Arcadia 3200m invitational heat — 5 sub 4-milers — full field PRs

the last two names are just obvious mistakes and will be fixed in the next update. i am pretty hyped for this race. You got the best in Canada, New Zealand and the United States in this

In the early 1970s you could not have had a college and/or pro list as good as your high school list! But please remember that they did not face what Paavo Nurmi, Glenn Cunningham, Peter Snell, or even the more recent runners like James Ronald Ryun, Steve Prefontaine, or Craig Virgin. Respect the pioneers. Would we even have "Peanut Butter" without men who invented and perfected it. Maybe, but it would have taken a lot longer to develop that product like every other thing on the planet.

Thank you for supplying this list. I am sure it might have taken some work on your part. But not many people talk about the great runners of the past. So, I am among a few that will.

this is a disgusting field

will the upwards trend ever stop??? are we in a renaissance/golden age or will we never come back down to earth?

brooooooooooooooooooooo wtf why is this random California meet in April literally better than every national HS championship meet? It's better in terms of top talent and depth than any HS race I can remember. That 2023 race Birnbaum won over Leo Young and a few sub-4 guys was stacked, but it didn't have the depth of this field. NON can't bring in NZ athletes (I think but idk that actually), but there's only 2 international athletes in this field right? Also is it common for NZ athletes to run Arcadia? I think Geordie Beamish did it back in the day too.

I'd love to see Nike or someone get some pro pacers and give a bunch of top HS kids some NIL money (or at least pay for transportation) and get them into 800/m/2m/5k races in a place with great weather (like LA) and see what happens. I don't wanna replace NON since championship racing is its own thing, but it would be perfect for seeing what HS kids can really run in perfect conditions, and give them some experience higher level racing. There's an argument that that's kinda taking away from the fun, low pressure aspect of HS sports, but guys like the Crater kids (or NP before them) are traveling to BU to run super fast times in paced races and they're having a blast (plus a lot of NIL and NCAA money is on the table for these guys).

PS ik Arcadia isn't some normal meet and it's been gaining steam for decades at this point, i just mean why can't any of the shoe companies pull off something like this

Arcadia is the premier meet IMO because of timing. These post seasons meets are sponsored by Nike and NB and Brooks (and Adidas)—talent gets split up depending on Boston v NYC or Philly v Oregon.

Arcadia? You have to compete in your school uniform and it’s early enough that only the TX state meet process (perhaps a few others) has gotten started. Definitely deeper than 2023 and 2024, and I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon

This is easily the most loaded field ever

Yes. The field is insane.

The two Colorado boys - Anderson and Collins - just ran 9:01 and 9:02 at altitude last Saturday. Not that it matters but those performances are superior to their listed sea level PRs.

Speaking of which. Why Ben Adams - who also ran a 9:02 at altitude last weekend - isn't in this list is hard for me to fathom. I suppose it's no big deal IF the seeded section also has a bunch of kids that have run sub-8:50.

Here's a link to a video of that Niwot 3200m, starting with 900m to go

Arcadia showed that you can get a lot of fast times if you put 32 kids in a heat to create a peloton effect with perfect weather to boot. I think some other meets are trying to do similar, but I also think most have realized you need to discount Arcadia times kind of like Boston indoor times.

Still a great fun meet every kid should go to if they qualify.

Completely agree. How on earth is Ben Adams not in the invitational section? However, I think this may end up working to his advantage because the field will be spread out and he probably won’t be shoved to the back of the pack and have to run extra distance.

WTF is it with all these top boys listed in multiple invite events (1 mile, 3200m, 800m) ... Rich should clarify which event as they won't double at Arcadia. He is keeping solid kids out of events to appease his buddies again.

no aydon stefanopolous? he ran 8:57 as a double after winning the 1600 in 4:10 at dublin (beating pretre in the mile and broen holman in the 32)

or eli fitchen young? (8:56, ~50th nxn )

thats what I'm thinking

When is this race? Will it be streamed for all to see, or did Flotrack get involved?

Both in the Seeded race.

Streamed free of charge!

arcadiainvitational.org

ArcadiaInvitational.org - Arcadia Invitational - Videos - LIVE Webcast - Arcadia Invitational 2025

The 2025 Arcadia Invitational will be broadcast live from Arcadia, California on arcadiainvitational.org Friday & Saturday, April 5-6. All broadcast events will be made available for on-demand viewing here.Friday's early mult...

Open link

also, upthread others have discussed the Seeded race — I’m fairly confident it will be won in sub-8:45. Plenty of strong athletes and some of them will have a chip on the shoulder because they didn’t make the Invite heat.

Ruthe just about to turn 16 races two men who are about to turn 19. Is Casey Clinger an alternate?