Ben Blankenship: What's his story

I'm a huge Ben Blankenship fan. Real blue collar kind of guy

Craig Lutz fan wrote:

I'm a huge Ben Blankenship fan. Real blue collar kind of guy

Blue collar sounds good. Any comparisons come to mind?

He has a very good chance to make the U.S. team and could even challenge for a medal, based on what I saw today, at World Relay (3:51 1600m anchor), and indoors. But let's face it, these races are a crapshoot for most of the runners, since positioning is so important in a slower race. He showed today that he can be a factor in the 3:35-style championship race that we usually see. However, he was boxed and did not have a chance for the win, even if he had the speed to do it.

Any relation to the 19' pole vaulter front Tennessee, Jacob Blankenship?

2007 HS Grad. One year at Mississippi State before transferring to Minnesota.

2008: Nothing good

2009: 3:42.47 at NCAAs but didn't make the final

2010: Indoors - 3:57.87, ran leadoff on 3rd place DMR; Outdoors ran 3:39.77 at NCAA prelims but didn't make the final

2011: Indoors: 7:52.52, 2nd in NCAA 3000. Didn't run for Minnesota outdoors but ran 3:54.1 at Pre and 3:37.23 in Europe. Knocked out first round at USAs.

2012: No marks on USATF's lists as a first-year pro.

2013: 3:37.03/3:56.66/7:47.07 in Europe. 10th at USAs.

2014: Indoors: 7:46.55 and distant 5th at USATFs behind the big guns Lagat, Rupp, Hill, and Lomong. Outdoors: 3:39 early and injured I assume later.

Always been an indoor the radar type. Had a pretty good senior year with a runner-up indoors and fast times outdoors. 2013 and early 2014 showed promise. The step he took this year is in line with the promise he showed coming out of college. Minnesota is an under-rated program producing both Blankenship and Mead.

I believe he was a high school standout - 4:07 or so for 1600, went to Mississippi State and struggled, then transferred to Minnesota and busted a indoor-leading 3:57 mile at the time, then got second in the 3000 at nationals. He kinda fell off the radar for a while after college (injuries, thought about giving up the sport, etc), but has come back with a vengeance the last couple years. That's about all I know, but I'm a big fan.

I also beat him once in college when he was running for MSU. Not to toot my own horn, but uh - toot toot.

You can see some of his results here

http://raceberryjam.com/indexod.html

2006-7 Track, 2005-6 cross.

He won state in the 1600 twice I believe, defeating some real studs, maybe the height of MN boys distance running.

(Hassan Mead, Elliot Heath, Rob Finnerty (who broke 4:00 for 1600 in HS) TC Lumbar who ran 24:15ish for 8k in HS)

Didn't he have a hip surgery a few years back which is why he was absent from results for a while?

OP here. Thanks for the info. Keep it coming.

It sounds like he came back way too soon after the hip surgery and got a stress fracture on his sacrum, which put him out of commission for even longer.

http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/no-fear-of-the-unknown

SECCCC wrote:

I believe he was a high school standout - 4:07 or so for 1600, went to Mississippi State and struggled, then transferred to Minnesota and busted a indoor-leading 3:57 mile at the time, then got second in the 3000 at nationals. He kinda fell off the radar for a while after college (injuries, thought about giving up the sport, etc), but has come back with a vengeance the last couple years. That's about all I know, but I'm a big fan.

I also beat him once in college when he was running for MSU. Not to toot my own horn, but uh - toot toot.

He also missed a large chunk of time after college because he had surgery for a labral tear + FAI. Having had that procedure myself, I know the rehab from it can be quite lengthy. They say you aren't 100% back to normal, mechanics-wise, until about a year after surgery, which was correct for me.

Ben is a great guy and it is fantastic to see him having good results now. He was talented in high school, to be sure, but what was more impressive was how often he was able to beat other super-talented guys. He won the Minnesota state 1600m title two years in a row, beating out guys like Elliott Heath, Rob Finnerty, and Hassan Mead!

How the hell do you run 3:39 at NCAA's and not make it to the final?

....'indoor the radar'....?

Ben is a graduate of Stillwater high school, which has had four alumni (including Ben) to go on to break 4 minutes--the most of any high school in the country.

Neil wrote:

....'indoor the radar'....?

It's a Nike thing: NOP has the fancy saunas; OTC has the radar. The INDOOR radar.

Stillwater MN that is. I had the privilege of getting smoked by Ben at our annual 4th of July 4 mile race. Scott Christianson would drag the High School team to that race every year. Watched Jake Watson win it too.

Yeah, his high school has a good reputation. As aforementioned, it has produced four sub-4 runners, as well as it is consistently seen at NXN. They also had a guy, Eli Krahn recently, that broke Austin Tamagno's Freshman high school 1600 record... a week after Tamagno set his with a 4:09:38. Since then he's seemed to fall off the map.

Anyways, I like Blankenship a lot, I like what he stands for and am glad that he is doing as well as he is.

2011: Also ran a 3:54 DMR anchor leg that year to help team to 3rd at NCAA Indoor.

What about the long hair? When did that come about?

Says he wants to move up to 5k eventually. With 3:35 / 8:16 2 mile he could be a force.