2-mile WR get down to 7:50, or the 3000 WR drop to 7:15, for that to happen.
It is wrong to make his 2 miles WB the starting point since the 3000m relatively is much better:
7:17 mid equals a 7:51 mid in the 2 miles. 7:15 in the 3000m equals a sub 7:49 in the 2 miles.