Drew Hunter 3:54 closing in 55!

Hunter will never make a US team and compete at the Olympics or Worlds. Never. His peak performances always come when stakes are lowest. It’s starting to look like a psychological tick.

It was an above average run.

My criticism of the Tinman stuff is it didn't seem to ever develop the speed you need to be in contention at USAs/Worlds. Hopefully closing in 55 is a sign he is doing more speed work so he can contend on the last lap.

As Mo Farah said last week- Mo Farah: "Anyone can run 27 minute....(but you've got to be able) to compete the last 1k in under 2:25."

Closing in 55 is a sign he is headed in that direction. Still needs to work towards 52/53 to really contend.

Thank you for the video!

Sage Hurta can show Drew how to do it.

Really good point.
Closing in 55 is cool and all, but top 5 at USAs closed in 51/52.

While winning national championships in those races?

You look at Tinmans training and there wasn't anything to develop the RAW SPEED needed to develop that.

True, though if you can push the pace fast enough for the first 1100 meters, then 55 will do the trick.

I just watched the Tokyo and Rio 1500 finals and it's a funny ying and yang. Jakob certainly didn't close in ~50 like Centrowitz, but then Jakob finished 22 seconds faster or so.

Anyway, I wish the best for Drew and will be cheering for him. But interesting how, with shoes, etc, he still hasn't come close to Alan Webb's high school time from the early 2000s

Very few programs develop RAW SPEED. Even Bowerman. Even OAC. They rip some fast 600s, 400s, 300s, 200s, 150s but they don’t develop RAW SPEED. That’s done by shorter reps. There is a good thread, titled “5x60m all out” or something of that nature, that discusses into this. How many middle distance and distance programs do stuff like that? Very, very few.

I believe NOP and now UAC do some pure sprint work. Have heard of Brazier doing a running start sub 10 100m

I find this focus on "raw speed" a bit peculiar. He can finish in 50 if he wants, but as long as the final time says 3.35.90, who cares? You can finish in 60, as long as the final time is 3:28.32, you are an olympic champ. This is a hyperbole, but as long as the final is won in sub 3.30 it doesn't matter how Drew Hunter can finish his 3.35 race.

To some extent, nobody cares about raw speed of distance runners. Dropping .2ths off your flying 50s doesn't mean much. But a lot of programs don't touch 400/800m speed much either. Maybe a couple 150s but that is about it.

Now to some extent it makes sense. Drew isn't closing 3s faster in 3:55mile by working on his speed. He his closing 3s faster by becoming a 3:52 miler instead of a 3:55 one . That is coming from more aerobic capacity and efficiency than from sprint speed. And this is doubly true in the 5000m. Become a 13:00min runner like the other top guys and we can start comparing kicks...

I have always thought people have been too rough on Hunter. He was a super prep and got an unbelievable deal out of HS. Money that rarely comes along for any pro , let alone a HS'er. If folks could really observe talent, they would know that his form was always rough. But he was signed and for huge money anyway. Tons of the same critics would say Kessler back slid, when he just ran 3 more of the top U20 times of all time this year.And now owns 4 of the top 7 ever run U20 of all time. Yet guys like one would say he struggled. I think he will be more than fine, and said, and was bashed on here even though that 3:34.x, mark was a clear one off at 18, he had nothing surrounding that looked like that . Webb took two years to even improve. Hunter has run 3:35, 7:40 which used to be really good, and 13:17 , same thing , used to be very good. A win is a win, and for those using 51-52 closing speed as some indicator , that race was a 3:40's race, . he went by in what must have been 2:59.x? A lot of guys can close hard off that. Good for him to win any race, but his 3:35.x is much better, and younger. I think guys today are catching a pretty tough window to win anything, even in the U.S. I do not think he is even a flop, Hunter, that is, there is no guarantee, he would ever get that much better, has happened to tons and tons of guys.This race for him is a step in right direction , not a wrong one.

Now, to also be fair, Hunter has been in the game a while now, but , I think because so many have done so much lately he gets a ton of criticism. But , I think there are lots of "wunderkinds" that will struggle to do amazing stuff, before they hey consistently really really good. I would be surprised if Gary Martin who I like, or a Sahlman, will just drop automatically, like many think.

I think many are frustrated that Drew has a lot of potential but he made the absolute worst decisions in his pro life.

It's debatable if he should have even gone pro. A lot of people will say that was his worst decision, personally I don't blame him for taking the money. I do blame him for picking tinman as his pro coach. The way he ended things with tinman was even worse.

The most frustrating thing was that he pick his mommy to be his coach. He could have gotten any coach in the world. He's more concerned about looking cool than he is with running fast.

Tell that to Grant Fisher, a 12:53/26:33 guy that lost the U.S. 10,000m champs to an athlete with a 10,000m PB 50s slower than his because he let it come down to a kick.

You do realize how SLOW USA's went out, right?! Oranges to Apples.

If having your mom coach you and your minimum wage friends is cool then Drew Hunter is Miles Davis

This. Nothing about his appearance, form or stride scream elite professional. Sloppy looking athlete, who does not carry himself as a professional. Good luck to him though.

I just don't like Tinman Elite or Drew Hunter, so no matter what they do/he does, I'll post negatively on Letsrun.com. Let me pick on Drew Hunter for his form, his mustache, his mom as his coach, the fact that he owns his house in expensive Boulder instead of slaving away for the University of Oregon, his less-than-elite teammates, and, what the heck, the color of the undersides of his shoes.

Not really! I wish him and the team well.

And as for his form, Sifan Hassan hardly runs with ideal form, yet look what she's accomplished! There are more than a handful of elite runners who aren't pretty runners, yet their resumes are impressive. Form is only a part of the overall equation that makes a runner succeed. Most of those who post about Drew's form are probably wannabes who wish their perfect form when running would bring them Drew Hunter results.

Certainly his 3:54.80 isn't fast enough to earn him a world ranking, but everything is relative (and we're not talking mother-as-coach relative), and the guy WON and SET A PR and REBOUNDED FROM ADVERSITY. Give him a pat on the back. He isn't a world-beater at this point, but who among us wouldn't feel proud to have run 3:54.80 after what he's been through? Even WITHOUT what he's been through?

By the way, I suspect a health issue, like COVID or a return of Lyme Disease (which is said to go dormant with treatment, but which sometimes reemerges). Credit him with not blaming tough times on health.