Eric Avila's return is complete!! Goes from 4:07 to 3:56 in front of Jim Ryun and Alan Webb and racuous crowd

I think Avila got caught up in the moment as others have described. He should have waited to express his excitement and been a little more restrained, but it happened. It's not like he pulled a Verzbicas. Remember LV actually stopped running at the end of a xc HS race and walked across the line celebrating?

From my reading of this article, this kid was a top-level washout. Could have done anything and gone anywhere and he pissed it away. Humiliated himself. But he made it all the way back with what I'd imagine was a shit-ton of work, support from family and friends (and coaches), and blue-collar effort in the un-glamorous NAIA system. He does all this then blazes a 3:56(!) in front of the cheering crowd of people that stood by him when he was at his lowest, and King Ryun holding the finishing tape. Give the guy his day for crissake. What he accomplished is improbable, and his accomplishment sounds well earned regardless of the emotion at and before the line. Have some sense to know when to hold your opinions to yourself, and when to have the class to congratulate a guy on a job well done.

So what's next for Avila? Is he going to take another shot at a qualifier? Anyone predicting bigger and better things from him going forward or will this be his peak?

This will be a fun sorry to follow as it s&p develops, but I hope it still has a few more chapters...then we can make a proper assessment.

So Dk, your stance is-

Celebrate before the line = classless

Celebrate after the line = fine

Can you explain why that is please?

Celebrating before the line diminishes and disrespects your competition. The race is not yet done but you're declaring it done. Celebrating after the line acknowledges the win without the former.

What about this guy? He celebrates before the line and oh so obviously impedes second place by putting his arms out...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rjeBrriB0c

What about this guy? He celebrates before the line and oh so obviously impedes second place by putting his arms out...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-urnlaJpOA

I sure do hope we can crack down on these early celebrations and clean up the quality of our sport...the last thing we need is cheering and excitement

I dislike how he did the Alan Webb scream and fairy hop just before the finish line.

TrackCEO wrote:

Bonita Vista HS alum Eric Avila picked the perfect moment for his first sub-4-minute mile — at a Balboa Stadium event marking the 50th anniversary of Jim Ryun's first schoolboy sub-4. He held off A.J. Acosta, 3:56.89 to 3:57.05 in the final race of a chilly night.

http://timesofsandiego.com/sports/2014/06/05/records-set-at-ryun-meet-marking-50-years-since-first-prep-sub-4/

K E N

SMJO wrote:

"Racuous"?

That's not a particularly difficult word to spell.

Rojo changed the title of the thread

you want running to be like football, basketball and baseball? I sure don't

Starve Ovett, Usain Bolt, Jordan McNamara, Sean Jefferson, AJ Acosta, Matt Centrowitz, David Kimani, Derrick Peterson, John walker.

All classless.

"just against celebrating before crossing the line, particularly in a close race"

Why do you give a shit what other people do. Give a shit about what YOU do. Let everyone else do what they want, and if you beat them while they are celebrating early, then so much the better for you.

What Eric Avila did was amazing. He was a 4:14. 9:01 guy in HS. Sure he was the Cal State 2-mile, but the time was not that fast (his kick was impressive, though). He went to NAU, ran poorly, and dropped off the face of the earth. After 3-4 of no running at all he comes back and works his way back the 3:56, 13:42 - times you might not expect even if he'd been running the whole time. That is f*cking impressive. Whether he reaches the next level or not remains to be seen, but running sub 4, in his home town, in front of his friends has got to be pretty exciting.

That said, I don't give a shit about what you think either. Hate on all you want.

This moment of pure joy - breaking 4 minutes for the first time in the Mile - would not have happened for a 1500m equivalent and certainly not for a sub-4 1600 (the horror).

Hats off, Eric. We loved it, and BTW, great cheering section. The Mile matters.

this site absolutely sickens me. the guy LITERALLY just accomplished his life dream OF COURSE HE WAS PUMPED. what the f***? we can't celebrate good things?? I thought the way he celebrated looked like someone who just broke 4 for the first time in his life.. in other words extremely excited and proud. I really love a lot of the coverage on this site, but all this anon BS where COWARDS sit back and pick at peoples lives is grotesque. the mods should absolutely take a good hard look at this thread and THINK about what this is doing to the running community.

It's because most people on here are hateful and jealous of others' successes, like many runners, unfortunately. Yep, it's why our sport sucks.

This is a great story. No other way around it.

waaaaahh..

No one, NO ONE is criticizing this guys achievement or race. NO ONE. They are simply stating the obvious that it was a classless (and fairly stupid) move to celebrate BEFORE the finish line. So your assertion that he "celebrated like someone who just broke 4" is flat out WRONG because he started hooting and jumping up and down before the race was over. He hadn't finished and hadn't broken 4 yet. If you want make the point the was celebrating breaking 3:58 for 1595 meters, I'll listen.

Sure some don't care, some are all happy talk. They probably run color runs in tutus as well.

This whiney post is simply ridiculous in light of the fact that the message board ripped Makhloufi for his pre-finished celebrate.

thank you for this worthless post that simply recapped the story. You have a future in nothing.

The only bonus is that is if Avila is as stand-up as the posters stay on this board, He'll admit his mistake. Especially if he winds up watching USA Nats at home because of his celebration.

derp-derp wrote:

The only bonus is that is if Avila is as stand-up as the posters stay on this board, He'll admit his mistake. Especially if he winds up watching USA Nats at home because of his celebration.

Eric Avila already has made an apology statement via Twitter.

I was told he did not even know what the USA Standard was, he just wanted to break minutes at home.

See! what a baller! I'm a fan now.

(Sorry I don't typically follow NAIA runners on twitter.

damn should've checked twitter before posting. No apology there. I am concerned he might break his arm patting himself on the back (but well deserved)