Just saw an interview where Zion Williamson claimed to run a 4:55 mile in HS.

Example Luke Maye:

https://keepingitheel.com/2018/10/06/unc-basketball-andrew-platek-wins-carolina-mile/

Broke 5 this year and is 6'8 240. Still that's a far cry from the 35 pounds extra that Zion is carrying at an inch shorter. Also notably, UNC trains for and makes this a thing.

THOUGHTSLEADER wrote:

Example Luke Maye:

https://keepingitheel.com/2018/10/06/unc-basketball-andrew-platek-wins-carolina-mile/

Broke 5 this year and is 6'8 240. Still that's a far cry from the 35 pounds extra that Zion is carrying at an inch shorter. Also notably, UNC trains for and makes this a thing.

No way Maye is 6'8" lol

Who?

Huh?!?! wrote:

westsouthrunner wrote:

No. Chris Solinsky 3:57

6'1", 165lbs is considered a big guy?

For running, right?

I was actually joking but being 6'1 and about 167 lbs I do think I am a bigger runner. Still small compared to average men or athletes taht are the same height. In HS when I was 160lbs most of my competition were shorter and skinnier. I managed to beat most of them in XC but in track I could not.

Last week I was reading that Asbel Kiprop was 6'2 and 140lbs. If thats true then Solinsky is a huge guy lol

Im pretty sure the RIP hamilton story was that he was like a 4:50 mielr. Never heard the A.I> story though.

SDSU Aztec wrote:

No, he didn't. There were a lot of guys who came out for XC/Track that weighed around 150lbs that couldn't break 5:00. I ran 9:30 in HS, but took it about a year to run sub-5. There are decathletes that can't run that fast.

At my HS, distance running was considered a pus*y sport and there were guys who claimed they had run sub-5 and who thought they would beat me if they came out for XC. Before practice one day, I raced a mile against one of them and dropped him while running at about 5:10 pace. He didn't even finish.

So, some scrawny untrained no-talents at your school couldn't break 5:00, and you had to work for it, and you assume that one of the the most talent athletes on earth, in one of the most demanding sports, can't do it? You overestimate the relevance of your and your schoolmates' abilities.

I applaud you for working hard, but I am sure you know that your low talent level is not pertinent to a conversation about elite athletes. I could barely break 2 for 800 in HS, never ran for years after that, and now as a 40-something masters runner could break 5:00 any day of the week on 30mpw...and I'm not even in the conversation for medals at a good masters meet. And you think an elite athlete can't break 5??

"There are decathletes that can't run that fast" -- so?? What you need to understand is that most pro football and basketball players COULD be successful decathletes, and would if they were seriously exposed to the sport from childhood onward as a pathway to riches.

Distance DIESEL wrote:

6'7" and 275......any chance this is legit?

I would obviously say no, but it actually seems about as likely as him having M. Jordan's vertical and he has that , so who knows?

Is this the fastest 'big guy" mile on record?

Jack Bachelor was 6'7". What was his mile PR?

also like to add on to this that during my freshman year at small 1A school. Very bad coaching but we had a guy who played baseball, basketball, and ran track was 210lbs and ran 2:00 in the 800 and 18:00 in the 5k. Never raced a 1600m but would challenge me in workouts even when I ran 4:59 in the 1600. He even beat me most of the xc season(my first season ever)

westsouthrunner wrote:

Distance DIESEL wrote:

6'7" and 275......any chance this is legit?

I would obviously say no, but it actually seems about as likely as him having M. Jordan's vertical and he has that , so who knows?

Is this the fastest 'big guy" mile on record?

No. Chris Solinsky 3:57

Doubt it. And Chris Solinsky has actually run 3:54 (and 3:35).

It's not that 4:55 is that hard or whatever. It's running 4:55 at 6'7", 275 pounds with probably no training that is hard.

I knew a guy in College who was 6"-6'3 weighing about 200-250. He ran moderately with his girlfriend (who was on the XC team). He ran a 4:45 mile. I think it's possible.

What about Wilt Chamberlain?

https://web.archive.org/web/20071213024759/http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/wilt/article3.html

"Wilt is not a one-sport man, either. At Overbrook High School in Philly, he high jumped 6 feet, 6 inches, ran the 440 in 49.0 seconds and the 880 in 1:58.3, put the shot 53 feet, 4 inches, broad jumped 22 feet. Bill Easton, Jayhawks track boss, predicts Wilt will reach 7 feet in the high jump if he concentrates on it."

Assuming that there is some puffery in the story, let's say that Wilt could run a 2:05 800 (not unimaginable for an athlete like Wilt) which likely translate to something like a 4:35 - 4:40 mile. These times are from high school and he got heavier as he got older, but still managed to run marathons in his 60s....which means he had ridiculous natural endurance. If he put his mind to it, Wilt probably could have run a 4:20.

I don't believe I had a "low talent level". I always ran the fastest mile in Junior High PE and during my senior year I was the fastest guy on the XC team by about 45 seconds. I would estimate my talent level as one out of at least a hundred people. The good runners in college were probably one out of 1,000+ and guys like Salazar and Chapa were 1 Million+. If I ran 9:30 with a "low talent level" , what would a person with average ability run? 9:00?

It's possible for a great athlete not to have the ability to run a decent mile. Shaquille O'Neal was certainly an elite athlete but I doubt he could have run 5:00. Playing basketball is not as effective for distance running as specific training so Williams likely could have run under 4:40 if he had focused on the mile. That's just not possible for a 275lb man.

There are people that like to BS about their athletic accomplishments. One of my daughter's friend's father told me he ran the 880 in HS in"1:46 or 47" . I worked with a white guy who said he long-jumped 26'. To believe Willams' claim I would need more evidence than just him saying he did it

It’s not that Zion cannot run under five minutes, it’s that he did not, and I think we all agree on that.

But could he? It’s possible that he could. In HS I used to run 4:35 off of basketball fitness plus an additional 15-20 mpw. Then again, I was 155 lbs.

Richard Hamilton was in the 155 to 170 lb range when he ran his 430ish effort. Although I’ve heard from others that it was actually in the 4:40’s. Regardless, RIP had a natural propensity to endurance and weighed more than 100 lbs less than Zion.

This reminds me of that massive power lifter who said he ran a 4:20 mile and sub 16 5k, and was using those stats to do podcasts and sell running plans. Anyone remember that?

I think most agreed he couldn’t break 6, and he was only maybe 230 lbs or so.

Who cares. Dude got "Zagged" last week!! He needs another year at the college level.

Wilt is definitely the all-time leader in unsubstantiated claims (see: 20,000 women). See this reddit debunking these outlandish claims: https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/9akkos/debunking_most_every_wilt_chamberlain_track_field/

jwolff wrote:

What about Wilt Chamberlain?

https://web.archive.org/web/20071213024759/http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/wilt/article3.html

"Wilt is not a one-sport man, either. At Overbrook High School in Philly, he high jumped 6 feet, 6 inches, ran the 440 in 49.0 seconds and the 880 in 1:58.3, put the shot 53 feet, 4 inches, broad jumped 22 feet. Bill Easton, Jayhawks track boss, predicts Wilt will reach 7 feet in the high jump if he concentrates on it."

Assuming that there is some puffery in the story, let's say that Wilt could run a 2:05 800 (not unimaginable for an athlete like Wilt) which likely translate to something like a 4:35 - 4:40 mile. These times are from high school and he got heavier as he got older, but still managed to run marathons in his 60s....which means he had ridiculous natural endurance. If he put his mind to it, Wilt probably could have run a 4:20.

4:55 is not that fast. In college the basketball team would do a timed mile at the beginning of the season. Times ranged from 4:40-5:40. They all ran very uneven splits. The players all weighed less than Zion but also were significantly less athletic.

Not only do I believe Zion has run 4:55. I bet he did it like 65, 70, 83, 82

Also I bet it was a 1600 not a mile