Training For a Sub 4 Mile -- Jacob Burcham

"Burcham has always come off as a big p*ssy to me, and this only confirms it. Remember when he pussed out at NXN? After his "documentary," I don't think I'll ever be able to root for this kid."

-I have $100 that says you wouldn't walk up to him and call him a pu$$y to his face.

Isn't he in the MTV show "Buckwild"? Seems like he would fit right in there.

Good video.

Trialswatcher wrote:

who looks older Burcham or Cheserek?

Cheserek looks a good 3 years older.

Some of you are being a bit harsh on an 17-18 year old kid. Some of these comments are completely unwarranted and it reminds me of all the abuse Verzbicas took for being...what?...really good at something?

So many haters. Quit tearing him down.

That being said - what an immense talent. Baffling that he isn't at least a 1:52 800m guy with that type of speed/strength. He doesn't come off as arrogant either.

montoya>burcham

There is really no comparison. Bernie's 800 PR is 1:52.4, run at Arizona state champs AFTER he had already run other (longer races). I think if he's fresh he could go 1:50.xx. Jacob, at least speed-wise, is getting close to maxed out. I think sub 4 is possible for both of them.

in the video the coach said WV has never seen anyone that good before. Pretty sure Chris Fox went to high school in WV. is there any other guys that were from state of WV.

So the kid loves football, crappy beards, and driving recklessly, that's fine...just as long as he doesn't get in the way of people who actually have a passion for this sport.

Awesome video. Too bad he can't run at his state's flagship university - good going, WV.

The Landscape is Changing wrote:

Some of you are being a bit harsh on an 17-18 year old kid. Some of these comments are completely unwarranted and it reminds me of all the abuse Verzbicas took for being...what?...really good at something?

So many haters. Quit tearing him down.

Harsh? By his own admission, he's only running because he's good at it. And he doesn't enjoy it. He folds when the going gets tough and he always will as long as he has no passion.

Cares only about material possessions. Tool.

Unable to man up when it counts. P*ssy.

Feel free to disagree. Giving him a scholarship will be 100x's worse than importing a talented Kenyan.

He has heat will when racing. He has talent but others look like they have more ability.

I hope he is great but I am not sure he gets to the highest level in college.

That coach was the man. Anyone know his story?

I enjoyed this little clip.

I doubt he is just using it as he says. Up until half way through my senior year in HS i said the same thing but its something you say, not something you believe. Especially if running chooses you and not the other way around. You like to think you have a choice, but you can already see he knows where his talents lie. Once you start losing you become obsessed with winning, and he'll struggle in practice at oklahoma if hes trying to run with the best guys over 8-10K training.

I bet he goes 358 or 357 for a full mile. It seems about right, his dad has it. I can't believe how some people are already hating on the kid, at least he is what he is and not a toolboy for nike running as a professional in high school and then paying his way back into the NCAA.

Good luck kid. slow down on the curves tho.

fsdfasdflkj wrote:

Harsh? By his own admission, he's only running because he's good at it. And he doesn't enjoy it. He folds when the going gets tough and he always will as long as he has no passion.

Cares only about material possessions. Tool.

Unable to man up when it counts. P*ssy.

Feel free to disagree. Giving him a scholarship will be 100x's worse than importing a talented Kenyan.

Amen, sir.

Even if he did well in college and wanted to pursue a professional career. Why would Nike, or otherwise, take him on?

Part of being a professional athlete is your positive, wholesome, image. That brings the real value to the company, not just your times on the track.

But why are we even debating. The guy has poor bio mechanics and, I don't believe, has not had to recover from any serious injury. Let's see him make it through this season injury free. Soon the running gods will teach him the most valuable lesson. You will hurt, it will start getting hard, _are you able to keep it up_.

Tough race for Burcham at Brooks. Was kind of all over the place strategically, caught between sticking to a plan and responding to others, maybe never committing to either.

It would be awesome if he ducked under 4:00.00 wearing that bowhunting leafy getup.

I applaud him for understanding the importance of a good college education. I hope he uses the opportunity to get prepared for a great career.

He did say a few dumb things in the video, but he is only a high school senior and hasn't really been out in the real world yet.

I agree that he does not have good biomechanics, but there is nothing he can do about that. Hopefully he has a good experience running at Oklahoma.

This supposed lack of interest could be a blessing. You don't run 4:02 as a junior in high school without a lot of hard work. So his attitude isn't bad enough that he is completely throwing away his talent. Meanwhile bow hunting and dreaming of playing college football gives him some balance and possibly keeps him from trying to do too much too soon in running. He'll head off to college still having a lot of potential for improvement and still open to his new (and hopefully better) coach's ideas.

Sure, it is a little off putting to give a scholarship at a top D1 school to a guy who says he is not interested, but I think his attitude could easily change. College football is big in WV and college running is not. Meanwhile he easily beats anyone from his state and most people from outside his state. Put him in a situation where running is more respected, where he is part of a team of hardworking guys that are as fast as he is, where he has to work hard to win even smaller meets, and suddenly it may hold his interest more.

And to the poster who said companies are looking for wholesome guys to endorse their products: you're way off. Guys like Kobe and Iverson sell way more merchandise than David Robinson.

fsdfasdflkj wrote:

Harsh? By his own admission, he's only running because he's good at it. And he doesn't enjoy it. He folds when the going gets tough and he always will as long as he has no passion.

Cares only about material possessions. Tool.

Unable to man up when it counts. P*ssy.

Feel free to disagree. Giving him a scholarship will be 100x's worse than importing a talented Kenyan.

This describes 90% of NBA and NFL players. And most accountants, lawyers or *insert random job*.

All about the money for most people. They don't even particularly care about winning or doing a good job as long as they're getting paid.

They're best performances are inspired by money not passion.

C.R.E.A.M