Edward Cheserek runs 3:49.44 mile at BU

"How does implicit racial bias affect the way we think about race?

(Shutterstock)

Implicit bias comes from the messages, attitudes, and stereotypes we pick up from the world we live in, and research over time and from different countries shows that it tends to line up with general social hierarchies.

Studies have shown that people have implicit biases that favor Germans over Turks (in Germany), Japanese over Koreans (in Japan), men over women (when it comes to career-related stereotypes), youth over elderly, and straight people over gay people.

So it's no surprise race is a prime area for implicit bias, and if you live in America, you can probably make an educated guess about some of the ways it tends to play out: among other things, there's a widespread preference for light-skinned over dark-skinned and white over black."

I agree. So what's next ? Do we start breaking records with a motorized pacer and no obstacles on the track?

BU price scam wrote:

Yes, i'm going to gripe about it. Its a college track meet. no one cares about professional running, let alone college running. I didn't even pay for a seat. I had to stand next to college kids who poked their phones in my face to take snapchats of cheserek.

You paid $10 Total! That included parking, gas money and getting to see the 2nd fastest mile ever run indoors. The cheapest Bruin ticket for the Sabre game this weekend is $138.00 And the cheapest Celtic ticket is going for $285! For a single! And no one (until now) is more frugal than me. You should email me and see if we’re related.

DavidAndersen wrote:

Hi - I run a running website and I'm going to hype the hell out of this sub 3:50 on the main page but then downplay the hell out of it on my 'world famous'(*) message board and gripe about Western bias.

* famous for extreme levels of bullshit, even for the internet.

I like this.

At first, my thoughts on this performance were that even though 3:49 is incredibly impressive, I am not convinced that the performance puts Chez in the conversation with the best milers in the world. Some in the thread are using the argument that people were in hysterics over Rupp's 3:50 an this was faster. But keep in mind, when Rupp ran 3:50 on the same track, no one was saying that Rupp was one of the best milers in the world. It was an amazing performance for a 10k guy. Even though this is the #2 mark of all time indoors, I think about indoor world records the way I look at swimming world records. They are getting faster as much because of technology as they are because of athletic evolution. So I'm not sure what a 3:49 time trial on a notoriously fast track really means when it comes to Cheserek's status on the world scene. So that's the downer side of my evaluation.

Then I started to think about how Chez has won races in the past against college competition and I remember that the man has gears. He can get to the last lap and throw down some monster finishes. Against elite competition, in the past, he hasn't been strong enough to get into the critical zone of a race and still have those gears, but if he's running 3:50 in the mile as a solo effort (pacers or not), it means that he's gotten stronger. It is a sign that he can get to the last part of the race more within himself and he can use those finishing weapons against the big boys. That's where this race is exciting. Not for what it was or even for its place in history, but for what it might mean for him in upcoming races.

Now I don't know what his training looks like or if he's going to get to big meets with anything left in the tank. Some are suggesting that he is reaching his peak now and maybe he is. But if he's not, and he has somewhere to go to get even stronger this year, or even if he can just sharpen up, we may see Chez able to mix it up against top competition, which would be exciting. I'm sure that he's excited about what he just did, and he should be. I'm now looking forward to see what happens next.

Nice comeback the next night at New Balance, sub 740!

Deanouk wrote:

I don’t believe there would be a difference of any more than 0.5sec had he run that same race with the same splits on an outdoor 400 track in good conditions yesterday.

Welp, that settles it! An anon msg board poster "doesn't believe" something, so screw the reems of data contradicting him!

The Angel of Death wrote:

Rojo -

Do you really think downplaying the #2 time ever run in the MILE, the distance that casual fans or non-track fans care about, is good for the sport?

Better question. What reason do you have to think Rojo cares what's good for the sport? If he did, this whole site would either be far different or cease to exist.

RoJo surfaces an interesting idea. When the mile is run outdoors, should they start where the 1500 traditionally does? Would the extra time for positioning lead to faster times?

Wheels regardless!!! I hope he sticks to the mile and develops his speed rather than fans out to the 5000 or 10,000 as so many do. He is young yet.

Coached Fitness Blogger wrote:

Better question. What reason do you have to think Rojo cares what's good for the sport?

Because he, Wejo, and Gault are ALWAYS belly aching hot takes regarding "whats good for the sport." See: University of Portland posts this past cross country season.

Coached Fitness Blogger wrote:

If he did, this whole site would either be far different or cease to exist.

WOW. This is an EXCELLENT point. I seriously think you may be onto something here. Touche!

Make Cheserek a U.S. citizen already. He should compete in the Olympics and IAAF for the U.S. and be the American Mo Farah.

Instead he's now stuck in limbo running races like this.

The U.S. is losing out on so much athletic talent due to dumb bureaucratic hassles like this.

Congrats.

Three-forty nine indoors is an exclusive mantle.

the gentleman wrote:

Hmmmmmmm..... wrote:

Am I the only that senses some veiled racism from the way Rojo talks about Cheserek?

Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s ceetainlt what it seems like.

"This" as the internet would say. Wheating got a front page for retiring when the last seven years of his career has been, by his own admission, not up to par, but the day after Cheserek/Kipchoge/Who-Knows-Who-Else runs really staggering times, they have their accomplishments minimalized?

Gonna have to second your "this." I can't imagine having (probably) unconscious racism/racial bias and being in love with a sport dominated almost completely by another race, but it really must evoke a very visceral sense of self-esteem and some deep psychological wounds. But I guess so many sports fans are like that with so many different sports.