Cameron Myers just ran his final race as a U20/junior runner. He won the 5000m in the Albie Thomas meet in 13:32.11 (final lap in 61.74) (Callum Davies finished second in 13:46.12)
His previous PB was 13:49.66 from the Australian Championships in April (his final lap in that race was 54.4ish)
Sam Ruthe has 3 years to improve 8 seconds to beat Cams time. Let that sink in for a minute because Cams time is no joke for a U20 athlete! Sam just broke the NZ U20 record and has 3 more years to lower that! I guess the real question here is, what are Cams and Sams best distances?
I think the time speaks to the conditions more-so than Cam's shape. It was 30 degrees tonight and he was solo from 3km. I think he's definitely capable of 13-low in good conditions and people around him.
Sam Ruthe has 3 years to improve 8 seconds to beat Cams time. Let that sink in for a minute because Cams time is no joke for a U20 athlete! Sam just broke the NZ U20 record and has 3 more years to lower that! I guess the real question here is, what are Cams and Sams best distances?
Yes, Ruthe is phenomenal for his age. Myers' time is no joke either for a U20 athlete, I agree. Buth I think he has significantly more in the tank. His 7:33.12 PB in the 3000m (from almost a year ago indicates that). From what I understood, the conditions was far from optimal, and he won the race with a 14 seconds margin. Will he match Laros' 13:10.86 mark in 2026? I think he can, or at least get clsoe to it. It's hard to tell, but it seems like Jakob, Laros and Myers are pretty equal in the 3000m in their late teens based off the times they've run, but I think Jakob is in a league of his own in the 5000m (most people probably agree). It would be nice to see Laros and Myers in a 3000m and/or 5000m in a Diamond League race in 2026, as that would really test their capabilities. Then the question is, could Myers challenge fellow contrymen Mottram (12:55.76) and McSweyn (12:56.07) in the future? It's not gonna be easy, but I'm definitely not writing him off. I can see him breaking the national records in the 3000m (7:28.02 by McSweyn) and two mile (8:03.50 by Mottram) in the not so distant future.
Cameron Myers just ran his final race as a U20/junior runner. He won the 5000m in the Albie Thomas meet in 13:32.11 (final lap in 61.74) (Callum Davies finished second in 13:46.12)
His previous PB was 13:49.66 from the Australian Championships in April (his final lap in that race was 54.4ish)
Despite his 3:29 PB, I think Myers is a 5,000m man and that will be the event he has the most success in when his career is said and done. He didn’t get out of the heats in Tokyo. Mo Farah was a 3:28 1500m man and dominated the 5000m and 10,000m for years. With Jakob and Hocker running the 5,000, it seems that having sub-3:30 1500m speed will be required to be a global champion at 5,000m these days.
Sam Ruthe has 3 years to improve 8 seconds to beat Cams time. Let that sink in for a minute because Cams time is no joke for a U20 athlete! Sam just broke the NZ U20 record and has 3 more years to lower that! I guess the real question here is, what are Cams and Sams best distances?
Congrats to CM for a great run there. Looks like he had to dig deep after going after it in less than idea weather.
Odd for the first words of your post to not actually be about Cam Myers but Sam Ruthe and this consistently strange idea of comparing times from age group levels. Who cares and what is it supposed to mean?
Is there a prize/medal/financial incentive for beating Cam Myers' age group personal bests, especially in distances he rarely runs? It's crazy talk.
With Jakob absent during the 2025 outdoor season, Myers suffered from the 1500/mile reverting to slower burn up races, where strength was less important. This style of racing carried through to the World Champs in Tokyo, which saw him easily knocked out in the heats. Conversely, Laros and Nader cashed in.
I think Myers would have benefitted from faster races where he can showcase his big engine. Inexperience also played into it. In comparison, Jakob almost had a full career by the time he was Myers's current age and was already a confident gold medal winning racer (Euros Outdoors, Indoors, XC). I think Myers has been sheltered or held back somewhat e.g. skipping World Indoors.
If Myers is smart, in 2026 he will control races more and tip the race strategy in his favour. I don't see him concentrating on the 5000m until maybe 2028, he is still so young and has plenty of upside in the 1500m.
I talked with Cam after the race and asked him if he liked running 800 or 5000 more, he replied definitely the 5000 but it will take me a few years to get there..
He also said he was hoping to run comfortably till 3000 but was starting to feel tired after 2000 because of the temperature.
This could act as a funnel to prior conversations asking how he would stack up against the best of the NCAA. I agree with a poster who said he’s probably in 13:00-10 shape, given his last XC race and his mile/3k ability. 29 degrees is mid-80s. Running 13:anything in the mid-80s is nuts.
Results The wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) across races ranged from −7°C to 33°C, with 27% of races taking place in cold/cool, 47% in neutral, 18% in moderate heat, 7% in high heat, and 1% in extreme heat conditions, according to the World Athletics classification. Machine learning decision trees (R2 = 0.21–0.58) showed that air temperature (importance score = 40%) was the most important weather parameter. However, when used alone, air temperature had lower predictive power (R2 = 0.04–0.34) than WBGT (R2 = 0.11–0.47). Conditions of 7.5°C–15°C WBGT (or 10°C–17.5°C air temperature) increased the likelihood for peak performance. For every degree WBGT outside these optimum conditions, performance declined by 0.3%–0.4%.
We didn't heard a lot of news about him in the last month
but probably focusing on training of a new step.
8 downvotes?? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the effect has scratched.
Not only we have Er-Radouani but also Ayoub Ziani (13mins 28 sec, age 19) who is more finisher.
Er-Radouani came from Beni Mellal (region Beni Ameir) the same region that brought Illias Aouani, Habz, ... for the few that I know.
(they have now 30cm of snow rain du to the high altitude)
Take care of Cole Hocker in the future.
No, it's more because most knowledgeable fans don't give a sheet about age comparisons and times.
"ooo athlete x is faster than athlete y at these exact years and days of their lives".
Yes it can point to talent, it also has zero bearing on if that talent will ever be realized or have a higher ceiling than others who don't run as fast at the same ages.
