Drew Hunter 3:34.8 at Sunset tonight for 4th. Looks like he’s finally switching back to the 1500 from the 5000. If he stays healthy, could we see him running 3:33 or even 3:32 by next summer? Could he make the US team?
It’s still a major uphill battle. Realize he didn’t make the final this year. Hocker and Nuguse will be back with a vengeance, Davis looks for real, Teare is legit. We’ll see with Kessler, the reigning NCAA champ, Engels and others who could be heard from.
Happy for Drew, but why is Under Armour hosting a track meet on the same night as the beginning of the World Championships?? That’s messed up. All the attention for the next week should be on the athletes competing in Eugene.
Hunter is and always been a 5000m runner. Easier to climb out of the pit for 1500m than 5000m. Once he gets the chance to do more of the right work ( and eats a bit healthier) he'll be somewhere around 3:32/ 12:58.
He's not Fernandez talent but he is awfully close.
How do you reasonably expect Hunter to go both from 3:34 to 3:32 (a big jump, but possible if he has a good day) as well as from 13:17 to 12:58 (not even in the same area code)???
So happy for Drew! After his races earlier this season I was thinking he'd be stuck in the injury cycle for the rest of the season, but I'm glad I was wrong. 3:34 is a great result, it looks like he's been really putting things together since December, and if he stays healthy, I think a 3:31 is possible next summer. That seems really fast, but if you asked me after he ran 13:53 indoors, I would've said 3:34 is out of the question this year. With his improvement curve from this year, I wouldn't be surprised if he dropped a 3:33 this summer.
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This is ridiculous. I'm super glad he's having some success at the 1500 now. I always thought that was his best event, and it's nice to see that vindicated! He never looked comfortable at 5k, and a jump from 13:17 to 12:58 is almost impossible for a 25 year old. Not going to happen. Could he shave a couple seconds off his 1500 and run 3:32? Maybe not, but it's not impossible. Go miler Drew!
Absolutely terrible take. His last several years of results say he’s a 1500m runner. He has run some solid 5,000m races but to be a good 1500m runner you need to be running some solid mileage and have good strength. The guys who will medal at worlds this week will likely be capable of running close to 13 minutes if not faster. The Olympic champ is a 12:48 guy. Ollie Hoare, arguably the second best miler in the world, is a 13:09 guy and can probably run faster. Drew is a miler. When he trains like one and competes like one, he gets the results we expect.
They are not seeking attention they are trying to give the athletes who were not able to make teams a chance to keep racing. 10 days is a long time to have zero domestic races right when athletes are in peak shape.
Hunter is clearly a 1500/5000m runner and is capable of being equally good at both distances. Even if he were to focus on just one of the distances, his training would be the same.
Happy for Drew, but why is Under Armour hosting a track meet on the same night as the beginning of the World Championships?? That’s messed up. All the attention for the next week should be on the athletes competing in Eugene.
They are not seeking attention they are trying to give the athletes who were not able to make teams a chance to keep racing. 10 days is a long time to have zero domestic races right when athletes are in peak shape.
Thanks, that’s a good point I hadn’t considered. The July 2 and July 9 meets make sense when I look at it that way but I still think it’s strange and borderline disrespectful to hold a separate meet during the World Championships, especially when the US is hosting. We wouldn’t see a shoe company hosting exhibition basketball games during the NBA Finals for players who’ve teams have been eliminated.
This is ridiculous. I'm super glad he's having some success at the 1500 now. I always thought that was his best event, and it's nice to see that vindicated! He never looked comfortable at 5k, and a jump from 13:17 to 12:58 is almost impossible for a 25 year old. Not going to happen. Could he shave a couple seconds off his 1500 and run 3:32? Maybe not, but it's not impossible. Go miler Drew!
Hunter is clearly a 1500/5000m runner and is capable of being equally good at both distances. Even if he were to focus on just one of the distances, his training would be the same.
I agree he's a strength-based 1500 runner. I don't think he's durable enough to put in the training needed to be a top class 5k runner. The 1500 allows him to have a bit lighter training load and let his talent carry him the rest of the way. You can't do that in a 5k. I don't understand how you think his training would be the "same" for both distances...similar maybe, but not the same
They are not seeking attention they are trying to give the athletes who were not able to make teams a chance to keep racing. 10 days is a long time to have zero domestic races right when athletes are in peak shape.
Thanks, that’s a good point I hadn’t considered. The July 2 and July 9 meets make sense when I look at it that way but I still think it’s strange and borderline disrespectful to hold a separate meet during the World Championships, especially when the US is hosting. We wouldn’t see a shoe company hosting exhibition basketball games during the NBA Finals for players who’ve teams have been eliminated.
If the Underarmour event can draw bigger interest than the World Champs then the sport needs to re-evaluate. Free market. Why protect an outdated format?
Hunter is clearly a 1500/5000m runner and is capable of being equally good at both distances. Even if he were to focus on just one of the distances, his training would be the same.
I agree he's a strength-based 1500 runner. I don't think he's durable enough to put in the training needed to be a top class 5k runner. The 1500 allows him to have a bit lighter training load and let his talent carry him the rest of the way. You can't do that in a 5k. I don't understand how you think his training would be the "same" for both distances...similar maybe, but not the same
If the training is different how was El G able to win both distances in the Olympics and Moorcroft to run 3:49 and 13:00 PRs 10 days apart. 13:00 is 4:11 mile pace and that requires serious speed work.
I agree he's a strength-based 1500 runner. I don't think he's durable enough to put in the training needed to be a top class 5k runner. The 1500 allows him to have a bit lighter training load and let his talent carry him the rest of the way. You can't do that in a 5k. I don't understand how you think his training would be the "same" for both distances...similar maybe, but not the same
If the training is different how was El G able to win both distances in the Olympics and Moorcroft to run 3:49 and 13:00 PRs 10 days apart. 13:00 is 4:11 mile pace and that requires serious speed work.
1500 only training is different from 1500/5k training which is different from 5k only training. My point is that Drew cannot seem to handle 1500/5k training or 5k only training, as his recent 5k results have shown
I’m sure Drew can improve his 5000, but to what end? The 5 globally/domestically is stacked. Abdi Nur, Nico are on the come-up. Fisher, Kincaid, McGorty, Teare are going to be around. To make the final at worlds 12:59 shape is the floor. Better to explore the 1500 for now, unless he’s able to really build a monster base without injury this winter.