Colin Sahlman has Bigger fish to fry, On Saturday he us going for the High School And American Junior Records at1500 AND Mile Records, the plan is to be faster than 3:34.36 at 1500 Which would break Hobbs Kessler's American Junior 1500 Record And then Start Sprinting to see how far under Ryun's 3:51.3 American Junior Mile Record. Quite a Challenge props to him for trying this unique 2 Records in one race, Good Luck to him.
Douglas Burke's post is a complete fabrication. Colin Sahlman is NOT trying to break Hobbs Kessler's 3:34.36 1500 record. Nor is he trying to break Jim Ryun's 3:51.3 mile record.
Colin is completely ignoring his 1500 split and is simply trying to run the fastest mile he can.
Colin has stated that his main goal is to PR in the mile and his secondary goal is to hopefully run 3:55. He was asked if he thought he could run 3:53 and break Alan Webb's high school mile record and he said it's very unlikely.
2x as unlikely considering it will be raining with 16 mph winds when he races. Almost hoping he doesnt run as fast as he'd like, and decides to take 1 more crack at the mile vs Martin at Brooks.
Dusty...one of your worst and there have been a few...are you serious? Martin is the fastest miler of the year, he would never be the fastest 800 guy of the year, not on a bicycle..it is by far the weakest of his three marks. Martin just ran 4:01.56 this morning solo for 1600M. No one thinks Sahlman can beat Flatt or Sumner, the race or matchup is Sahlman/Martin that folks want. There is no reason at all for Martin to drop down to run an 800.
Any suggestion of such , shows a basic lack of understanding of how this works, and Sahlman could easily switch from the 800M, there is no way that HAD to be set in stone.
I would not use the word" ducking" that is pretty severe, but even if Sahlman scratches out a 3:56.x with pacers and guys to chase, no one is going to say he could surely beat Martin. No one who understands this anyway.
His brother is running the 800. It's their last high school race together. Why would he give that up? He and Martin will face each other many times in college.
(1) run the mile at Brooks PR he’d be facing off against Martin to see who the beat HS miler is
or
(2) if he really wants a fast 800 then run the 800 a couple days later at Nike and face a real test against Sumner.
Instead he races the 800 against less significant competition at Brooks (other than his brother, but they’ve races countless times)? I might not call it “ducking” but it’s on that spectrum, it makes no sense, and it’s #notgoodforthesport. I don’t even see why it’s #goodforcolin.
(1) run the mile at Brooks PR he’d be facing off against Martin to see who the beat HS miler is
or
(2) if he really wants a fast 800 then run the 800 a couple days later at Nike and face a real test against Sumner.
Instead he races the 800 against less significant competition at Brooks (other than his brother, but they’ve races countless times)? I might not call it “ducking” but it’s on that spectrum, it makes no sense, and it’s #notgoodforthesport. I don’t even see why it’s #goodforcolin.
I’m going to venture a guess at an answer at my own question:
Why do this? To preserve the value of his brand in the event he decides to turn pro before college. If he races Gary or Sumner (especially Gary) and loses, the potential value of a contract may go down and the potential bragging rights/increased value of a win not worth the risk of a loss to him.
I don’t love that answer and I hope it’s wrong. But what other answers are out there? The whole “it wasn’t his plan” makes no sense. Want a mile? Do it Wednesday. Want an 800? Do it that same weekend. It’s even in the same area. Why pick the weakest option?
(1) run the mile at Brooks PR he’d be facing off against Martin to see who the beat HS miler is
or
(2) if he really wants a fast 800 then run the 800 a couple days later at Nike and face a real test against Sumner.
Instead he races the 800 against less significant competition at Brooks (other than his brother, but they’ve races countless times)? I might not call it “ducking” but it’s on that spectrum, it makes no sense, and it’s #notgoodforthesport. I don’t even see why it’s #goodforcolin.
It’s by far the best potential mile showdown in HS history and it’s even better since Martin is likely to set a hot pace. I really don’t get why Colin is running another 800m or that one of best HS XC runners in the country is only running the 800 at CIF.
Hilarious that posters on LR know more about what an athete should do than the athlete and their coach...
Colin Sahlman gets to live his life on his terms. Lets Run posters, even if they think their reasoning makes sense, do not matter. As things stand the Sahlman Bros. will run the 800 at Brooks. Is it possible Colin could switch to the mile? It's possible but not probable. Whatever he chooses to do Colin has had a nice season, as has Gary Martin. I wish both of them well.
(1) run the mile at Brooks PR he’d be facing off against Martin to see who the beat HS miler is
or
(2) if he really wants a fast 800 then run the 800 a couple days later at Nike and face a real test against Sumner.
Instead he races the 800 against less significant competition at Brooks (other than his brother, but they’ve races countless times)? I might not call it “ducking” but it’s on that spectrum, it makes no sense, and it’s #notgoodforthesport. I don’t even see why it’s #goodforcolin.
I’m going to venture a guess at an answer at my own question:
Why do this? To preserve the value of his brand in the event he decides to turn pro before college. If he races Gary or Sumner (especially Gary) and loses, the potential value of a contract may go down and the potential bragging rights/increased value of a win not worth the risk of a loss to him.
I don’t love that answer and I hope it’s wrong. But what other answers are out there? The whole “it wasn’t his plan” makes no sense. Want a mile? Do it Wednesday. Want an 800? Do it that same weekend. It’s even in the same area. Why pick the weakest option?
That Colin has tremendous potential, is a fact that will not be affected by the results of just one race.
He's got no chance against Jakob in a race so he's not "racing" him...he's just in the same race, are you fricking serious??????
He IS ducking Martin, yes, believe it. He knows Martin will kick his butt and he doesn't want that.
In 2 years Jakob Ingebrigsten will be ducking him (Sahlman)!
LOL!!!!!! Jakob will never be ducking Colin, EVER!!!!! You guys are so ignorant on running it's almost embarrassing to be on the same boards. Colin is ducking Martin, period. Martin just ran 3:57.98, he's not moving down to the 800, Colin is clearly avoiding Martin. Are you guys on drugs or just plain stup*d?
LOL!!!!!! Jakob will never be ducking Colin, EVER!!!!! You guys are so ignorant on running it's almost embarrassing to be on the same boards. Colin is ducking Martin, period. Martin just ran 3:57.98, he's not moving down to the 800, Colin is clearly avoiding Martin. Are you guys on drugs or just plain stup*d?
Lmao idiot Colin has been in the Bowerman mile and the brooks PR 800 for about a month now, and Gary entered in way after him for brooks PR. I'm not sure what you're smoking that makes you think this is Colin ducking. Colin literally by definition cannot be ducking Martin since Colin entered first. dumb fr
Why would anyone expect Sahlman to act any different than the pros? When do our top professional runners (e.g. Grant Fisher) ever get into a race because it's a good head-to-head matchup that the fans would enjoy? They've consistently ducked each other for all the decades I've been running going back to the days of Aouita/Cram/Ovett/Coe. Nothing is ever going to change. If the pros could avoid head-to-head competition forever they would; every so often they are forced to actually race each other in the Olympics. Outside of that, everything is either a teed up easy win to get a qualifier or a totally controlled and curated time trial.
Sahlman is just preparing for his future as a professional runner. It's not his fault that our sport is so passive aggressive.
In my post above I don't mean to imply that Sahlman is ducking anyone. He's just following the plan just like everyone else, and nobody in the sport seems interested in hyping head to head matchups so these athletes and coaches just set a race schedule that meets their individual goals, and defeating other people head to head isn't factored into the equation. It's long been a practice to just compare PRs and then have endless debate about who would have won. Not the athletes' fault but I hope some of these guys decide to buck the system and seek matchups in the future.
Dusty...one of your worst and there have been a few...are you serious? Martin is the fastest miler of the year, he would never be the fastest 800 guy of the year, not on a bicycle..it is by far the weakest of his three marks. Martin just ran 4:01.56 this morning solo for 1600M. No one thinks Sahlman can beat Flatt or Sumner, the race or matchup is Sahlman/Martin that folks want. There is no reason at all for Martin to drop down to run an 800.
Any suggestion of such , shows a basic lack of understanding of how this works, and Sahlman could easily switch from the 800M, there is no way that HAD to be set in stone.
I would not use the word" ducking" that is pretty severe, but even if Sahlman scratches out a 3:56.x with pacers and guys to chase, no one is going to say he could surely beat Martin. No one who understands this anyway.
You obviously missed the mention that this race is Sahlman's PR attempt for the year and he has been building for it. Props to his coach for not reacting to childish...."ducking" accusations and keep him on the schedule they established earlier in the year. Has anyone heard if he is going to USATF Championships if he gets in? Make perfect sense running the 800 the week before if he is. Could be valuable experience for both Sahlman and Gary Martin if they get in.
How much do you wanna bet on that? Guarantee you're pretty much the only one that thinks this. He's still PRing every race so no, he's not overtrained. Be quiet with your negativity, you're wrong.
He’s probably right. Seems like these guys are overcooked. I really hope I’m wrong but I’d bet on him underachieving before him setting the track on fire at this point.
it’s not negative to use the facts and logic to make predictions.
I can't talk really maybe he just wants to hit a 1:46-1:47. I don't think he is dodging Martin. He has already proven himself. Dude he is running he Bowerman mile nothing more to say!
With all due respect, Sahlman already has a nice 1:48.8 PR, if you think he is running 1:47,x or a dream land 1:46.x, I cannot help you but neither is happening, the only race was..him and Martin, no pacers, no help, no pro set ups. Go up the coast get in a straight up head to head.
Its not just me...it;s what everyone wants to see, not some set up..again....run the race, see who is that good?Even if is a 4:02-03 HS only race with Martin. Who has run every time he has run with zero help. Martin ran another 4:01.56 today off 2:58.xx