MARY CAIN 4:10

Lux Interior wrote: The last three championships have been won in 4:15,4:08 and 4:04. Mary's 4:11 would have gotten gold and bronze in the last two championships.

No, each race is different, with different race strategies: slow pace, fast pace, the usual mind games being played.

Jody Possibllesito wrote:

Since she ran a 4:11.01 - isn't that close enough to 4:10.99 to call it a 4:10?

Nope.

This is actually a very depressing result. This is just showing thst she is close to her peak and will be the next Hasay. Please don't hype this up it as it is just going to lead us to a heartbreak.

Third junior for Cain. Good effort.

Oh please. Plenty of reason to get excited. She's improving much faster than Hasay, has MUCH better flat out speed, and weaker endurance (which is allowing her to progress nicely). She has plenty of room to improve.

Additionally, just watching her it is clear she is more of a Mary Decker type than Hasay type. Great raw speed, beautiful form to watch.

HOLY.SHIT.

Alanson wrote:

Dropped her personal best by 3.73 seconds. Anything suspicious about that?

You've got to be kidding. Please say that you're not serious.

Alanson wrote: Dropped her personal best by 3.73 seconds. Anything suspicious about that?

runn wrote: You've got to be kidding. Please say that you're not serious.

It is the standard code of suspicion on letsrun to assume an athlete is doing "something odd" when they have magically time drops.

It is standard code of acceptance on letsrun to assume an athlete is not doing "something odd" if you like them, and are big fan, regardless of any sudden improvements or accomplishments.

Could she be the first 4:2x high school girl ever?

Oh my god, she's 16 and ridiculously talented.

Get this thread back on topic: GREAT RUN BY MARY.

Agreed - it's a great run.

However, most great young athletes don't go on to be great senior athletes. Some do, most don't.

The hyperbolic praise and overblown expectations are a lot of the reason why most don't.

I am very impressed with Jordan Hassay because she has managed to somehow survive similar excesses of attention and hype, remaining to compete and extract some measure of enjoyment out of running/racing.

Mary appears to be a great talent, I wish her well. Please spare us all - and especially her - the genuflecting sort of praise that undermines a proper sense of perspective and proportion, so that unnecessary psychological baggage be kept to a minimum as she goes forward.

Jody Possibllesito wrote:

Since she ran a 4:11.01 - isn't that close enough to 4:10.99 to call it a 4:10?

Jesus wept.

Look. 4:11.01 is an outstanding time for a 16 year old. It's perfectly capable of standing on its own without any embarrassing attempts at embellishment.

Anybody else think that all the posts started this year about cain (and there have been many many) have been started by her father and/or her coach?

Why would you think that? Mary has many fans out there other than her father and coach.

I am the OP of this thread and I am not related to Mary, nor have I ever met her. I'm a very good 20-something post-collegiate who simply appreciates a tremendous talent and record performance.

Yep, step by step. Let's see if she can get the American Junior record first. Hassay could not (and still has not surpassed that performance)...

Then let's see if she can continue to improve year by year...

Let's see if she can get a Rupp like progression...

AJEE WILSON 2'00.91

Cain ran most of race in lane 2. Subtract 4 seconds for this. Was not properly wabbitted. Subtract 3 seconds for this. Weather less than optimal. Subtract 2 seconds for this. Was in championship and she was tired. Subtract 3 seconds for this. Track was slow. Subtract 3 seconds for this.

In properly wabbitted Grand Prix race in good weather Cain can run @3:56.

Alanson wrote:

Dropped her personal best by 3.73 seconds. Anything suspicious about that?

Nothing suspicious at all. Going from the US to Europe against international competition you are expected to PR big time. Especially if its your first time and you are young. If she was 38 and been racing in Europe for a decade than that's different.

Mary Cain is now the fastest High Schooler of all time, pretty impressive.

what is the fastest 800 of all time (HSer)?