Are most HS distance runners faster now than they were 15-20 years ago?

No way. They're 30-40 years old now. Some of them might be faster, but most of them probably gained weight and got a lot slowere.

I misread. If you're talking about most high school distance runners now, then yes, they are all faster than they were 15-20 years ago. They were infants and toddlers back then.

Yes. 50 guys will break 9 minutes in the 3200 this year.

The best runners are faster than in the past but there are so many "below average" runners and out of shape kids today on track teams today. I barely broke 5 minutes when I ran in HS and did not go to any good meets- I was relegated to dual meets and novice competitions. We have tons of 1600 heets at the armory where kids can't break 5:30.

In my state there were some insane runners in the late 1970's/early 1980's, I think a lot of the United States was like this. Then in the 90's and early 2000's it was relatively weak. And then in the past decade it has finally equaled or slightly surpassed the 1980's runners.

I was a 2011 high school grad and our state champion ran the fastest times in decades. But then now every year we have someone running that type of time and a couple of the years we had someone running even faster than 1980's type of times. The depth is much deeper now as well.

In my state it's like this wrote:

In my state there were some insane runners in the late 1970's/early 1980's, I think a lot of the United States was like this. Then in the 90's and early 2000's it was relatively weak. And then in the past decade it has finally equaled or slightly surpassed the 1980's runners.

I was a 2011 high school grad and our state champion ran the fastest times in decades. But then now every year we have someone running that type of time and a couple of the years we had someone running even faster than 1980's type of times. The depth is much deeper now as well.

The tracks were shorter and the hand-held timing was incorrect.

Depends on coaching, but better coaching seems more widespread anyhow

cramister wrote:

Depends on coaching, but better coaching seems more widespread anyhow

And there is vast information on training available now to anyone willing to find it.

Pros show their workouts, their strava data, their drills & lifts & recovery methods for all to see

Kids with this info can even work around bad HS coaching and perform way better than before (plenty of BAD HS coaches still out there unfortunately)

Plus, mondo track surfaces, indoor super tracks, and turbo shoes have evolved to the point that old records look pedestrian now.

....Prefontaine's lifetime 5k pr wouldn't even be top 3 among this year's ncaa freshman 5k times!

Fasterer wrote:

cramister wrote:

Depends on coaching, but better coaching seems more widespread anyhow

And there is vast information on training available now to anyone willing to find it.

Pros show their workouts, their strava data, their drills & lifts & recovery methods for all to see

Kids with this info can even work around bad HS coaching and perform way better than before (plenty of BAD HS coaches still out there unfortunately)

Plus, mondo track surfaces, indoor super tracks, and turbo shoes have evolved to the point that old records look pedestrian now.

....Prefontaine's lifetime 5k pr wouldn't even be top 3 among this year's ncaa freshman 5k times!

Wow, pros show their workouts? WTF? who cares, there are no magic workouts, talented people run fast because of talent not the "magic workout".

And no, there are not three freshman who will run faster than Pre's lifetime PR. Even with the super shoe technology which is worth a good 15 sec at least in a 5k.

Seeing pro workouts has an affect

I was a 15 mpw high schooler and I read about how Pre, Liquori, and Virgin did 70mpw back in the 70s. I figured I had to train more to get better, plenty of other people have had that experience too. Knowing what it takes to get to the top can help mentally and physically

It's absolutely better, especially on the girls side. I agree with the other poster about access to training information. A lot more kids are running more miles. Easier to access results is a factor as well. Being able to look up results on Dyestat, Milesplit, Athletic.net, etc. lets kids know what is happening at the state and regional level instead of just at the local level and adds an extra layer of accountability to put in the work for the kids at the top.

Umm... Ever hear of Gabe Jennings????

This topic seems to show up every two weeks on here.. same answers.

1) internet opened up the world. kids can see performances of everyone, not just the kid in the neighboring county but all over the nation and world/coaches can become more informed, etc

2) participation numbers are off the charts, with that many kids participating a few gems will be found that may have gone undiscovered in prior generations.

3) better training. see the 90's low mileage era for the converse of the trend.

4) more opportunities at big nation HS meets. if the biggest meet you will run in is your state meet or district meet then you will train to be fast enough to win that.

5) bigger population

again, it's not just one of those its a combination of those 5 things plus some stuff Im sure I left out.

But kids today are killing it. I love it.

Yea, were almost back to the depth of the 70's

Fasterer wrote:

cramister wrote:

Depends on coaching, but better coaching seems more widespread anyhow

And there is vast information on training available now to anyone willing to find it.

Pros show their workouts, their strava data, their drills & lifts & recovery methods for all to see

Kids with this info can even work around bad HS coaching and perform way better than before (plenty of BAD HS coaches still out there unfortunately)

Plus, mondo track surfaces, indoor super tracks, and turbo shoes have evolved to the point that old records look pedestrian now.

....Prefontaine's lifetime 5k pr wouldn't even be top 3 among this year's ncaa freshman 5k times!

A problem with pros showing their workouts is that a 16 year should not be doing the workouts a 25 year old is doing.

Pre's 5K Pr is 13.21 not sure what the freshmen times are but suspecting there are not 3 faster.

They're not faster at my specific high school, the city I ran in, the conference I competed in, or the state I ran championships in.

Every few years someone might run who is fast, and two or three times in nearly 40 years one might run fast enough to be one of the best-ever.

But over all, the fastest people from my high school world competed in the late-60s to the late-80s. There's STILL a guy who ran on a cinder track, among the top-10 800 meter guys at my school (880 conversion).

This is Jim Kiler wrote:

They're not faster at my specific high school, the city I ran in, the conference I competed in, or the state I ran championships in.

Every few years someone might run who is fast, and two or three times in nearly 40 years one might run fast enough to be one of the best-ever.

But over all, the fastest people from my high school world competed in the late-60s to the late-80s. There's STILL a guy who ran on a cinder track, among the top-10 800 meter guys at my school (880 conversion).

Same herein NYC. In the 1960s two HS teams ran 7:35 in a 4x880 relay at a small meet.How many teams break 7:55 at the state meet? HS teams often had 4x440 teams under 3:20. A few schools had B relay teams under 3:20. We didnt have many guys under 9:30 in the 3200 or under 4:25 in the 1600 but we didnt have many kids who couldn't break 13 minutes or 6 minutes like today.

I love seeing these great times kids are running across the country but as kids are generally out of shape nowadays I know there are tons of kids running times slower than 40 years ago.

Back end kids can be considered “worse” with the sedentary out of shape lifestyle pushed, but the best of the best seem to be better