Lol I used to literally job a sub-5 mile when I was in shape in senior year of high school.
Why does this guy think this is an achievement lol? Prob can't do more than 12 pushups.
Lol I used to literally job a sub-5 mile when I was in shape in senior year of high school.
Why does this guy think this is an achievement lol? Prob can't do more than 12 pushups.
Bad Wigins wrote:
Who’s next? wrote:
Lagat is 44 and we’d have to assume he went under 5 mins sometime around 11 or 12 years old. He’s probably going to be the one to take the record down if he’s interested.
He's 45, and he can still run sub 4, and he would do it if it weren't for all the marathon baloney.
Yea, it's pretty insane how good of genetics and lifestyle factors Lagat has got going on for aging. One of the strongest cases I know where chronological age doesn't match biological age at all.
Runs like he is 30...and looks quite a bit younger too.
2 miles sub 10 would have been an impressive streak
Birthdate wrote:
Spence is now 57.
I remember watching him win the bronze medal in the heat and humidity at the 1991 Tokyo World Championships Marathon. Followed it up with a good run for 12th at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with the flu. Great career.
No one can finish 12th in an Olympic marathon while truly suffering from influenza. Don’t be ridiculous
Smile because it happened wrote:
The legend Steve Spence took his shot at the 5 minute barrier today with a few of his athletes and alumni pacing him but came up short. He was on track for over half a mile but then slowly fell off. RIP to a legendary streak -- unless he's game to make one more final attempt tomorrow. What a legend of the sport.
I have no shitz left to give...
Article on the streaking ending here https://www.letsrun.com/news/2019/12/steve-spences-legendary-sub-500-mile-streak-comes-to-an-end-after-43-years/
LetsRun.com wrote:
Article on the streaking ending here
https://www.letsrun.com/news/2019/12/steve-spences-legendary-sub-500-mile-streak-comes-to-an-end-after-43-years/
The streaking ended?...Never knew Spence ran it naked.
Unlikely because the mile is rarely run outside of the States.
According to the IAAF website, the last time Lagat competed in the mile or 1500m was in 2015, so no he's not going to break Spence's record for consecutive years with a 5 minute mile.
Les wrote:
According to the IAAF website, the last time Lagat competed in the mile or 1500m was in 2015, so no he's not going to break Spence's record for consecutive years with a 5 minute mile.
How many of Spence's 43 mile races are on IAAF? Most have been him just time trialing on his own, hand timed.
Lagat's tempo runs are probably sub 5 min pace.
last of the chattanoogans wrote:
lmb wrote:
Tim Ensign from Chattanogga 40 years.
I paced for many of his miles. When he finally broke 5 for the 40th straight year he dove/tripped/collapsed across the line and broke his arm. hahahahahaha what a legend.
Ran for UTC back in the 80s.
seymour butttzz wrote:
Lol I used to literally job a sub-5 mile when I was in shape in senior year of high school.
Why does this guy think this is an achievement lol? Prob can't do more than 12 pushups.
The lack of respect on this website for the luminaries of our sport never ceases to amaze me. Steve Spence was a stellar athlete, is a stellar coach and should be the subject of respect from anyone who takes distance running seriously.
Les wrote:
According to the IAAF website, the last time Lagat competed in the mile or 1500m was in 2015, so no he's not going to break Spence's record for consecutive years with a 5 minute mile.
I think he ran a few sub 5s while pacing Kipchoge on the sub 2:00...
Yes it is. All hell breaks loose. The long march from 50 to 60 takes many mortals by surprise.
signed,
The Goth
Amazing streak -- sorry that it ended, glad Steve is still running & enjoying it. Time for a new streak...
Having gone to college at Shippensburg during Steve's tenure running there. He not only has become one of my favorite friends, but such an honest, hard-working,dedicated person that I have the utmost respect for. This great gentleman has done so much for Shippensburg University's track and Cross Country Programs. HE holds a Summer high schoolXc camp that just gets an amazing turnout year after year. As a self proclaimed running geek myself, there have been numerous times at Shippensburg practices that I just watched in awe as I knew big things were going to be in his future. He's a first class individual that doesn't brag and isn't all self absorbed. A true hero and legend in the PA running communities. He deserves all his success as this guy is an animal when training and abundant in talent. Steve, thanks for all the memories, fun times and excitement you brought to the sport following your amazing streak. Remember, a new streak starts today:) Also, tell Eli his streak also has started and we hope to be reading about him tying and breaking his father's record in years to come.
your buddy and former teammate ..always wishing you and your family the best. Your buddy and friend, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! All my best!!!
Scotty D.
Sorry to see it end. I have to admit I took some vicarious joy in watching him keep cracking it through his 50’s, because the 50’s and up are not kind to runners. However, perhaps it’s overshadowed qualities and values that, on the whole, are more important. In short, he’s good person and a good coach.
Here’s a snippet from the Raiders bio on him….”In his eight-year tenure as the head coach of four sports (men’s and women’s track and field and men’s and women’s cross country), Spence was named a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Coach of the Year six times. He earned conference coach of the year awards for men’s cross country in 2001, men's indoor track and field in 2003 and 2005, men's outdoor track and field in 2003 and 2004 and in women's outdoor track and field in 2005. He was also named the NCAA Division II East Regional Men's Track and Field Coach of the Year honors in 2003, 2004 and 2005.”
From a 2013 interview. Talks about having the flu at the Olympics in 1992, etc. Worth reading.
Steve Spence finished in third place at the 1991 World Championships Marathon in Tokyo, Japan in sweltering conditions in 2:15:36 and earned a Bronze Medal. He was a member of the 1992 United States Olympic team in the marathon where he finished 12th in Barcelona, Spain in 2:15:21. Steve won the 1992 Olympic Trials Marathon with a time of 2:12:43. He finished first overall at the 1990 U.S. Marathon Championships in Columbus, Ohio in his personal best time of 2:12:17. His major victories include the Jacksonville River Run 15k twice, the Bay to Breakers 12k and the Citrus Bowl Half Marathon. Steve had several big second place finishes including at the Lilac Bloomsday 12k, the Falmouth Road Race, the Cascade Run Off 15k, the Gasparilla 15k and the Philadelphia Half Marathon. He has run a sub-5:00 mile for 38 consecutive years. Steve is a 1985 graduate of Shippensburg University where he was a five-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference champion, seven-time NCAA Division II All-American and won NCAA Division II National Championships at 5,000 meters outdoors in 1984 and indoors in 1985. He graduated from Lower Dauphine High School in Hummelstown, PA in 1980 where highlights include a Pennsylvania Class 3A State Mile title in 1980 in 4:12. His personal best times include: 5k road - 13:43, 5k track - 13:56; 8k -22:56; 10k - 28:11; 12k - 34:19; 15k - 42:40; Half Marathon - 1:02:09 and Marathon - 2:12:17. Steve is currently the Head Cross Country Coach and Assistant Track Coach at Shippensburg University where he has been named PSAC Coach of the Year numerous times. He resides in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania with his wife, Kirsten. They have three daughters, Neely, Margeaux and Reynah and a son, Eli.
Even though I wasn’t recovered from the Trials yet, I started pushing myself into the training. In hindsight that wasn’t a good move and I went into the Olympics fit, but my body was on the edge of breaking down. So my health wasn’t that great to begin with and getting the flu on top of that pushed me over the edge. It was frustrating. The night before the marathon I went in and saw the doctors. I still had a fever and they wanted to know when I last ate. I told them I had been trying to eat but was not able to keep food down. I was trying to hydrate and we talked about the situation. The doctors recommended that I not even start the race. I wanted to at least go to the starting line and start to get the experience. They weren’t real agreeable with that. But that night my fever broke and when I awoke the bed was soaked. Fortunately they were serving food in the Olympic Village 24 hours a day so I went down to the cafeteria in the middle of the night because I felt like eating. I loaded up on fluids and foods and met with the doctors in the morning. They immediately noticed I looked better, probably since I was no longer as white as a sheet. We talked and they agreed that if I could load up on some fluids and get some food in me that it would be okay for me to start the marathon, run until it passed the Olympic Village about halfway and then step off of the course, get a shower and watch the last half of the race on television.
I came through the half marathon point and was hanging out in the back of a big pack. No one had made a move yet and the pace still seemed comfortable. I saw the medical personnel and I said, ‘Hey, I think I’m going to run a few more miles and see how I feel.’ They weren’t real happy with that, but went a few miles up the course. At that point the race did break open, but we entered Barcelona and the roads were very narrow with us making turns every few blocks. In some cases we were running through alleyways that were only one lane wide. I didn’t know where I stood in the race, but from 20 miles on I was running with Ed Eyestone and Bob Kaimpainen and we were passing lots of runners. We would work from one group to another. We saw a group ahead of us and thought maybe it was the medal spot so we were pushing forward. I never felt bad so I just stayed in the race. We got to the bottom of Montjuic with about three kilometers to go and that was the first time I heard what place we held. People were saying stuff before but I didn’t understand them, so this was the first time I heard that we were in 12th place. I passed one person up the mountain and he passed me back on the track. In hindsight it was not smart to finish the race as I ended up in the medical facility under the stadium during the Closing Ceremonies. I required an IV which I had never needed in a marathon before.
fan of the sport wrote:
The lack of respect on this website for the luminaries of our sport never ceases to amaze me. Steve Spence was a stellar athlete, is a stellar coach and should be the subject of respect from anyone who takes distance running seriously.
Trolls take nothing seriously. You just ignore them. Acknowledging this idiots post was a waste of time and just encourages him and other like him to keep posting.
The trolls are here wrote:
fan of the sport wrote:
The lack of respect on this website for the luminaries of our sport never ceases to amaze me. Steve Spence was a stellar athlete, is a stellar coach and should be the subject of respect from anyone who takes distance running seriously.
Trolls take nothing seriously. You just ignore them. Acknowledging this idiots post was a waste of time and just encourages him and other like him to keep posting.
He's a great athlete and a great coach. I think he should be more famous for his bronze in the marathon at the world championships. It's dumb he's more famous for his 43 year streak of sub 5.