If you're talking about HS (or younger), I'll go with a combination of training, higher expectations, and shoes, etc. I don't think a significant number of HS runners are using drugs, although I'm sure there are probably some who do.
IMO, the main reason is that we're seeing the results of introducing high quality training at younger ages. Effective training yields fast results.
Everyone understands training better, and it's being applied to runners at younger ages. We are using training philosophies and techniques that used to be exclusive to pros and top college programs. Youth/HS football is the same way. Information has trickled down and is being used effectively.
Shoes are helping to a lesser extent, but you can't go from 4:40 mile to 4:05 by changing your shoes. They don't help that much; they are the icing on the cake.
Media coverage and social media coverage has helped break down the mental barriers of what is possible. Kids see peers running fast times and think, "Why not me?" Younger (MS/HS) runners are seeing what runners who are a few years older are doing, and they get motivated. So expectations of what can be done and should be done are raised across the board.
For HS runners, at least in the NY area: Regarding Covid, 2 years of uninterrupted blocks of training might have helped the club runners develop. However the kids who didn't run before HS are not doing great as they were sedentary.
Social media is allowing exchange of ideas and training. Kids understand what they need to improve.
The shoes have helped.
The right coaches are in place at the right programs.
As a fan of the sport I love watching these great performances.
You dont see any relationship with all these records broken, and not just barely broken, and the release of these shoes??
There has been NO magical new discovery in training that can explain this rash of records.
Its so open and shut that I cant even believe theres a question about whats been happening.
Sadly its almost boring watching track now, because it invalidates so many of the old "legit" records, by a bunch of nobodies who matured at the right time to take advantage of the latest in tech.
"Up next we have...in his/her first race of the season..and wow, unbelievable, a records just been broken..this is some incredible running"
We have entire fields putting down times that would have have one of these athletes pegged as a generational talent. It all can't be the shoes.
Training?
Shoes?
Drugs?
Raised expectations?
Drugs - Yes. Now, more than ever in the past, anyone can order PEDs & research PED techniques online. The effects of this cannot be underestimated. Even high school kids can easily do this now, whereas in the past these drugs and the knowledge about them were hard to get and risky.
Training - Yes. It evolves and improves and continues to.
Shoes, tracks, pacing lights, other tech - Yes. Tech improves and will continue to.
Raised expectations - Yes. No one broke 4 in the mile forever. Then once someone did, many did. This happens in all events, when a barrier is broken. Today is no different.
With a lot of these all star HS kids, if you know their background you can see a very strong coaching and mentoring situation. A parent is a college coach or former college or pro runner. Older brother or sister is currently a D1 runner and the young sibling just happens to have even better HS success. The HS coach is known as one of the best in the country. Etc.
If you're talking about HS (or younger), I'll go with a combination of training, higher expectations, and shoes, etc. I don't think a significant number of HS runners are using drugs, although I'm sure there are probably some who do.
IMO, the main reason is that we're seeing the results of introducing high quality training at younger ages. Effective training yields fast results.
Everyone understands training better, and it's being applied to runners at younger ages. We are using training philosophies and techniques that used to be exclusive to pros and top college programs. Youth/HS football is the same way. Information has trickled down and is being used effectively.
Shoes are helping to a lesser extent, but you can't go from 4:40 mile to 4:05 by changing your shoes. They don't help that much; they are the icing on the cake.
Media coverage and social media coverage has helped break down the mental barriers of what is possible. Kids see peers running fast times and think, "Why not me?" Younger (MS/HS) runners are seeing what runners who are a few years older are doing, and they get motivated. So expectations of what can be done and should be done are raised across the board.
Athletes with less talent have been asking “Why not me?” for as long as sports have existed. The answer is that life is not always fair.
We have entire fields putting down times that would have have one of these athletes pegged as a generational talent. It all can't be the shoes.
Training?
Shoes?
Drugs?
Raised expectations?
Drugs - Yes. Now, more than ever in the past, anyone can order PEDs & research PED techniques online. The effects of this cannot be underestimated. Even high school kids can easily do this now, whereas in the past these drugs and the knowledge about them were hard to get and risky.
I highly doubt the fast times in HS races is from drug use.
Which then leads me to believe that fast times in pro athletics is more driven by shoe tech than drugs.
Athletes with less talent have been asking “Why not me?” for as long as sports have existed. The answer is that life is not always fair.
I meant that in a good/motivational way. They see an aspirational example to follow, "If they can do it, so can I". "What's stopping me from being the next one to run X?"
I think the explosion of running content on YT/Insta/TikTok has also widened the talent pool quite significantly. So many running content creators, especially at the college / pro level, are making running look cool. So more kids are joining their track team and so we’re seeing more “generational talents” pop up. I have no data on this, it’s just pure speculation.
With a lot of these all star HS kids, if you know their background you can see a very strong coaching and mentoring situation. A parent is a college coach or former college or pro runner. Older brother or sister is currently a D1 runner and the young sibling just happens to have even better HS success. The HS coach is known as one of the best in the country. Etc.
It’s also the shoes, of course.
If that’s true, it wouldn’t be unique to running. My belief is that having talent in a sport is very addictive and no mentor or family member with experience in a sport is necessary. You seem to believe HS athletes are kind of dumb.
It’s interesting that most of this quality is coming from the younger runners, I.e. high school and college. No one is really challenging El Guerrouj’s world record (yet). That has stood for over 20 years. If it were just better shoes and better tracks, we’d see records being broken en masse on the top end. I think that PEDs have got to play a part in what’s going on.
It’s interesting that most of this quality is coming from the younger runners, I.e. high school and college. No one is really challenging El Guerrouj’s world record (yet). That has stood for over 20 years. If it were just better shoes and better tracks, we’d see records being broken en masse on the top end. I think that PEDs have got to play a part in what’s going on.
Go look at how often a person ran with in 2-3s of El G record since it was set. There have never been a ton of guys running sub 3:30. We could very well be in an era of a lot of 3:31 people with no big super star. the top guy is someone who can't break 1:46. That isn't a guy you expect torun 55s. We can check back after a decade of results. And obviously drug testing Kenya isn't helping fast times..
In HS going from 40mpw in the 90s to 60mpw is a huge chunk. The shoes are the last bit so kids are running 3:59 instead of 4:02. Redshirting and earlier training so help but I am not sure either one of those happens a lot more.
It used to be that indoor was an asterisk, a sideshow to break the winter monotony. Now it is legit faster and more intense in many ways than outdoor, with venues like BU, UW and NB as driving wheels. This affects outdoors as well; the many dozens of new sub-4:00 milers will have a new, more aggressive approach this Spring. Call it mass psychosis or just synergy.
Covid era allowed more uninterrupted training/development. A lot of these fast seniors wouldn't have made it to senior years if they had a normal freshman year.
It’s interesting that most of this quality is coming from the younger runners, I.e. high school and college. No one is really challenging El Guerrouj’s world record (yet). That has stood for over 20 years. If it were just better shoes and better tracks, we’d see records being broken en masse on the top end. I think that PEDs have got to play a part in what’s going on.
Go look at how often a person ran with in 2-3s of El G record since it was set. There have never been a ton of guys running sub 3:30. We could very well be in an era of a lot of 3:31 people with no big super star. the top guy is someone who can't break 1:46. That isn't a guy you expect torun 55s. We can check back after a decade of results. And obviously drug testing Kenya isn't helping fast times..
In HS going from 40mpw in the 90s to 60mpw is a huge chunk. The shoes are the last bit so kids are running 3:59 instead of 4:02. Redshirting and earlier training so help but I am not sure either one of those happens a lot more.
The top guy is a guy that runs 1:43. The second best guy is a guy that runs 1:46.
The poster’s point still stands: if the shoes we are in an era of 3:31 people running 3:28 because to the shoes, then El G would be running 3:23 in this era.