It's an impressive time regardless of the pacing situation. Seeing him back at this level after all the injuries he's dealt with over the years is great for the sport. Hopefully he stays healthy for the outdoor season.
Solid result. Ultimately this 2-mile might be his best ever chance to hit a fast 3K-5K
He is USATF champion over 2 miles! Everyone forgets about that one.
Won it from the "B" Heat too if I remember correctly! I think he had some pacing help then as well but reminds me of this solo 3k. Cool stuff regardless!
Hunter is a solid athlete, trying to break through and isn't giving up. More power to him! I think it is admirable and I hope he keeps chipping away. Results may or may not get him to a world class level but he's certainly trying and I think that's all an elite athlete in his situation can do!
I see no reason for anyone to hate on a SOLO 3k in KANSAS where he runs a LIFETIME personal best in JANUARY.
Further, Nico and Blanks likely split very close to that or even faster in their 5k PRs.
30.6 per 200 is 7:39, which is also 12:45. That's Nico's PR and Blanks is at 12:48.
So congrats Drew, you can keep up with those guys for 60% of their 5k PR!
It blows my mind that this gets downvoted.
7:39 is 2:33 per k which is 12:45.
Factually, Drew's 3k PR is slower than a pace that Nico can hold for 5k.
So why are people celebrating this for Drew?
Because he did it at a random college meet solo in Kansas in early January, not at a freaking Diamond League in June. Context matters dude. Is Drew going to be Nico Young? No. But he's had an interesting 2nd act to his career for hardcore US distance running fans to follow.
Count him out at your own peril. I expect him to put up another solid performance at Millrose. This guy has kids and has been able to elevate himself recently after years of plateau, despite actually having a real life unlike most infantilized "all-in" types like Kerr who can't cook his own meals or post on his own socials.
It's a PR by less than a tenth of a second in a 3k after 7 years and now he is wearing super shoes.
By every measure, this is a less impressive performance than his 7:39 from 2019 at a much younger age.
Yes, it is probably a less impressive run than his previous pb. If I had to guess, as a person who has never been a pro runner, I would say he probably did not prioritize a meet at Kansas State without competition when he has the world-class millrose 3k soon.
Probably this was just a very hard effort to test and prime himself for a race in a few weeks. I'll trust the training plan of a veteran pro who has timed his last two seasons pretty perfectly (trials and usas). If he's happy with 7:39 now, it means he thinks it's a good sign for millrose.
I don't think he'll win millrose but I'd bet he'll show he belongs in the field. Strange to hate on this result.
Yes, it is probably a less impressive run than his previous pb. If I had to guess, as a person who has never been a pro runner, I would say he probably did not prioritize a meet at Kansas State without competition when he has the world-class millrose 3k soon.
Probably this was just a very hard effort to test and prime himself for a race in a few weeks. I'll trust the training plan of a veteran pro who has timed his last two seasons pretty perfectly (trials and usas). If he's happy with 7:39 now, it means he thinks it's a good sign for millrose.
I don't think he'll win millrose but I'd bet he'll show he belongs in the field. Strange to hate on this result.
Nobody is hating on the result. It's just stupid to celebrate this as something great. It's not great.
Clearly Drew and the tinmom guys are posting in this thread.
I wish so badly that he ran in the NCAA. He would not get nearly the hate and would have developed better there. Not to mention he would have won some hardware. It’s like if Tuohy went straight to the pros.
In all fairness we should point out that initially post HS Drew Hunter had a solid, linear development curve. From 2016-2019 he gradually improved over his main event of 1500/mile and found success moving up in distance. Won the indoor 2 mile at USAs (wacky but counts) then hit the WC time standard and qualified for the worlds team in '19 but bowed out with injury issues. Then his injuries compounded after that and covid hit. Has been working to stay healthy and stack the necessary volume to stay competitive, but that's been a struggle somewhat. But when healthy he's clearly still talented; see 10,000m Olympic trials final in '24. It's fair to say he didn't go light the world on fire in the way we want all HS stars to do, but he has had a good career thus far and has overcome a lot of setbacks.
Again, I'm gonna trust the athlete and coach who have some recent (relative) success at big stages. If they think it's worth celebrating as a fitness check and confidence booster before a big race, then I think it's fair to not bash them for that.
They know what the big goal of the next month is (not k-state). If they think this went well, then so what? Everybody finds out in NYC anyway
Again, I'm gonna trust the athlete and coach who have some recent (relative) success at big stages. If they think it's worth celebrating as a fitness check and confidence booster before a big race, then I think it's fair to not bash them for that.
They know what the big goal of the next month is (not k-state). If they think this went well, then so what? Everybody finds out in NYC anyway
I don't think they are even celebrating it, Drew didn't even post about it on his instagram.
Personally I am disappointed Drew didn't try to make the World Cross Country team. That would have been more meaningful than this race.
That's a quality time in January, especially in a low key race. Unfortunately, Drew is too far behind the current U.S. 5000m/10,000m leaders. I've said it a hundred times, Drew missed the boat while di^king around with Tinman TC. If he only joined a legit TC with quality runners the dude could've been a true stud. I do admire how he keeps grinding away and flashing decent times.
I wish so badly that he ran in the NCAA. He would not get nearly the hate and would have developed better there. Not to mention he would have won some hardware. It’s like if Tuohy went straight to the pros.
In all fairness we should point out that initially post HS Drew Hunter had a solid, linear development curve. From 2016-2019 he gradually improved over his main event of 1500/mile and found success moving up in distance. Won the indoor 2 mile at USAs (wacky but counts) then hit the WC time standard and qualified for the worlds team in '19 but bowed out with injury issues. Then his injuries compounded after that and covid hit. Has been working to stay healthy and stack the necessary volume to stay competitive, but that's been a struggle somewhat. But when healthy he's clearly still talented; see 10,000m Olympic trials final in '24. It's fair to say he didn't go light the world on fire in the way we want all HS stars to do, but he has had a good career thus far and has overcome a lot of setbacks.
Yeah he’s run 3:33/13:08 and the only guys that beat him at USA’s last year in the 5k were the world champion, a 12:44 guy, and a 12:45 guy. That’s not bad
Again, I'm gonna trust the athlete and coach who have some recent (relative) success at big stages. If they think it's worth celebrating as a fitness check and confidence booster before a big race, then I think it's fair to not bash them for that.
They know what the big goal of the next month is (not k-state). If they think this went well, then so what? Everybody finds out in NYC anyway
I don't think they are even celebrating it, Drew didn't even post about it on his instagram.
Personally I am disappointed Drew didn't try to make the World Cross Country team. That would have been more meaningful than this race.
He did try to make the world cross country team. He finished 16th
It's a PR by less than a tenth of a second in a 3k after 7 years and now he is wearing super shoes.
By every measure, this is a less impressive performance than his 7:39 from 2019 at a much younger age.
I get that this small PB is likely not indicative of his current shape. I understand that he’s struggled for the last several years with injury and is now finally healthy. It’s crazy that with more mileage and double threshold, his PBs are only marginally better than when he was coached by Tinman, especially when you account for super shoes, bicarb, etc. This is not a knock at Drew. I always considered Tinman to be a mediocre coach and Drew to just be insanely talented. But maybe Tinman was a better coach than I give him credit for.
In all fairness we should point out that initially post HS Drew Hunter had a solid, linear development curve. From 2016-2019 he gradually improved over his main event of 1500/mile and found success moving up in distance. Won the indoor 2 mile at USAs (wacky but counts) then hit the WC time standard and qualified for the worlds team in '19 but bowed out with injury issues. Then his injuries compounded after that and covid hit. Has been working to stay healthy and stack the necessary volume to stay competitive, but that's been a struggle somewhat. But when healthy he's clearly still talented; see 10,000m Olympic trials final in '24. It's fair to say he didn't go light the world on fire in the way we want all HS stars to do, but he has had a good career thus far and has overcome a lot of setbacks.
Yeah he’s run 3:33/13:08 and the only guys that beat him at USA’s last year in the 5k were the world champion, a 12:44 guy, and a 12:45 guy. That’s not bad
Except he didn't have the world standard and wasn't close to the world standard.
Except he didn't have the world standard and wasn't close to the world standard.
The point is in a championship race at USAs the guy competes well with sub-13 and sub-27 men (or faster). To say he hasn’t gotten better because of PBs only is silly to me. It’s mostly lack of opportunity, Drew is quite good and his improvement is a nice story. This year has a lot of teams including a road 5K spot, which I think would be a real opportunity for him to rep Team USA.