Which pro runner had the slowest high school times?

A person that start with almost all endurance genetic variants won't be able to become a sprinter with a typical sprinting program because it will be a constant battle to activate the sprinting versions. Even a 40 minute walk will for him be to much if he wants to be a 100 meter runner.

Here is proof that you are wrong. Reed's times his freshman year of college:

10k - 30:27

5k - 14:57

Those are pretty darn good for a freshman, the USATF U20 10k standard is normally around 32 minutes so he was far ahead of that as a 19 year old.

Fischer was only 18 when he ran those times. He could have been a high school senior running those, then this obsession would not exist.

albanese wrote: Reed's times his freshman year of college:

10k - 30:27

5k - 14:57

Those are pretty darn good for a freshman, the USATF U20 10k standard is normally around 32 minutes so he was far ahead of that as a 19 year old.

The times were from outdoor T&F, after one full year of college coaching. Add them to my list of progression from an early HS 24 min 5k guy to a 16 min 5k (XC) senior to a 14:57 college freshman, you can see he got faster and faster and faster.

Talent/innate ability is the ability to run fast without extensive training. Fischer had low talent, but put in the work year after year to get where he got.

His mile time in college as freshman? 4:32. 12th place. If he was soooo talented, he would be much faster over the mile, a race where VO2MAX is the main predictor of performance. No, he ran 30:30 and 15:00 off 4:30 mile ability, which shows a tremendous amount of hard work and mental strength in addition to his unique muscle fiber physiology. Like someone said, his threshold is very high and he is racing long distances at a very high % of his max heart rate and his VO2MAX. Many runners can improve these areas, with the right attitude towards the sport and right training (Fischer got very lucky to have great coaches allowing him to get better and better each year).

The ability to run fast without extensive training is a talent. It is not the only talent.

14:57 and 30:27 as an 18 year old. The more I think about it, the more I realize what a talent he is. I used to think he got to where he is through hard work but now realize that he has much more talent for long distance running than his peers. He has underperformed most of his career and should be disappointed if does not run 2:08 during his career. Too bad he wasted most of his high school career screwing off but he still has time to get serious.

Doesn't the OP and/or everybody else realize that all the very best distance runners never ran for a high school and don't have high school PRs?

He was 18 when he ran those times, very well could have still been in high school. Reed as a college freshman was younger than Verzbikas his senior year. If he was in high school, it would have been one of the fastest high school 10k times in American high school history. Clearly Reed Fischer was one of the top talents in the nation.

It's also clear he wasn't very serious about athletics until the summer going into his senior. You don't drop 1 minute in the 3200 going from junior to senior year if you've been training seriously since starting high school.

n of one/1 wrote:

It's also clear he wasn't very serious about athletics until the summer going into his senior. You don't drop 1 minute in the 3200 going from junior to senior year if you've been training seriously since starting high school.

He said in the podcast the turning point was the end of his sophomore year, where they offered an 8th spot on the varsity team and took him on it. Then he started training during the summer, and later also in the cold Minnesota winter.

From sophomore to junior, he improved from 5:00 to 4:40 and 10:50 to 10:20.

Point is still, there are many freshman in the 21-24 min 5k range who think it's pointless to keep running and quit the sport. Who knows how fast they would have been able to get? Reed Fischer is a great idol for all these "slow" HS kids without many FT fibers that get dropped in anything short because they don't have great talent (or "innate ability") or leg speed. They might have aerobic talent, for the longer distances that takes a lot of training and time to show.

Exactly the example OP was looking for. 4:30 HS miler to 61 half marathon, 28 low 10k and serious contender for top 3 at marathon trials.

asafa powell was relatively slow, 11.45 @17. next year though he did 10.5. another 4 years and new wr 9.77

I am sticking with Karissa Schweizer. 90 seconds of improvement and American record holder in the 3000. Reed Fischer doesn't come close to that nor does anyone else.

Ironically, her little brother ran 1:50-4:04 in HS but has not matched those times in 4 years at Notre Dame.

Cam Levins should be added to the list.

putting aside all of this "is reed fischer talented" nonsense, sure, i'll give you that he's a decent example for this thread.

however he's far from the best. brian sell was quite a bit slower than reed at 3200 and he actually went to the olympics.

FinnJ wrote:

Some runners start with most of their endurance gene variants activated. Others start with speed or a mix. Those with the opposite of what is required in their event will use longer time to become as good as they can be. That has nothing to do with talent. Talent is what you get with full trained genetic expression.

"Some runners start with most of their endurance gene variants activated."

What?