Jackson Spencer wants to 8:30 at Arcadia this weekend - Can he do it?

Nope 👎

Buried in the "Rich Gonzalez too much power in CA" thread is a treasure trove of golden nuggets from one Coach Doug Soles himself.

Linked below.

Doug's first post regarding his boy Jackson Spencer is #62. It just keeps getting better from there.

Arcadia is just the start of his own "Spring & Summer of PRs" campaign. Even thinking of taking a crack at Daniel Simmons' 5000 record.

And, has already kicked off his outdoor season with a 47-point relay split.

https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=14122481&page=3&t=1775682472#post-78

History has show that it is hard to get someone to take it out sub 4:20. They also have about 2x as many people on the line as they should have...

Having 35 - 40 people is the fastest 3200 heat is just to satisfy Rich Gonzalez's ego so he can say "We had 35 boys break 9 minutes in one race." It's complete nonsense.

The fastest heat should have 20 boys max. 12 - 15 boys would be even better. Just put the best of the best in the fast heat.

If you have run 1:51 and 13:54, of course 8:29 is possible. But everything needs to go right. So yeah he can do it, but the odds are still against it.

He’s run 1:49

Well better yet. He can do it.

"He has run" is the correct standard English phrasing. When using the present perfect tense (has/have + verb), you must use the past participle ("run"), not the simple past tense ("ran"). Therefore, "He has run" is correct, while "He has ran" is considered grammatically incorrect.

Note, though, for Jackson to put up a mark equivalent to Lukas Verzbicas' 8:29.46/2 mile hs record, he'd have to run this 3200 race at right around 8:26-flat.

So, if he's targeting 8:30, hope he knows this little detail and sets his sights even higher.

I’m going to say he breaks 8:40 but not 8:30. 8:33 and meet record for grins.

Wish him the best and I think he can get the meet record

But sub 8:30 isn't happening

- 20% chance of rain (better than the 95% chance yesterday!)

- 3-6mph winds

- Wayyyyy too many people in the race

Last year's conditions were literally perfect. Great competition and the best weather i've ever seen and we got a sit and kick. No way we get sub 8:30 this year.

The 3200m is his at Arcadia. He’s going to ride that CA magic he found at Woodward Park.

*3200m record is his*

(correction)

This, running a 3200m by yourself up front isn’t a great way to PR, and closing sub 4:10 is a pretty big ask. I bet he can go under 8:40 though, and that’ll be awesome.

Light rain and 3-6 mpw wind, should provide no negative effect at all. Wasn’t last years comprised of a bunch of 4:00 milers?

I don’t think Spenser needs any help to go after 8:30. The 2-mile high school records set by Pre, Virgin and Fernandez, were all solo runs.

Fair points. No arguments from me. Wish him the best.