Actually, by ranked I meant how many other people have broken 4:00 over the age of 30. Will she be one of the first 50 to do it?
How many of those people ran their 4:00s as part of a Nike project? It’s not apples to apples and if she runs 3:59, she still won’t be a 4:00 miler. Is Mike Boit a sub-3:30 miler?
One thing I haven't seen anyone mention is that you can race 5-6 miles over a month or two and have them all be really great efforts.
This isn't like a marathon where you gotta recover for weeks after. She'll run 4:05 for the first one, troubleshoot what went wrong, then try again the next week with a slightly different pacing strategy, then do 10 days of 3k/5k training is coach thinks she didn't have the endurance, then try 3 more times.
A big flaw in the marketing aspect of this is that if she does do something crazy like 4:02 (or even faster) it will probably be on the 4th or 5th try, and all the casual fans will have already lost interest.
Another thing to consider is that Nike has a small window of opportunity for this to have a chance at working. Once Faith is past her prime, who knows when the next woman with a shot at this will come around.
Nike knowingly has scores of drug fueled Africans on tap. They’ll be promoting another fraud in short order.
One thing I haven't seen anyone mention is that you can race 5-6 miles over a month or two and have them all be really great efforts.
This isn't like a marathon where you gotta recover for weeks after. She'll run 4:05 for the first one, troubleshoot what went wrong, then try again the next week with a slightly different pacing strategy, then do 10 days of 3k/5k training is coach thinks she didn't have the endurance, then try 3 more times.
A big flaw in the marketing aspect of this is that if she does do something crazy like 4:02 (or even faster) it will probably be on the 4th or 5th try, and all the casual fans will have already lost interest.
One attempt is plenty. I would much prefer to see her run DLs.
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
As a 60+ year old citizen of the United States, with a PR of 4:30 in the mile, the mile means something to me and hence so does a sub-4 minute mile. I only think about km when watching the Tour de France.
I'm curious what non-North Americans (and non-Commonwealth) think.
It seems like a stretch but I will say running with company makes a big difference.
I ran in the low 3:40s some fifteen years ago (would struggle to run 5:40 now) but I wasn't able to break 3:50 in any of the meets where I was all out front by myself.
Now, some of this was probably due to the fact that those meets were earlier in the season, but I suspect company for the full race will make a big difference.
That said, all the sub four guys I knew were either sub-14 5k guys or ~1:50 800 guys.
People. Josh Hoey is a world-beater, we have a woman who ran under 2:10 in a marathon, SML keeps obliterating her records, high school teams have multiple sub-4 boys. Doping is here- You know it, I know it, WADA definitely knows it
I don't care if Lance Armstrong is her personal pharmaceutical coach and is on the infield- if Faith somehow goes under 4, it is among the most impressive runs ever, point blank end of discussion. Hell, if she goes under 4:05 it would be remarkable.
We loved baseball in the 90s because dudes with heads the size of cattle were launching balls into the troposphere. I am not kidding when I say, with Faith's consent of course, that they should put her on some stuff that would melt collection vials to see if it's humanly possible
Nike missed with Breaking2. Kipchoge ran 2:00:25 iirc. However lessons were learned that paved the way for his success at the Ineos Challenge. I'm expecting similar here, a step forward, but probably not all the way to 3:59 at the first attempt.
I'm curious what non-North Americans (and non-Commonwealth) think.
Is a sub-2:30 km more relatable?
For people not involved in the sport, the sub 4 minute mile doesn't mean anything. For those involved and a bit knowledgeable, no need to go into km. The sub 4 is a landmark in athletics.