Emma Coburn runs fastest miler ever in Colorado - 4:38.08 at 7,771 feet no less! (race video now included)

Matt Cusick wrote:

Ms. Coburn runs 4:38 mile @ Western State University, 7700ft elev, 200m flat track, Colorado State Record

Fixed the thread title for you.

I was at the meet. It was one of the more impressive and inspiring things I've seen. Slight negative split. Aisha took the first 700m and Emma took over from there. The little fieldhouse was packed. Lots of little kids. Very cool for Emma (and Praught Leer) to show up to a local meet and interact with the fans. Never thought I'd see something like that on a flat 200 track at 7,770 ft elevation. Major props to both of the ladies.

Aisha is probably the coolest pro runner I've met. I'm not surprised she was interacting with the fans. She's always been an inspiration for my kids.

I am guessing Simpson has run considerably faster in her training runs. That being said, that is still a stout time on a track that is not easy to run on.

Any issue with there not being a curb?

Fast as hell for that altitude. What would that convert to at sea level? How much does a banked track vs flat track add?

Looks like they are both pretty fit

dfergus wrote:

Any issue with there not being a curb?

There were cones every few feet.

Fly boy wrote:

Fast as hell for that altitude. What would that convert to at sea level? How much does a banked track vs flat track add?

Looks like they are both pretty fit

The NCAA would give about 16 seconds with the flat track + altitude. There is nothing fast about the Western indoor track. It's a very nice facility and resource for the mountain schools. A 16 second conversion is probably too much for Coburn who grew up at that altitude. Seems appropriate for Praught-Leer who moved to Boulder last year and likely hasn't spent much time at that high of elevation. Both seem fit and both are running Millrose 3k.

comedyrelief wrote:

I am guessing Simpson has run considerably faster in her training runs. That being said, that is still a stout time on a track that is not easy to run on.

I'm sure you're fun at parties.

NO WAY has Jenny run a 4:38 mile at 7700' on a flat 200m track. There would be no reason to do that in training unless you are planning on doing actual competitive races at or near 7700' and you wanted to test it out.

Lookswise Aisha is the class of the field.

You don't think that the year Jenny won the world championship in the 1500 when she was living and training in Colorado Springs, probably running a lot of workouts with the cadets at the academy (which is at 7800') that she never ran faster than 4:38. I guess your right though, the Academy track is closer to 268m. She has run sub 4 for the 1500, I am sure she has probably run workouts in under 4:38 (or the equivalent over 1500m).

Pappy wrote:

Aisha is probably the coolest pro runner I've met. I'm not surprised she was interacting with the fans. She's always been an inspiration for my kids.

Not an APL fan; last year the IAAF convened a special council to deal with athletes like her.

Based on the NCAA calculator, converting to a banked track is roughly 4:35. Converting from altitude to sea level would be around 4:23 mid. About a 6 second PR for her in the mile?

Not sure where you're getting your numbers or if these are out of date but according to NCAA conversion from 2009 (pops up first on searches) the conversion is 4.5%, which is more like 11.7 seconds. Equivalence of 4:26.4. And not that's consistent with Coburn's sea level PBs outdoor, indoor, and roads (4:05 1500), 4:29 (mile), and 4:23 respectively.

numbers numbers wrote:

Not sure where you're getting your numbers or if these are out of date but according to NCAA conversion from 2009 (pops up first on searches) the conversion is 4.5%, which is more like 11.7 seconds. Equivalence of 4:26.4. And not that's consistent with Coburn's sea level PBs outdoor, indoor, and roads (4:05 1500), 4:29 (mile), and 4:23 respectively.

Plus the conversion for a flat track. Soo 15-16 seconds.

Good banked tracks are inherently faster, but that's a meh conversion.

At the end of the day we know the conversion won’t be as big for Coburn. She lived a majority of her life at 8,000+ ft. Still impressive and a fun thing she and Aisha did.

joedirt wrote:

You don't think that the year Jenny won the world championship in the 1500 when she was living and training in Colorado Springs, probably running a lot of workouts with the cadets at the academy (which is at 7800') that she never ran faster than 4:38. I guess your right though, the Academy track is closer to 268m. She has run sub 4 for the 1500, I am sure she has probably run workouts in under 4:38 (or the equivalent over 1500m).

Academy is at like 6800'-7300' depending where on the academy you are (sloped up against the mountains so the cadet area is significantly higher than both the N/S gate entrances.