Allistair Craig 7:38.59 2/14/2004
I remember when he ran this, I was a freshman and knew it was good, but didn't realize how good. Now, it seems unbelievable! Would anyone since then have even been on the same straightaway? Surely this is one of the best distance records, indoor and out?
If you compare it to world wide age group records, then it's not the greatest.
But then Rudy Chapa ran 7;37 back in the '70s.
This is the one wrote:
Allistair Craig 7:38.59 2/14/2004
I remember when he ran this, I was a freshman and knew it was good, but didn't realize how good. Now, it seems unbelievable! Would anyone since then have even been on the same straightaway? Surely this is one of the best distance records, indoor and out?
Rupp in 2009 would have been close. He took down the AR indoor 5k record in 13:18, went 3:57 in the mile, and took 2nd at BIG in 7:44. Ncaa's he walked away in an easy 7:48. At his peak indoors he probably in Craggs race would have been pretty close.
Willis in 2004, he set the collegiate 3k record in 7:44 before Cragg (not Craig) took it down. Willis then lost to Cragg by 1 second in the Ncaa's for second. So obviously he couldnt' beat Cragg, but same straightaway? sure.
Chelanga in 2009 was a 13:19 guy in the 5k indoors, last year he wasn't on top of his game indoors, but obviously outdoors with his 27:08 10k...he must have been in the kind of shape that could have gone close to 7:38 indoors in the 3k.
As fancy and detail oriented as these replies are (not to mention the typical obligatory negative comments as per routine here at letsrun), none of them answer the question if that 7.38 is one of the best collegiate records. My opinion is certainly yes.
Sure, but's it's no 27:09
Actually based on the IAAF scoring tables, both performances are worth 1211 points. I would say these two are tops for the collegiate records in distance races. 1211 points are worth a 12:59 5k. Both runs are very impressive. Both races were very well paced and executed to perfection.
aerodynamic interlude wrote:
As fancy and detail oriented as these replies are (not to mention the typical obligatory negative comments as per routine here at letsrun), none of them answer the question if that 7.38 is one of the best collegiate records. My opinion is certainly yes.
One of the questions was would anyone since even be on the same straightaway.
And i'd agree with the other poster, that Chelanga's 27:08 has to be at least on par. Is it one of the best though for distance? Sure.
Had Jager continued in college he would have easily had that
Had Jager continued in college he'd be as injured as he is now... kid was non-existent in 2010.
As an earlier poster alluded to, I don't think Craig has the record. Or are you talking about indoor? Chapa ran under this mark in the 70's, although of course Craig's time is excellent.
Uhhhh....has everybody forgotten about the PAC-10 800m record?!
Absolutely will never be broken. NEVER.
The sport will either have died or humans will have evolved into some other species before it is broken.
He's talking about the indoor record and man, was that race between Cragg and Willis EPIC. Not just the time but the style it was done
Sad that we haven't seen Cragg race as confidently as that in a long, long time
Rono's 8:05 steeple and Chelanga's 27:09 are much better. Indoor times on the tracks in this era can't be compared to indoor tracks in the old days. Guys who went 3:35 outdoors ran 4:00 miles indoors.
Let's talk about athletes who are collegiate age (18-21) and then we can have an intelligent discussion!!!
quasti wrote:
Let's talk about athletes who are collegiate age (18-21) and then we can have an intelligent discussion!!!
Then you can't include Rupp.
Whenever I watch that race I always wonder where it all went wrong for Cragg
Amazeballs wrote:
Whenever I watch that race I always wonder where it all went wrong for Cragg
it didn't... he ran 13.07, an Olympic final, won Euro Indoor gold, Irish 10k record and one of the few white guys that can race East Africans on DL level. He's now healthy and heading to Boston.
Nonetheless, as a lot of other athletes he had to deal with injuries. He's also quite an example of the difference between the collegiate and pro-level.
Amazeballs wrote:
Whenever I watch that race I always wonder where it all went wrong for Cragg
Where can one watch this race?
The record is pretty awesome, but lets put it into perspective.
He was 23 when he did it. A little old but not crazy old.
Rupp was pretty unbelievable his senior year but you have to remember that to this day he still hasn't run that fast indoors or out and he's had the opportunities.
Jager also hasn't run that fast indoors or out and can't seem to stay healthy but if he can figure his body out he will be scary. He is almost 22 now so if he can manages to run that fast within the next year then he certainly belongs in the conversation. That said, if he were to do it in a diamond league level race it is certainly a different playing field.
Solinski ran 7:36 following his senior year when he was 23 so had he had another season of indoor he could have gone after it, but his indoor pr is ~7:50
At 24 Teg ran 7:34 but maybe if he had figured out some of his injury issues before he could have been faster earlier. still he didn't come close in college.
Kennedy ran 7:38.45 at just under 23 years old so he may be the most likely candidate for the record. He also never came close to Alistair's time indoors though.
Lagat ran 3:34 at 24 years old and won the 5000 the next year. He's certainly good indoor and maybe could have done it. That said he wasn't anywhere near the athlete that he is now in college.
Sydney Maree ran 3:48 in the mile on his 25th birthday which I believe is the summer after he got out of college. His IAAF profile isn't as complete as newer athletes but he was a stud. I dont know how good he was in his early 20's but his name goes on the list.
Webb ran 3:48 in the mile and 8:11 for 2 mile at 23 years old. This was 4 years after he ran 3:53 as a high schooler so if he were to red shirt a year he could have come back and given 8:38 a run for its money. That said he came through 3k in 8:39 in his 2 mile and hasn't improved on it since, but he hasn't run very many 3ks.
I'm sure there are other deserving athletes to be on my list of potential but I'm not going to look for them. Indoor tracks are much better than they used to be but not many people who've run in the ncaa have done much better outdoors either.
I would argue that the only person in the NCAA that has even the slightest shot at the record would be German Fernandez. Hopefully he gets healthy and goes for it next year.
Remember Alistair has a lifetime best of 7:32 which is better than everyone that I mentioned above except for Lagat and Kennedy. He's been spotty at times but is still one of the best white athletes ever. Unfortunately the 3k isn't an olympic event or he certainly would have chosen that over the 5k.