Grant Fisher Runs 12:44.09 for 5,000m in Boston to Break His Second World Record in a Week

BOSTON — The word “quiet” is rarely used to describe the Boston University’s David Hemery Valentine Invitational. With more than 100 races unfolding over the course of almost 12 hours, there is almost always someone yelling for someone.

But at 6:35 p.m. on Friday night, quiet was the proper adjective. Heat 1 of the men’s 5,000 meters was just five minutes away, and during the small break between heats, most fans found their desire to talk overwhelmed by that wonderful sense of anticipation that precedes a major race. Boston University’s famous track has hosted American records. It has hosted world records. But never an individual world record by an American. That is why the arena had fallen close to silent, and that is what the spectators lined up around the inside of the track, outside of the track, and anywhere else in the building with a few feet of real estate were there to see.

Grant Fisher did not disappoint them.

Grant Fisher has 2 current world records to his name, Kenenisa Bekele 0.

12:44.09 for his second world record in a week! pic.twitter.com/McGci64D3V

— LetsRun.com (@letsrundotcom) February 15, 2025

Running alone for the second half of the race (aside from the runners he lapped), the 27-year-old Fisher ran 12:44.09 to slash more than five seconds off the 12:49.60 world indoor record set almost 21 years ago by all-time distance legend Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia. Fisher bettered his own outright American record of 12:46.96, set in Brussels in the summer of 2022. And he brought an end to a week unlike any other in the history of American distance running.

Exactly one week ago, you had to go back more than 20 years for the most recent world record set by an American man in a distance event: Khalid Khannouchi‘s 2:05:38 marathon in London in 2002. For a track record, further still: Sydney Maree‘s 3:31.24 1500m from 1983.

In the last seven days, American men have broken three indoor world records in distance events: Fisher’s 7:22.91 at the Millrose Games in New York on Saturday, Yared Nuguse‘s 3:46.63 mile at the same meet (which lasted just five days before Jakob Ingebrigtsen lowered the mark in Lievin), and Fisher’s 12:44.09 tonight in Boston.

Let’s repeat that, to make sure it sinks in. Grant Fisher, an American distance runner, just broke two world records in the span of a week.

Yes, Fisher gets to train in super shoes and race in superspikes. That technology has muddied the waters when it comes to comparing times across eras, but nothing is easy about running 12:44.06 indoors — that’s 4:05 pace for 3.1 miles, or an average of 30.56 seconds per lap for 25 laps. Fisher said that once pacer Henry McLuckie stepped off at 2500 meters, every lap felt 400 meters long. As he neared the finish line, they felt more like 600.

“It’s just mentally grinding,” said Fisher after the race, happy but exhausted. “There’s nothing in front of you to chase…30s for 5k is brutal on the legs and brutal on the mind. ..Running 30s by yourself sucks. It’s hard to do — hardly anyone in the world can do that.”

Fisher had no rabbit and no Wavelight to chase over the second half, only the clock and the voice of his coach Mike Scannell trying to make itself heard over the growing roar of the crowd. But that was enough. Fisher’s second half was a masterpiece: after McLuckie dropped off, he ran nine of his next 10 laps between 30.48 and 30.92 seconds. He picked it up only slightly from there, going 30.28-30.08-29.28 for his last three laps, but there was not much kick to speak of. That is what it looks like when a supreme athlete is at his absolute limit for just under 13 minutes of running.

The Race

Fisher came into the race with the plan of running 61-second 400s (12:42 pace) for as long as possible, with pacer DJ Principe to handle the early laps and McLuckie instructed to take Fisher as far as he could. After an overexcited first 400 (58.52 for Fisher), the pacers did their jobs, with Fisher passing 1600 in 4:05.01 with only French Olympian Jimmy Gressier for company. McLuckie held on for another three laps to 2200m, but let the pace slip a hair to 31.41 for his next lap and by 2500, he had stepped aside. Within a lap, Gressier had fallen off. Fisher was on his own.

Fisher celebrated with the fans after his world record in Boston

This was more pacing help than Fisher received at BU last year, when he soloed a 12:51.84 to narrowly miss the American record. And, more importantly, Fisher was in better shape than a year ago. Perhaps in better shape than he ever has been for any race — or at least one where time is the goal, rather than place.

“ I’d say my aerobic fitness is as good or better than at the Olympics (where he earned bronze medals in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters),” Fisher said. “ I was sharper at the Olympics, way sharper — I don’t have incredible closing speed right now. I’ll sharpen up in the summer.”

Fisher hit 3k in 7:39.16, 3200 in 8:10.04, and 4800 in 12:14.82 (that’s 1600m splits of 4:05.01-4:05.03-4:04.78 if you’re keeping track — are we sure this guy is not some sort of metronome?). At that point, a lap to go, Fisher knew he had the record and gave all he had to get to the line, throwing his arms out in victory once he arrived as the crowd exploded in celebration. He caught a rose from the crowd (it was Valentine’s Day, after all) and spent the next 20 minutes as a man of the people, high-fiving fans on a victory lap and taking selfies with anyone who wanted one.

Behind Fisher, Gressier held on to run 12:54.92, a 5+ second improvement from his performance on this same track two weeks ago and a European indoor record (#7 all-time on the world indoor list). Arkansas’ Yaseen Abdalla was 3rd in 13:09.99. 4th was Switzerland’s Jonas Raess, who at 13:14.03 can surely now claim the title of fastest 5,000 ever run while being lapped.

*Results

BU David Hemery Valentine Invitational 5000m results

Quick Take: This was a special night thanks to Fisher and the crowd

I’ve watched a lot of fast races at Boston University over the years, and few have had a better atmosphere than this one. Crowds at BU largely consist of athletes, coaches, and parents, and though there are no assigned seats in the arena, it is usually not hard to find a good place to watch the elite races. Particularly a 5k at the end of the day when many of the earlier competitors have filtered out.

Not tonight. By the time of Fisher’s race, word had spread of the record attempt — all spots on the rail overlooking the track were taken 15 minutes before the race and bodies lined almost the entire infield during the race as well. It made for a great atmosphere, a wall of noise that followed Fisher around the entire track and grew louder with every lap.

Of course, Fisher deserves the lion’s share of the credit for the atmosphere — it was so great largely because he was running so fast.

Quick Take: After a career year in 2024, Grant Fisher is looking even better in 2025

Fisher entered 2025 as the American record holder in the 3k, 5k, and 10k and the reigning Olympic bronze medalist in the 5k and 10k. But he made it very clear he had no intention of resting on his laurels — he still doesn’t have a global gold medal and wants one badly.

LRC What Olympic Hangover? After Career Year in 2024, Grant Fisher Is Already Thinking About How to Improve in 2025

So far, so good. Last year, Fisher ran a 2-mile at Millrose and a 5k in Boston five days later. He ran 8:03.62 (equivalent to a 7:27 3k) and 12:51.84 in those races. This year, Fisher ran a 3k at Millrose and a 5k in Boston six days later and ran 7:22.91 and 12:44.09. Fisher didn’t run faster because the race scenarios were different — in fact, they were nearly identical from 2024 to 2025. He ran (significantly) faster because he is in (significantly) better shape.

“I didn’t expect that going into the season and [coming off] the year of my life last year,” Fisher said of his two world records. “So this is a great start.”

But saying Fisher is fitter than this time last year may be selling him short. Over the last 13 days, he has run three personal bests: 3:33.99 for 1500 (previous best: 3:34.90), 7:22.91 for 3,000 (previous best: 7:25.47), and 12:44.09 for 5,000 (previous best: 12:46.96). And all of those are outright personal bests — not just indoors. Tokyo is still seven months away, but Fisher could not have started 2025 any better.

Quick Take: A truly insane week in American distance running

Fisher’s run tonight means that every major men’s American indoor middle-distance record has been broken in the last seven days — 800, 1500, mile, 3k, and 5k. Extend the window out another few weeks and you can include Josh Hoey‘s 1000m record as well. It is hard to comprehend it all.

American indoor distance records in 2025

How to explain it? The super shoes/spikes certainly help, but they have been available for five years now and these records are getting smashed. More top runners are starting to use sodium bicarbonate before races (Hoey and Fisher used it before their ARs this winter), but not all of them (Nuguse, notably, did not).

Fisher said he sees two reasons for the record boom — great athletes and a change in mentality.

We are in the midst of a golden generation of American middle distance runners. Americans went 1-3-5 in the Olympic 1500 last year and won medals in every men’s distance race on the track save for the 800 (where Bryce Hoppel ran 1:41 and finished 4th). Combine that talent with a mentality of attacking fast times during the indoor season and you’re going to get some special results.

“All the Americans that just ran really well had great Olympics,” Fisher said. “So I don’t think it’s like what’s happening right now, it’s probably what was happening this time last year that led people to run really well at the Olympics and now is leading them to have great momentum in the indoor season.”

Fisher also gave credit to Jakob Ingebrigtsen for consistently chasing fast times on the circuit and inspiring others to do the same.

“ Jakob has changed the game in a lot of ways and a lot of us are chasing him,” Fisher said. “He’s kind of the gold standard in time now. You look back 5-10 years ago, granted, the super shoes weren’t there. But you know, no one was really ripping to see how fast can they go. Jakob has raised the bar, and everyone is following it now.”

Quick Take: A truly insane week in global distance running

Fisher’s world record in Boston made it three for Americans this week and five overall once you add in Ingebrigtsen’s 1500/mile world records in Lievin on Thursday.

World indoor records in distance events in 2025

In the last 40 years, the only year that remotely compares to this sort of indoor world record spree was 1997, which also saw five men’s WRs that season — albeit not all in one week.

World indoor records in distance events in 1997

One difference between 1997 and 2025: Kipketer and Gebrselassie were already viewed as the kings of their events in 1997, with El Guerrouj (who fell at the ’96 Olympics) on his way to that status. That is not the case for Nuguse, Ingebrigtsen, and Fisher, who finished 3rd or 4th in their world record events (or equivalent) at the 2024 Olympics.

It’s also worth noting that Kipketer (in the 800) and Gebrselassie (in the 5k and 10k) would go on to set outdoor WRs later that year, while El Guerrouj would run the #2 times ever in the 1500 and mile outdoors. All three also went on to win the outdoor world title 1997. What will the outdoor season have in store for our 2025 record-breakers?

Quick Take: Mike Scannell believes Fisher has closed “a little bit” of the gap to Jakob Ingebrigtsen

Fisher is targeting gold in both the 5k and 10k at this year’s World Championships, but the 10k looks to be his better shot considering three-time defending global 10k champ Joshua Cheptegei is moving to the roads while three-time defending global 5k champ Jakob Ingebrigtsen has looked unbeatable in championship 5ks and just set a world record in the mile yesterday.

Fisher’s coach Mike Scannell has a lot of respect for Ingebrigtsen, calling him “the standard” in global distance running right now. But he also knows Ingebrigtsen is human.

“I respect that standard, but I also know it’s our job to beat that standard,” Scannell said.

Fisher finished 1.47 seconds behind Ingebrigtsen in last year’s Olympic 5,000 final. I asked Scannell whether he felt Fisher had closed any of the gap during this indoor season. Scannell said yes. But he noted that in reality, the gap between the two was greater than 1.47 seconds last year because Ingebrigtsen only did to what he needed to do to win gold in Paris.

“The gap has closed a little bit,” Scannell said. “But it’s not [1.47] is the problem. You race to win at that level.”

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