Closed with 2 27s he looked really good but shocked at how far Ruthe was back from him
Good learning for Ruthe as he's never had to race alongside people and fight for the inside. Definitely burnt too much too early trying to get into a comfortable position - still wouldn't have been remotely close to Hocker though but I'm sure could have finished stronger.
I thought it was a great learning experience for him as well. He's not used to running around people. It took him like 500m to settle in.
That's why I'd strongly consider world indoors. he needs to go a tactical race and just get beat but learn to run in a pack. Although I guess he can wait and get that at Commonwealths. World Jrs won't be nearly as hard as like maybe 1 other guy can touch him.
Ilia Malinin was adamant yesterday that he would have skated a ton better if they'd let him skate at the last Olympics. Get the experience, get beat, life goes on.
3:48 is a fraud. I predicted he wouldn't break 3:50, and he just ran a 3:52 and got smoked.
You clearly didn't watch the race. He a ) Spent a lot of energy in the first 500.
b) More importantly, he ran trying to win. All those guys who meaninglesssly came by him in the last 50 and ran 3:51-2 were in a different race. They weren't trying to run with Hocker. Ruthe clearly was. I loved the dog in him. Mindset of a champion.
In perfect conditions and pacing, he ran 3:48. Today, with more pressure, he tried to run 3:46, wasted some energy and ran 3:52. Ignoring his pb, if you just watched today's race, you'd think he's CLEARLY a sub-3:50 guy.
Closed with 2 27s he looked really good but shocked at how far Ruthe was back from him
Good learning for Ruthe as he's never had to race alongside people and fight for the inside. Definitely burnt too much too early trying to get into a comfortable position - still wouldn't have been remotely close to Hocker though but I'm sure could have finished stronger.
Yeah, it look like ruthe's plan was to sit on cole. Vince and Cooper said nope, and Sam couldn't find space to get in the mix. Felt like he made 3-4 attempts to get up by cole and had to settle back in 5th each time.
Definitely something for him to learn from this one.
3:48 is a fraud. I predicted he wouldn't break 3:50, and he just ran a 3:52 and got smoked.
Hey dude the kid did 3:53 at Cook's Garden on a windy day when the rest of the North Island was cleaning up from a cyclone. Should times at BU be scrapped? Yes. Can the kid run 3:50-3:51, yes!. Why the focus on 3:48.8? Why not Fisher and the Bowerman group's in inflated 5k times?
3:48 is a fraud. I predicted he wouldn't break 3:50, and he just ran a 3:52 and got smoked.
You clearly didn't watch the race. He a ) Spent a lot of energy in the first 500.
b) More importantly, he ran trying to win. All those guys who meaninglesssly came by him in the last 50 and ran 3:51-2 were in a different race. They weren't trying to run with Hocker. Ruthe clearly was. I loved the dog in him. Mindset of a champion.
In perfect conditions and pacing, he ran 3:48. Today, with more pressure, he tried to run 3:46, wasted some energy and ran 3:52. Ignoring his pb, if you just watched today's race, you'd think he's CLEARLY a sub-3:50 guy.
rojo's post is clear and sensible!! Is an assistant making posts while he's out for dinner?
My bad Rojo, I was just trolling. I definitely watched the race, but someone needs to keep these prodigies grounded to take the pressure off. Have we already forgotten how Laros choked in Tokyo?
What so that would make**checks notes** Hocker is magically a 3:42-3 mile guy in February? Teare 3:47? Taking Ruthe's clean ride on the BU track, and extrapolating a much more rocky one here when he runs a few seconds when he wasn't even in lane 1 half the time is hardly a valid take, and doesn't mean the BU track is suddenly that much faster, I am saying 1 second at best
At this point, I think it is safe to say that Hocker is even better than he was in 2024-2025. He's never just dominated like this from the start of the season.
That crowd was amazing! If you want to see something adorable, check out the tiny kid in the red sweater jumping up and down on the high jump mat at 2:40 on the race clock.
And Yared ran a second slower at BU than at Millrose🤷🏼♂️ last year.
Perhaps this new track is better than BU? A lot of people in touch with Hocker at the bell compared to Jakob's 3:45 last year, all similar calibre competitors.
Closed with 2 27s he looked really good but shocked at how far Ruthe was back from him
Cut the kid some slack. He is 16 and sometimes fatigue doesn't hit you right away but at the next race which possibly this is the case. Still a 352 mile for a 16 year old is crazy good