Ncaa mile record on watch at BU

This progression is bonkers

From #16 (tied) last year in NCAA indoor ranking 3:54.62 (Feb 9/24) to #3 in the world (all time)

…in less than 1 year

Goodness what a run

LR users dont know the difference between addition and subtraction.

It’s almost unbelievable. In one year he went from a good college runner to one of the best in the history of the mile? How are the burritos in Raleigh?

Let’s give him credit his SBs for the miles in 2023 and 2024 came in wins over strong fields not at BU.

2023 beats Marco Arop, Wolfe et al (Vandy 300m track)

2024 beats Martin and Musau (NB standard banked track)

Chapel Hill, not Raleigh.

And wow - shocker, people can improve at different rates! This kid has always been talented. Closed a 7:46 3k in 25 2 years ago, and 5 years ago ran an indoor 3200 in 9:00 closing in 27

I think Johnny G/Kejelcha are the only guys with BU mile PBs that weren’t replicated outdoors. And Kejelcha ran close-ish (1.4 not 4-5s) at Millrose on the old Armory surface. If you can dig up more names maybe you have a case, but it is thin. Old standbys like Prakel/Atkin no longer work.

we as the running community really need a word for "subtraction in the opposite direction", or subtracting a negative number. it would really add to these conversations.

Good call, thought Strand was capable of this too and am a fan of both, but remember Hobbs is younger and hasn't ran a mile yet this year :)

Yeah, just like Katir right!?

He ran 4:11 for a full mile as a soph in HS before supershoes, he's always been super talented. I wanna say 4:07 mile senior year. He broke 4 as a freshman in college, I think ran 3:55 as a soph, 3:35 (~3:52 mile equiv) as a junior, and now 3:48. Pretty consistently a few seconds off every year. I also distinctly remember him being like half a lap ahead of the field at my first track meet in 8th grade. Plus his dad was a good runner in his own right (and I think owns a running store or something), so he's got the genes to run well.

Around when on that constant progression over the last 6 years (junior year was covid year) do you propose he started doping?

Thanks :)

Hobbs is only a few months younger, they both graduated in 2021. Hobbs is definitely more talented though, he ran 3:35 (off like 2 years running) when Strand was running like 4:07. I'm still not backing down on my Hobbs winning Gold in 2028 prediction, but if Strand is the one to make me wrong, I couldn't be happier.

I never saw 3:48.32 coming. Strand is a far better miler than I ever imagined. I still think he's probably best suited at 3k, but he's proven his greatness at the shorter distance.

Not a guy you would want to face at a mile, 3000m or even 1500 and 5000m. In fact, Strand would pose a big threat to Fisher and Teare at 5000m. He could sit back on the rail, do no work, and try to rip the last 300m.

Very impressed with Strand. Was hoping for a little better from Sahlman, but still not a bad result.

For Sahlman he was very committed to fending off Strand surges and keeping an aggressive position. Hindsight’s 20-20 but letting Strand go ahead might’ve conceded that battle but led to a 3:51high/3:52low. It was good racing instincts though and important for a non-time trial skill so I’d say it’s totally fine. He’ll be fitter in the future, but today he was working to fend off Strand at a hard pace.

Sahlman used a lot of energy making multiple surges to stop Strand from passing. when Strand finally did pass Sahlman had nothing left. i think if Sahlman lets Strand pass the first time he made a surge he could have stayed attached and run sub 3:50.

last year when Sahlman won he seemed to not care about anything or anyone except his own game plan. had a monster final lap. this year I think he had Strand on his mind too much and it cost him. oh well, I forget how young he is and these types of races will only help.

King, I commend you for admitting you were wrong. Strand just crushed that. Goes to show that last pre-race interviews from coach or athlete never mean anything in this sport. We're definitely in another era. Athletes are confident that they can run incredible times and the shoes help make it so. But everyone else has the shoes and the tracks and nonetheless he crushed the college record by two seconds! And this after crushing the 3k CR by six! The clincher for me was that he had improved remarkably in xc, finishing eighth in a great field. Sahlman, who was in the 60s at NCAA xc this year, hadn't done anything over-distance and his under-distance races were not much beyond what he'd done before, so I think he is still a bit away from a real mile breakthrough.

If Sahlman spent energy fighting off Strand, and that cost him time, the same is true of Strand, who himself said that he wasted energy trying to get past Sahlman multiple times that could have been better spent on one surge. So, Strand thinks he has a bit more in the tank despite that breakthrough. But after the race, as we hear in his interview, Farken wisely, I think, told him to be careful about going after another huge pr next week and to prioritize the bigger championship races down the road.

'nuff said.