In midst of global pandemic, NCAA may not allow Christian Noble's 13:37 DII record as it was aided by pacing lights

The mark does not need to stand. He received an aid in the lights that is unavailable to other athletes. Mark should not count for a record.

I'm tired of being a running fan. Between the b.s. involving the cheater shoes, debates over lights, etc....it all just makes me want to tune out. Who cares. The guy ran the time on his own power, and unlike the cheater shoes the lights didn't give him a mechanical advantage. He ran it with his own to legs. Let it stand.

LetsRun.com wrote:

Let's hope the adults in the room realize the mark needs to stand.

"Adults in the room???" How about the adults in the room realize that we have rules. If you don't like the rules, get them changed. Until then, if somebody breaks a record while breaking the rules of that record, it doesn't count.

The organizers of the race obviously knew he was going for a record, because they set the pace lights for that record. His coach presumably knows the rules, pacing lights have been all over the forums and news for this sport, so ignorance seems impossible for somebody whose job it is to know this sport. So they could have chosen to have the lights off for this race to keep it record eligible, but they didn't.

Its allowed under IAAF rules, so he still has a solid PR and his future is brighter after this race. But if it isn't an NCAA record, that's the rule, deal with it.... like an adult.

How prevalent are pacing lights going to be at track meets in the future? Is every track going to have them, what pace will they be set at, and who gets to decide the set pace?

Are we going to start having athletes complaining about mechanical problems with the lights as a result of power outages or other factors? (Do the lights have a back up power source or battery?)

The guy did run the race under his own power. But more so than any other equipment the lights may not be equally available to all runners everywhere.

I long for the days when running races were pure and simple competitions between people , the results of clear and accurate victories in elections were never questioned, and things that tasted like bacon were real bacon.

Just ridiculous!! Come on!! The mark should stand

It's kinda beyond me that if you were setting up a record attempt, you wouldn't a) read the rules and/or b) call the ncaa and clarify anything that was unclear.

With that said, who gives a crap if the ncaa says it counts or not? With all due respect, is the D2 5k record really something that people care about? I follow the sport pretty closely and I couldn't possibly have told you what that record was before this. At the end of the day the dude ran a sick time and this seems like a lot of hullabaloo about nothing.

The mark shouldn’t stand!! My ego won’t allow for it

The title of this thread is misleading because midst a global pandemic he still had a human pacer who also benefited from the lights. He didn't use the the lights instead of a human pacer for covid safety reasons. Also this rule is clear as day in the book and lights are a huge advantage, Every k he ran was the same.

LetsRun.com wrote:

Let's hope the adults in the room realize the mark needs to stand.

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2021/01/ncaa-may-not-accept-christian-nobles-1337-division-ii-5k-record-due-to-pacing-lights/

What does the global pandemic have to do with it?

Dr. Fauci has said on multiple occasions that pacing lights at track meets are supported by science.

NCAA rules wrote:

The title of this thread is misleading because midst a global pandemic he still had a human pacer who also benefited from the lights. He didn't use the the lights instead of a human pacer for covid safety reasons. Also this rule is clear as day in the book and lights are a huge advantage, Every k he ran was the same.

It's not an advantage at all. It's not going help someone to outrun their talent and fitness level. Elite runners are quite capable of maintaining an even pace without assistance. If a 5:00 miler set the lights for 4:50, he wouldn't be capable of keeping up and would instead run something like 5:10.

In the midst of a global pandemic...but the olympic show should still go on! LOL

@sled puller, those days have been gone since Bannister broke 4, bud.

I actually disagree in this circumstance. Not all colleges are going to be willing to purchase and install pacing lights. Especially during this pandemic where money is tight for athletics programs.

In the pro world the money is there. There are certain meets where athletes will go to hit times, and it’s often up to an independent organization to put on the meet, rent equipment, etc.

It’s unfair that one team might be able to qualify more athletes due to better pacing that is literally unaffordable or impractical to others

You could make the same argument about an unfair advantage for an athlete that shows up with 5 professional pacers there to pace for a specific target time. If the meet director paid for those pacers, then that would be favorable to the athlete chasing the time. These types of advantages aren't available to all athletes in the race, athletes targeting a different pacing strategy, or athletes at other meets.

That would have been much more beneficial but would survive any protest.

This is a question over rules and nothing else. Is the NCAA rulebook to be read as a living document or with original intent?

I don’t think they brought their own pacing equipment. The meet director had someone come in and do it so they can produce fast times. Seems like it was the goal to break 13:40. Maybe they help, maybe they don’t, but you can’t deny that he ran that. You can’t fake fitness.

Maybe he would have run 13:20 without any splits or lights. Maybe he would have run 14 minutes. The lights don't provide an advantage.

holterskolter2 wrote:

LetsRun.com wrote:

Let's hope the adults in the room realize the mark needs to stand.

"Adults in the room???" How about the adults in the room realize that we have rules. If you don't like the rules, get them changed. Until then, if somebody breaks a record while breaking the rules of that record, it doesn't count.

Jonathan Gault writes in the article: "Ahead of the meet, Milner asked his chief official to check the NCAA and USATF rulebooks to ensure the Light Speed system was okay. They couldn’t find anything that suggested the lights were illegal."

Why did Gault write this?

I'm surprised 13:37 is the DII record.