Lagat ran sub-3:55 for the mile at age 40. Willis is the same age as Webb and ran sub-4 indoors this year. Being almost 40 gives you a break of 5-10 seconds not 40+.
for those who keep training/competing, sure, but Webb hasn't. this was just a fun outing for him that some of us were excited about due to nostalgia.
and to those giving him a hard time about his life choices and views, i feel you. not really my cup of tea either and seems like he could've leveraged his success a lot better, but to be fair my life is fkn mess too so i sure ain't judging.
i'm happy for him if he's generally happy/content with his current role in life.
That’s a fair assessment of his result, I just don’t think we should be going crazy like it’s unheard of for someone in their late 30s to run roughly a 4:35 mile. I’m almost Webb’s age and probably wouldn’t be able to get within 50 seconds of my 1500 PR right now, so good for him. But I was never close to his level and reckon I could muster the same time he had with 4-6 months of training.
He is 40 or close to it. Not bad!!! A solid kick he is running a 4:28 mile.
Lagat ran sub-3:55 for the mile at age 40. Willis is the same age as Webb and ran sub-4 indoors this year. Being almost 40 gives you a break of 5-10 seconds not 40+.
That’s only true for runners that never took a long break from competitive running. The story was that Ryun ran 60mpw during the 2 years prior to turning 40, but barely broke 4:30 for the mile.
Lagat ran sub-3:55 for the mile at age 40. Willis is the same age as Webb and ran sub-4 indoors this year. Being almost 40 gives you a break of 5-10 seconds not 40+.
That’s only true for runners that never took a long break from competitive running. The story was that Ryun ran 60mpw during the 2 years prior to turning 40, but barely broke 4:30 for the mile.
that blows my mind. lost 40 seconds?
here's something from SI in 96:
Today, at 49, Ryun still looks every inch a classic middle-distance runner, standing 6'3" and weighing 185, about 12 pounds more than he did on our cover. He often runs several miles a day, recently clocking a 5:53 road mile-
Jim Ryun, four days short of his 40th birthday, ran with Nnenna Lynch, Shola's younger sister and a 15-year-old sophomore at Hunter College High School. When Ryun became the first schoolboy to run a sub-four-minute mile in 1964, Nnenna was not even born. The younger Lynch nipped Zutshi in 10:51 to win the women's 2-mile event. . Ryun toured the course in 9:51, good enough for sixth place among the men. ''By the time I hit the finish chute, I knew I had more left,'' Ryun said. ''I can remember thinking years back that when you get to age 25 or 26 it's time to get a real job. I'm thankful that I've been able to run so long.''
It’s highly irresponsible for him to seed himself at 3:30. Wasn’t he a coach? Webb should know not to used 15 year old seed numbers. it’s an irritating part of the job to sort fake entry times when seeding a meet.
I remember when Alan was a strong age group swimmer in Reston who converted to running at South Lakes. He was nearly state champion in cross country as a frosh in a state, Virginia, that had many competitive programs and a rich history. He was an immense talent and still has the U.S. mile record. We locals remember his astounding 13:57 solo from the gun time at Burke Lake Park over a 2.98 mile cross country course, a time still 22 seconds ahead of 50 years of runners including some sub 4:05 milers and eventual US national Junior or Senior team members. He will forever be a U.S. all timer.
Now, as a 39 year old with a young family and no recent races, a 4:15 would be pretty remarkable and among the best his age in the U.S. for 39 year olds who have talent plus 2 full years of recent training. I figure 4:25 and lots of graciousness and happiness about still being fast and not broken after his 10+ years of super intensive training. I wonder if this means Alan will be a masters runner who inspires many others to do the same and helps popularize the sport that way as Bill Rogers did for an earlier generation. He’s got the talent plus the sociability and genuine interest in others to fill that role if he wants it. I am rooting for him, once again.
Although I always laugh at posts about how "Fast" retired runners run (I think it's a whisper contest and does anyone really care?), this post is genuinely pretty cool. It's nice to read about how former elite runners were able to connect with the community they came from and how their success was appreciated and how it influenced people. Alan certainly was a Rock Star, and was fun to watch when he was in his prime. That being said, let's not tarnish his past achievements with meaningless banter of running a 4:13 1500m. I hope Alan realizes that his ship has sailed and that he can happily ride off into the sunset and look back on a great career.
I remember when Alan was a strong age group swimmer in Reston who converted to running at South Lakes. He was nearly state champion in cross country as a frosh in a state, Virginia, that had many competitive programs and a rich history. He was an immense talent and still has the U.S. mile record. We locals remember his astounding 13:57 solo from the gun time at Burke Lake Park over a 2.98 mile cross country course, a time still 22 seconds ahead of 50 years of runners including some sub 4:05 milers and eventual US national Junior or Senior team members. He will forever be a U.S. all timer.
Now, as a 39 year old with a young family and no recent races, a 4:15 would be pretty remarkable and among the best his age in the U.S. for 39 year olds who have talent plus 2 full years of recent training. I figure 4:25 and lots of graciousness and happiness about still being fast and not broken after his 10+ years of super intensive training. I wonder if this means Alan will be a masters runner who inspires many others to do the same and helps popularize the sport that way as Bill Rogers did for an earlier generation. He’s got the talent plus the sociability and genuine interest in others to fill that role if he wants it. I am rooting for him, once again.
Although I always laugh at posts about how "Fast" retired runners run (I think it's a whisper contest and does anyone really care?), this post is genuinely pretty cool. It's nice to read about how former elite runners were able to connect with the community they came from and how their success was appreciated and how it influenced people. Alan certainly was a Rock Star, and was fun to watch when he was in his prime. That being said, let's not tarnish his past achievements with meaningless banter of running a 4:13 1500m. I hope Alan realizes that his ship has sailed and that he can happily ride off into the sunset and look back on a great career.
I'm sure he knows he had a great career, as he retired years ago
But this is for fun, same reason he ran in high school, just to compete for fun
It’s highly irresponsible for him to seed himself at 3:30. Wasn’t he a coach? Webb should know not to used 15 year old seed numbers. it’s an irritating part of the job to sort fake entry times when seeding a meet.
Uh fake? No sir. He ran that.
Most meets ask for seed times to be achieved within the last 12-18 months. What time should he use to seed himself in the next meet?
Stupid question...is he for real? Or is all this stuff just an act to fire people up? Is he just a really funny dude and this is him doing his version of The Onion?
