Having a LOT of time on my hands right now, being eager to watch ANY racing in these Covid-19 times, and being a big general CU-Boulder (CU) fan (Mr. Bosshard and a few of the runners are Buff grads), thought I’d start a thread on this since I couldn’t find one.
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This Saturday evening (June 27th), all or most of the Joe Bosshard running group will be running in mile races they've organized, with seven women scheduled to start at 8:35 PM Mountain Time (so 10:30 PM ET/ 7:30 PM PT), and four-five men 8:50 PM (10:50 PM ET/ 7:50 PM PT). The races are being held at Colorado Mesa University’s (newer) outdoor track in Grand junction, Colorado.
The races are planned to be live- streamed for free , starting at 8:30 PM Mountain Time, at both the team’s new Youtube channel (
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUHbz1qDQaP_69Lv777Jwaw
) and on Flotrack (
https://www.flotrack.org/live/22710-2020-team-boss-colorado-mile
). (There are a couple short (<2 minute) workout videos posted yesterday on their Youtube channel right now.)
The race seems to have 2 main stated purposes. On the running side, sounds like the goal, (in addition to I assume giving the racers a chance to seriously compete against other runners and the clock in a year when every outdoor meet so far has been cancelled), is to break the current mile records set on Colorado soil. Then, they’ve also set it up so people can donate for the team’s chosen beneficiary, which is (quoting the pledge page) the “Sachs Foundation, whose mission is to provide educational opportunities to Black and African American residents of Colorado.”.
For those interested in and able to donate, the direct link to the pledge page is
. (As I type this, they’re showing $17,325 in pledges, with a goal of reaching at least $20.000.)
Notes-
• A preview article is available at
https://team-boss-colorado-mile.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=14086&do=news&news_id=605132
or
https://www.flotrack.org/articles/6753640-team-boss-is-running-for-records-but-also-taking-a-stand
.
• Per the pledge page, those running are:
o For the women- Laura Thweatt, Emma Coburn, Dani Jones (joined team in early May) Maddie Alm (these 4 all CU grads), Dom Scott Efurd, Cory McGee and Aisha Praught Leer. (From an Instagram post she made, sounds like the plan is for marathoner Ms. Thweatt to be the rabbit for hopefully 1,000 meters or so.)
o For the men- 3 pro’s named as running- Nick Harris (CU grad), Tripp Hurt and Morgan McDonald (joined the team late May), as well as Colorado resident and future Washington Husky Cruz Culpepper. (Not sure if it’s an error or not, but the article linked to above said they’ll be 5 male runners, but the donation page only lists the 4 I’ve noted above. Wonder who the 5th runner might be?)
• Both the current Colorado soil mile records were set indoors by CU Buffs while racing at the CU Indoor Practice Facility (which opened fall 2016), with Dani Jones setting the women’s record of 4:36.05 during the 2018 indoor season, while Joe Klecker set the men’s record this past January running 4:01.00.
• There are 2 options to pledge. Quoting part of the preview article linked to above, “Supporters can either pledge a flat amount, or pledge a dollar figure which will get multiplied by the cumulative seconds that the team breaks the records. For instance, if the five women run 4:29, 4:30, 4:30, 4:31, 4:32, and three men run 3:59, 4:00, and 4:00 that totals 32 cumulative seconds below the records. A donor's pledge would then be multiplied by 32.”
• The current pledge amount I listed above, which includes an estimated amount for those pledging based on total actual seconds team members finish below the current records, is based on estimating the team will be a total 30 seconds below the current records. Therefore, I'm guessing the estimates from the quote I put in the last bullet point above IS roughly what the team is shooting for.
• The 2 advantages I can think of for these races is that, unlike the current records, (a) these races are being run outdoor instead of on a 300 meter indoor track, and (b) Colorado Mesa College is at a lower altitude (a quick Google search said it may be at 4,585 feet above sea level) compared to CU’s indoor track (at 5,385 feet). Using the NCAA Altitude converter as a ROUGH guide, it estimates that, all other things being equal, the men should run 1.25 and the women 1.5 seconds faster based on the altitude difference alone.
• Just for reference, if any of the men reach the mythical 4:00 minute, the NCAA converter says that equates to a 3:55.36 at sea level. (Mr. Klecker’s current 4:01.00 record set in Boulder was credited with a 3:55.06 for NCAA qualifying purposes.) Tying Ms. Jones 4:36.05 record in Grand Junction equates to a 4 30.71 at sea level, vs. the 4:29.24 she was credited with by running it in Boulder. If any of the women reach the hypothetical 4:29 I quoted a few points before, that equates to 4:23.80 at sea level.
• Just as reference (the U.S. 2021 Olympic qualifying period hasn't opened yet, and they don't allow for altitude conversions), looks like mile times of 3:54.00 for men and 4:28.43 for women will qualify individuals for the Olympic trials 1500M IF the qualifying period had begun (Per
) .
• The one disadvantage, although I wouldn’t think it will be that significant for a mile (???), is the weather- it may still be around 80 degrees at the time of the races, even with them being right around sunset, with possibly ~10 MPH winds. (I know sprinters typically are faster in the heat while long races (marathon, 10K, etc.) are slower. As a non-runner, wondering where mile races fall on being typically faster or slower in warmer temperatures?)
• I know one question I saw from a few folk when these races were 1st announced on Instagram was whether interested people in the Grand Junction area could come watch the races live (given the Covid-19 situation). I’m not seeing anything at this point that definitively answers that question one way or the other.
Latest information tweet from Aisha Praught Leer about the races-