Not so fast Mary Cain - Japanese HS jr runs 9:06 3k

Rojo--

Without taking anything at all away from Cain's run, the fastest-ever high school girls' 3000 m time, 8:48.16, was set last October by Mary Waithira of Sendai Ikuei H.S., the same school that found Sammy Wanjiru. The Japanese high school record is also 8:52.33 by Yuriko Kobayashi in 2005. It'd be great to see Cain get under 9 and closer to those marks.

http://www.rikujyokyogi.co.jp/DATA/record03.htm

Uehara didn't actually run 9:06 at the Women's Ekiden, but a 9th grader, Nozomi Takamatsu, did run a 9:10 course record on one of the 3.0 k stages.

...and Zola Budd ran 8:39 at age 16

http://runsub4.com/2011/05/26/age-group-track-and-field-world-records/

why is that not the hs record? Was she not in school by then?

Wow, Brett, thanks for that info. I assume those Ekiden stages are measured precisely, 9:10 for a 9th grader !!!

Having said that, with a reasonable progression, it would be no surprise to see Mary Cain run well under 8:50 by June of 2014, while still in High School.

Sorry, that should have read "Kenyan" for Waithira's time.

Eh. Where did she run it? The RSA trials? Actually I dont really doubt the that time...Budd is proven commodity, but Ekidens?!? Please lets everyone stop with that.

The Japanese girl cited did indeed run 8th at the WJC...in 9:21.

agip wrote:

...and Zola Budd ran 8:39 at age 16

http://runsub4.com/2011/05/26/age-group-track-and-field-world-records/

why is that not the hs record? Was she not in school by then?

It may have been that she was South African.

"Budd achieved fame in 1984, at the age of 17, when she broke the women's 5000 metres world record with a time of 15:01.83.[3] Since her performance took place in South Africa, then excluded from international athletics competition because of its apartheid policy, the International Amateur Athletic Federation refused to ratify Budd's time as an official world record."

In any case, while Cain is a wonderful talent and Baxter is a wonderful talent, could either run 8:39 this year or 15:01 next year?

She could break the Age 17 record of 4:32.73 possibly in late spring/summer

Understood that until she runs 8:48 or better not really anywhere near par with Zola at that age in the 3K-5K.

(8:37 and 15:01! at age 17) Didn't realize how incredible she really was.

Just let her run and have fun, plenty of time ahead of her to set PR's and break records. I hope she runs at least one year of college before turning pro.

On the theme of young women running fast, here is a performance that is often overlooked. In 1972, in the Olympic 1500 m. heats, 17 year old Canadian Glenda Reiser ran 4:06! So, 40 years ago, and the 1500 for women was fairly "new", and Glenda was just coming off a swimming background (same as Mary, I notice).

Also, what's the point of the lame headline "not so fast Mary Cain" ... ? I understand you're trying to say there are other fast girls around the world her age (which everyone already knows), but "not so fast Mary Cain" makes an implication that doesn't exist. Like she bragged about it or made some spoken claim to greatness. Hey, she's just out there running. It's us message board geeks who make a big deal of it, or not. You should really lose the dumb headline.

Unfortunately, Glenda never improved upon that 4:06 in the Munich heats, and sadly passed away at 52 a few years back.The special thing about Mary is the sense that this is the beginning, not the culmination of a long, strong career.

alejandro wrote:

On the theme of young women running fast, here is a performance that is often overlooked. In 1972, in the Olympic 1500 m. heats, 17 year old Canadian Glenda Reiser ran 4:06! So, 40 years ago, and the 1500 for women was fairly "new", and Glenda was just coming off a swimming background (same as Mary, I notice).

"Ekidens? Please let's everyone stop with that."

This is a pretty ignorant comment. Just because high school girls in the US don't run ekidens doesn't mean they are not big, important, well organized, perfectly measured races in other countries - like Japan. For many Japanese high schoolers, a major ekiden will be the highlight of the year - not some track race.

And actually, ekiden times are even more impressive, because you don't start out with other runners (except for the first leg) - you are running mostly by yourself. And no fans next to the track, no coach yelling at you and giving you splits every lap.

And believe me, at Japanese ekidens, the times are recorded precisely - this is Japan.

Her 9:06 wasn't from the Ekiden. She ran it back in June. She ran a 6K leg in the Ekiden referenced. Here are her PBs:

http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/japan/miyuki-uehara

agip wrote:

...and Zola Budd ran 8:39 at age 16

http://runsub4.com/2011/05/26/age-group-track-and-field-world-records/

why is that not the hs record? Was she not in school by then?

Would not be admissable as SA records excluded at that time

I don't understand the ' not so fast' headline here as Cain in still faster

Mary Cain will out kick her all day in a tactical race. What's with the not so fast Rojo? I think Mary Cain is plenty fast.

I think that "Not so fast, Mary Cain" is supposed to mean:

Not that Mary Cain is not fast, but rather,

Don't be too quick to say that Mary Cain's race was the best HS performance of all time.

Tokyoracer wrote:

I think that "Not so fast, Mary Cain" is supposed to mean:

Not that Mary Cain is not fast, but rather,

Don't be too quick to say that Mary Cain's race was the best HS performance of all time.

I was pretty sure Letrun originally implied that Mary Cain's 9:02 was the best US performance of all time. You're stretching the argument a bit by adding in an international level.

Let's compare apples to apples.

ifififi wrote:

Also, what's the point of the lame headline "not so fast Mary Cain" ... ? I understand you're trying to say there are other fast girls around the world her age (which everyone already knows), but "not so fast Mary Cain" makes an implication that doesn't exist. Like she bragged about it or made some spoken claim to greatness. Hey, she's just out there running. It's us message board geeks who make a big deal of it, or not. You should really lose the dumb headline.

Well said, ifififi. I second that motion.

I fail to see the problem with the headline actually.