Is altitude real?⏱
Lap 47: Sponsored by COROS
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In defense of altitude conversions
Did you think last year was a fluke or something? In his first race back on the track since qualifying for the Olympics, Yared Nuguse immediately reminded everyone that he’s one of the best middle distance runners in the country. After a controlled first half on home turf, the Notre Dame senior opened things up to run 3:54.46 — a new personal best and the fastest mile in the world this year. Surely that means it’s also the fastest time in the NCAA, right? Well…
The Northern Arizona Skydome holds a 300m flat track that sits just below 7,000 feet. Altitude aside, for an oversized track it’s not particularly quick, with extended straight aways and tight turns. That said, the mile at the Lumberjack Team Challenge was set up as a sub-four attempt — something that’s somehow never happened in Flagstaff! Considering the number of elite athletes that have lived and trained at such elevations, you’d think somebody would have done it by now, even if by accident.
But no! In fact, no athlete has ever officially broken the barrier above 6,000 feet. Kip Keino still holds the record for highest to ever do it; way back in 1967 he ran 3:59.5 at 5,889 feet in Nairobi.
Receiving marquee billing for the assault on sub-4 at ~7k was NAU alum and current HOKA athlete Luis Grijalva. Although the Guatemalan Olympian has never broken four minutes before, his 1500m best of 3:35 converts to well below, and after the decorated career he’s enjoyed thus far, he’s clearly someone who is more than capable.
But sitting just off the opening pace of 1:58 through 800m and waiting in the wings until the final 200m was the current Lumberjack, Nico Young. Compared to the Newbury Park version of himself, collegiate Young is almost unrecognizable. His form has really smoothed out, as the hills of Buffalo Park are inclined to do. And while he may be better known for his 5000-10000m abilities, Young’s name currently sits atop the NCAA descending order list for the mile — 4:02.89 3:54.07!
If you’re new around here, let me explain: it’s harder to run distance races at altitude because there is less oxygen in the air. In a world where the 16th fastest athletes automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships, it’s important to create a level playing field in that process.
Depending on how high the track sits and how long the race is, a formula is used to calculate an equivalent time at sea level. Anything above 3,000 feet is considered altitude — and just as the charts may assist races 800m and up, time is actually added to races 400m and below (since it’s easier to sprint in thin air). Schools at altitude may not have the resources to exclusively compete at sea level and therefore most coaches accept these adjustments as a necessary evil in a world of topographical disparity.
Controversy over, right? Well, every few years a race will be run up on a mountain somewhere and the conversion will irk the newest group of sea level-trained college kids.
Admittedly, I was one of them once. I remember Pat Casey’s 4:04 getting converted down to 3:59 in 2010 and calling bullshit. It happened again in 2014 when Anthony Rotich’s 4:01 magically became a 3:55…and then he won the NCAA title for UTEP. The same thing happened in 2019 when NAU’s Geordie Beamish ran a 4:06.9 (on the same track as Nico) — that apparently translates to a 3:57.9. Eyes rolled, but a 53.5 final 400 to win NCAAs silenced the criticism.
But my all-time favorite public outcry for an altitude conversion was in 2015 when Cristian Soratos ran 4:05.18 in Bozeman, Montana. But those circumstances opened up a whole other can of worms because not only was Soratos’s run at 4,800 feet, but it was on a flat 200m track, which is worth even more bonus points! His “3:56.8” was validated a month later when he ran a 10-second personal best to win the Husky Invite in 3:55.2. Unfortunately, unlike so many of these low oxygen boys, Soratos didn’t prove his doubters wrong via an NCAA title, but he did do this instead, and that was probably worth more money anyway.
All this is not to say that Nico will beat Yared at NCAAs — it’s likely they won’t even race. But it hopefully gives Young’s mark some credence and encourages the skeptics to respect altitude conversions a bit more. These aren’t completely fabricated numbers that put sea level athletes at a disadvantage.
And let’s quickly address the potential counterpoint that athletes who live and train at altitude deserve a different conversion than those who don’t. Maybe that’s true. But basically, those are the only athletes who are affected. There simply aren’t many — any? — teams whose coach is regularly flying athletes from sea level to altitude for the weekend in hopes of fast times and friendly conversions. I’d suggest if you’re trying to game the system, then Dartmouth’s almost perfectly circular flat track is probably a better option.
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Great Ethiopian Run 🇪🇹
Since NCAA qualification wasn’t on the line, there was no need for an NCAA-style altitude conversion at the Great Ethiopian Run 10k, held in Addis Ababa this past weekend. But for the curious, let’s have some fun. If instead of being run at 7,700 feet, the race was actually hosted by my parents on Long Island, then Yalemzerf Yehualaw’s 31:17 would have been worth about 29:18 — 25 seconds under the world record.
Initially there was an error in the results that listed her time as 30:14. If you do the math, that converts to 28:25. It would have been arguably the greatest performance by a female distance runner of all-time, and hell, maybe in the running for most impressive thing ever done in running, period. The fact that for a couple days we all thought Yehualaw ran “the equivalent of” a sub-29 10k and no one’s heads blew up is further testament to the cynical attitudes surrounding altitude adjusted times.
I digress. This is a great showing for Yehualaw, who has had an interesting last few months.
After setting what she thought was the half marathon world record (1:03:44) in Antrim, the race ended up not being ratified because the course was found to be 54 meters short. Shortly thereafter, Yehualaw repeated that performance, this time on a properly measured course in Valencia, posting a (1:03:51) to dip under the previous WR mark. However, Letesenbet Gidey beat her to it by a minute in the same race! And a couple weeks ago, ahead of a world record 10km attempt, she failed a Covid test. Yehualaw has ticked just about every box in Unlucky Runner Bingo, so congrats on the much-deserved win!
On the men’s side, Gemechu Dida won in a sprint finish in 28:24 over Getaneh Molla. While Dida hasn’t raced abroad too much, he won the 5000m in Heusden, Belgium, this summer in 13:14. Oftentimes African runners don’t have equal opportunities to get into fast international races. That’s why the best way to predict who the next breakout star might be is to look at how someone fares in head-to-head matchups. Beating a 2:03 marathoner to the line is a solid indicator of future potential.
Remember the name 🍑
Will Sumner — The Georgia high school senior is on a tear this indoor season. As a junior he ran 21.5/47.0/1:51.6 and for good measure let’s include his 4:32 mile. Two weeks ago he broke a ten-year-old national record by a half second when he ran 500m in 1:01.25, which is impressive, but even more impressive was the way he ran it. This was not a 400m followed by 100m of holding on for dear life — he crushed the last straightaway.
Then this week Sumner broke another of Strymar Livingston’s old high school records when he ran 600m in 1:15.58. If you’re not familiar with the distance, that time is just outside the American top-10 list. I mean… in 2016, Boris Berian ran 1:15.51 as his tune up before winning the Indoor World Championship 800! Once again, it was the way Sumner ran the race that left people talking — he closed in 25.9!
If you’re from Georgia you’re probably celebrating that he’s going to be a Bulldog next year. But for everyone else — remember the kid’s name anyway because he’s already shown an ability to rewrite the long sprint record books.
Do you have an interest in supporting elite athletes? Subscribe to our Friday morning premium newsletter! This week we speak with an unsponsored Kirubel Erassa, coming off a 4th place finish at the Houston Half Marathon where he ran 1:00:44. His debut at the distance is the second fastest American of all-time, behind only Ryan Hall’s AR. This initiative has now raised over $17,000 with all proceeds going towards the athletes whose stories we share.
A brief history
In 1908, the employees of the John Wanamaker Department Stores formed an athletic association affectionately named for their very rich boss’s country home, “Millrose.” (Let’s quickly acknowledge that’s a weird method of coming up with a track club moniker.)
Pictured above is the wooden track where the group initially hosted twilight meets on the roof of their warehouse. Eventually, the Millrose Athletic Association’s biggest annual meet became so popular that it could no longer be hosted inside a local armory (spoiler: it’d return to a different one about a century later) and in 1914 moved to Madison Square Garden. At the time it was not The World’s Most Famous Arena that we know today, but an older location, eight blocks further south and several more further east.
From 1916 to 1925, the race that would ultimately become the famed Wanamaker Mile in 1926 was actually 1.5 miles long. From 1926 on it’s been an absolute barn-burner, regardless of the length and surface of the track. In 2012, the event moved from the 160-yard track above Penn Station and relocated uptown to the much faster 200m oval at The Armory. While this news was initially met with nostalgic resistance, over the last decade the event has experienced a renaissance, led by fast times and the excitement of a packed arena — toward the end of its tenure at the Garden, the Millrose crowds grew increasingly skimpy.
Some changes though haven’t received much attention. Like at the Coogans after-party in 2017 when Amy Gregorek asked meet director Ray Flynn why the national anthem isn’t played before the women’s Wanamaker Mile. Her husband Johnny was still invited back to race despite this inquiry and now the women hear the Star Spangled Banner, as well. Although it has taken many forms in its long history — it is still Millrose — and it outlived Wanamaker’s stores, which all went out of business long before Amazon.
8 Questions for Millrose?
How to watch:
Tune into NBC on Saturday between 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. Any race between 10:25 and 2:30 p.m. ET will not be televised so you’ll have to watch on USATF.TV, which requires a RunnerSpace +PLUS subscription. You can also watch the televised broadcast online at nbcsports.com/live (Results/Schedule/)
What to watch:
Could Elle Purrier St. Pierre break her own American Record? Her 4:16.85 set here in 2020 is certainly under threat if things play out similarly, with Klosterhalfen pushing the pace early. Training has been going well and she has continued to improve over the last two years.
Is it a two man race for the men’s Wanamaker? Josh Kerr’s last race was a 3:29 1,500m to win the Olympic bronze medal, but Ollie Hoare has consistently proven he can run 3:32-3:33 and his 13:09 for 5,000m in December says he’s fit now. There are lots of unknowns, but this race is being paced out quickly by Erik Sowinski so we’ll know by 600m if anyone else thinks they can win.
Can Ajee Wilson do it again? The local* star has won seven times at the Millrose Games (once was the WR 4x800). (*Sorry Philadelphians, us New Yorkers will claim New Jersey as our own when it suits us.) Wilson has the ability to control races from the front and will make it extra difficult to pass late.
Does Isaiah Jewett take this 800 to the Twilight Zone? In his last race, the newly turned pro got tripped up and fell at the Olympics. Already a notorious front runner, it wouldn’t be unexpected for that memory to encourage him to get things going early with ten athletes on the start line — that’s twenty feet to avoid getting tangled up with, by our math.
How fast do you have to run the first 2800m to not get outkicked by Cole Hocker? The Men’s 3,000m should really be renamed to the Boy’s 3,000m. The 13 man/boy field’s average age is just 22 and numerous athletes in the field are still working towards their college degree. You gotta expect some youthful recklessness keeps things interesting here!
Will Ryan Crouser do Ryan Crouser things? No offense to the other competitors in the field, but if there’s ever been a good opportunity to risk going for a big one, this is the shot. Crouser’s indoor American Record of 22.84m likely won’t last through the weekend, which means New Yorkers will be treated to seeing a giant man in a cowboy hat celebrating around town.
Do fans like when stars run off-distance races? Athing Mu has switched to the mile. Gabby Thomas is in the 60m. Donavan Brazier is in the 400m. They definitely have my attention, but sometimes it’s nice to hear your favorite band play the hits!
Can anyone predict the outcome of the women’s 3,000m with any degree of confidence? Or even better, how about betting the trifecta? For those of you who aren’t tossing away your paycheck on the ponies, that’s where you win big by guessing the top three finishers, in order. Look at the field! I am willing to bet that you won’t guess even close to correctly – this race is both stacked and completely wide open. And sports betting is legal in New York now, so start looking for the most eccentric bookie you can find!
AFTER THE FINAL LAP:
Most real sporting events have a post-game show with analysis breaking down all the events. Immediately after the meet ends, Chris Chavez and I will be going LIVE on YouTube to do exactly that. We will be joined by athletes right before [or after] their cool downs for some firsthand non-scripted interviews and good natured fun. Tune in!
Rapid Fire Highlights 🔥
Scotland’s Neil Gourley, a 2019 World Championship 1500m finalist, joined Under Armour’s Arizona Dark Sky. (Interview)
Ireland’s Ciara Mageean won the Manchester World Indoor Tour 3000m in 8:47 after a blazing final lap. Unfortunately Sarah Healy miscounted laps and missed out on the U23 Irish Record. (Video)
US 800m Olympian Isaiah Jewett has signed with Nike and his announcement video is worth watching. (Post)
The University of Washington’s Sam Tanner will forgo the remainder of his eligibility after signing with Puma. The Kiwi ran an NCAA Indoor 1500m record of 3:34.72 to qualify for the Olympics at 20 years old.
Unfortunately Texas Tech’s Ruth Usoro’s NCAA Triple Jump record will not count as the officials made a mistake and called out the wrong distance by a full meter.
Binghamton’s Emily Mackay set a 14-second personal best to take the NCAA lead in the mile (4:32.55).
Oklahoma State’s Ryan Schoppe is the 600th American to break four minutes in the mile but there have been a few more since. A friendly reminder that 4:30 is not the female equivalent — that’s superior by at least a few seconds.
Sha’Carri Richardson is the star of a short documentary, Sub Eleven Seconds, that will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Also this week there were rumors circulating that she’d be appearing in the Celebrity Big Brother house, but her agent said otherwise.
Ole Miss had three men break 4-minutes in the same race at Vanderbilt, plus two more run 2:20 for 1000m and another run an NCAA-leading 1:47.48 for 800m.
Nyckoles Harbor ran the 4th fastest indoor 200m of all-time in 20.79. The 6’5” junior is a 5-star football recruit and did this without blocks. Whether or not he’ll be at the Olympics or chirping at the fastest man in the world from the NFL is to be determined. (Video)
2021 NCAA XC Champ Whittni Orton announced via the Citius Mag podcast that she has signed a contract with Adidas and will stay in Provo to be trained by BYU coach Diljeet Taylor.
Namibia’s Christine Mboma opened her season (outdoors) running 22.30 for 200m.
Joyce Chepkemoi and Samuel Chebolei won the Kenyan XC championships. The course was made ridiculously muddy on purpose.
Helen Obiri was not in attendance at the National Championships, instead choosing to race and win in Dundonald, Northern Ireland. The multiple time World Champion announced her new sponsorship with On by showing up in their jersey. To the best of our knowledge, she does not subscribe to The Lap Count.
Siberia’s Vasily Lukin ran the world’s coldest marathon (-53 °C, so about 64°F) in 3 hours and 22 minutes (Pics).
Sources say Eliud Kipchoge may run the March Tokyo Marathon if he is permitted to enter the country amidst pandemic-related foreign travel restrictions.
I assume if you’ve made it this far then you’ll probably be watching Millrose. For more hype and information check out the CITIUS MAG preview. Thank you for reading, but most of all — thank you COROS for sponsoring this week’s newsletter. Our subscribers would have nothing to read without you!