It is the SHOES folks! - 5 HSers under 4 this year!!

Excuse me 5 HS runners under 4 so far.

It is the shoes. I give the credit to the shoes. Otherwise maybe we have 2 under 4. What a joke.

But you're going to upset people who think their kid is more talented than Jim Ryun.

It's the vaccine.

What's your excuse going to be in 8 years when there are 7 sub 4's every year in high school? And then in 20 years when there are 15 sub 4's every year?

There were only 3 high schoolers to do it between 1964-2000 (36 years)

Then there were 2 who did it who did it in 2001-2011 (10 years, no super shoes)

Then 5 new ones did it between 2012-2017 (5 years, no super shoes)

Now 7 new ones between 2018-2022 (4 years, finally 'super shoes')

Things have been progressing this way forever, it's going to keep going. There are more and more high schoolers running fast. I'd guarantee the number of sub 9 2 milers follows a similar trend, with the most of all time in 2018/2019 BEFORE super shoes. Don't act like if the new spikes never came out that we wouldn't have any sub 4's this year.

You just unwittingly made my case. Thank you.

Excellent point. Armstronglivs is probably going to wake up and question whether they are drug testing these kids.

Using your logic, which seems to use exponential math, we’ll have a few thousand breaking four every year relatively soon.

Overinflated times. Thanks nike - you got what you wanted. Now if people would just start giving a crap about track - too bad no one cares.

Were there not shoes last year?

…and miraculously, the shoes only work on college and high school kids!

Pro depth charts have remained the same.

It’s true, I know a lot of people who got the vaccine and ran PRs afterwards. That must mean the vaccine makes you faster

How is it that its been years now and we still have no idea how much difference the shoes make? Seriously, there's absolutely zero actual data. At this rate, we'll be doomed to have the same pointless debate until the end of time.

This is the same question I’ve been asking

OP is saying it’s the kinds of shoes that helps those people run a sub-4

I genuinely think it’s probably about 2 seconds. If you look at the overall high school rankings, a 4:10 mile in 2018 ranks similarly to a 4:08 now. The 800 was less effected, a 1:52.00 in 2018 is ranking like a 1:51.5. I still believe Martin, and Salhman, and Rheinhart would’ve gone sub 4. Rheinhart ran 4:01 in those adidas avanti spikes in 2019.

There are a dozen factors, shoes might be among them.

That will be thanks to the super DUPER shoes!

You're figuring out how this industry works.

Then why hasn't anyone broken 42 in the men's 400m? Get a life loser.

Go ahead believe what you want to make you look like a genius. Get a life loser.