Official Live Discussion Thread - Sir Walter Miler 2016. Who ya got?

Alexander, Gregorek, Merber, Palmer, Leslie, and Hunter will be up front. I'd go the Alexander or maybe Merber.

Alexander.

Hunter runs 3:56 high 3:57 and is in the mix. Chris Derrick unfortunately only runs 4:07, but he'll be back next year.

Hunter easily strides away from the others as he has done in all his other non-high school races and wins in his first professional competition!

Ohioans Alexander and Leslie go 1-2.

We've turned this into the official thread.

We imagine a lot of people will be watching the opening ceremonies or baseball tonight so hopefully we'll be able to post a mini-play by play in here (if the baseball game we're watching isn't too exciting).

Winning times? Will it be fast like the Tracktown series?

The pace setting has been slow in previous years. Sets it up for an upset. If it's fast it'll be Colby tho. He is ready to run 3:51 or 3:52. But no way the pace will be set fast enough for that to happen.

After the rabbit drops, will someone keep the train rolling or will it bunch up because no one wants to lead? If it slows we could see Drew Hunter in there for the win in 3:56 to 3:57 like last year (when they came thru 1200 in 3:00).

Any kind of play by play or synopsis would be appreciated. Great field, loads of guys will be under 4:00 unless it's blazing hot & humid. Merber has a similarly loaded field set up later this month on Long Island sponsered by Hoka with both a men's & women's field. One of those setups where everyone's on the track right in the runner's faces (a la the Grand Prix) screaming the whole race. WAY more fun than what they tried in Houston & Eugene.

Pace wrote:

The pace setting has been slow in previous years. Sets it up for an upset. If it's fast it'll be Colby tho. He is ready to run 3:51 or 3:52. But no way the pace will be set fast enough for that to happen.

After the rabbit drops, will someone keep the train rolling or will it bunch up because no one wants to lead? If it slows we could see Drew Hunter in there for the win in 3:56 to 3:57 like last year (when they came thru 1200 in 3:00).

Unless the prize money is set up to payoff the winner a lot with a sharp drop-off for remaining places, I see tonight's race being fast. At least 4 guys under 3:55 with another 6 under 4:00.

Supposed to be thunderstorms during the meet.

Yeah, thunderstorms early but looks to be ok for elite races later (9/9:30pm). Dew point of 76 there right now, yikes! They've added Mikey Brannigan to the field.

Plenty of great storylines throughout the field:

- Look for Ford Palmer to push the pace in the 3rd quarter. Pretty much created the momentum for those guys to run 3:55 in Ireland after the pacer stepped off, and he's got some ties to this race as the '14 champ.

- Merber has had a front row seat to Alexander and Gregorek taking wins over the Mile, could be his turn. Sure seems like he's progressing along with his NJNY counterparts well after a late start to the year.

- Crawford ran semis at the trials, looks like he's beginning his journey into the post-collegiate scene the same way guys like Palmer have: putting together good performances at grassroots events with good exposure. He'll get his first shot at padding that resume tonight.

- If I told you a year ago that you'd see Chris Derrick and Drew Hunter square of in a Mile, would you have believed me? Great surprise when I first heard both of these guys in there. Will be interesting to see where Hunter has this fitting in his progression, would be so much fun to see him roll with these guys if he already recovered from a long HS season. Just happy to see Derrick healthy again, last week I came across his Arcadia 5000m from back in the day, always stood out to me as a time when an athlete just captured that feeling of rolling through a race & feeling comfortable being uncomfortable. Might be a bit uncomfortable tonight, a shock to the system but a good fitness benchmark, hope to see him turn it over into a strong fall if he's aiming for it, or simply a healthy fall/winter/spring of training.

- Which Williams ya got?

- Hudgins and a few others are due for a PR, lets hope the pace is on for them to run fast.

As far as a winner? I'll take Merber, or whoever has the coolest headband. Alexander, Gregorek, Leslie will be in the mix, Crawford can get in the money too IMO.

If the rain breaks I will ride out there and flirt with the elite women.

Looks like the races don't start at 8 pm.

9:05pm – Women’s Elite Mile

Stephanie Brown – Nike

Rachel Cliff – Asics

Amanda Eccleston – Brooks

Lianne Farber – New Balance NorCal

Brook Handler – Saucony

Lauren Johnson

Heather Kampf – Asics / Team USA MN

Cory McGee – New Balance

Shannon Osika – Saucony

Sarah Rapp – Pop Up Miles Champ

Rachel Schneider – Under Armour

Nicole Tully – Hoka One One / NJ-NY TC

Morgan Uceny – adidas

Sara Vaughn – Brooks / Boulder Track Club

Steph Herrick – Central Park Track Club New Balance (pace)

9:15pm – Men’s Elite Mile (click name for bio)

Colby Alexander – Hoka One One / NJ-NY TC

Jack Bolas – NJ-NY TC

Mikey Brannigan – NYAC

Donnie Cowart – Saucony

Chris Derrick – Nike

Graham Crawford – SWHP

Johnny Gregorek – Asics

Brandon Hudgins – Vasculitis Foundation

Drew Hunter – adidas

Cory Leslie – Nike / Furman Elite

Kyle Merber – Hoka One One / NJ-NY TC

Ford Palmer – Hoka One One / NJ-NY TC

Morgan Pearson

Blake Williams – Pop Up Miles Champ

Lex Williams – Saucony

Craig Forys – Furman Elite (pace)

More info on race website:

http://sirwaltermiler.com/2016-race-day/

Chris Derrick

Quick take on the Women before we really get going:

- Lots of talk about Eccleston, but there are some other promising pro's who won't be afraid to take her on. Part of me thought during the trials that Rachel Schneider was set up to get into the rhythm of the 1500m rounds before she was tripped, and she ran fairly well in Europe. I'm looking for her, Lauren Johnson (don't forget US Champs last year), Nicole Tully (always a gamer), Uceny as well.

- One thing to add to Eccleston's story ties to Osika of Saucony: they have a great group in Michigan! Kampf too, love the athletes that can stick with their college coach and keep it rolling after school. Lots of great milers in Ann Arbor, must be nice!

- Cool to see McGee, Steph Brown, and a couple other noticeable faces on the scene out there. Maybe McGee pulls out that UF background and thrives in the heat.

Pick to win? My mind is telling my Eccleston. Schneider and Johnson will be close, Uceny too if she shows her old wheels a bit. Osika the dark horse to make some noise.

Is it only on flotrack pro?

Absolutely insane that it's $150 a year.

Does anyone have a non-Flotrack stream? Sucks to miss out on meets like these

slam wrote:

Is it only on flotrack pro?

Absolutely insane that it's $150 a year.

And with all the fans on the track, you can't see much on the stream.

I'd be happy to drive down there and stream it for free but there is no money in that i guess. The thing I don't get is i bet flotrack doesn't pay them anything so why don't they just put it on youstream for free. Or periscope it.