One of the best US college woman distance runners ever is unusual - she just set the indoor NCAA 5000 meter record

I am (or was) from the Ann Arbor area and used to follow the local running scene. He went to Skyline and IIRC he pretty much popped up at the end of high school. Sure, AA is a place where there is a lot of former world class running talent. I can remember Nick Willis coming out the mid-week track meet leading up to the Beijing Olympics (they organized a 1000m race just for him).

Hobbs Kessler was definitely a high level climber. He was in the Ann Arbor News for that before he made the leap to 4min miler in his last year of high school.
My point is he was training running for years way before and even in high school his father organized a professional running team for him. He was doing that since childhood! He ran his PB of 3.34min in 2021 at 17 and hasn't beaten it since then. That alone shows you very clearly that he had been training professional for years before that. You simply don't run such a time otherwise. And yes he was also a high level climber for his age.
 
Valby destroyed the ncaa 10,000 meter record by 27 seconds in her first ever 10,000 on the track. Amazing run.

She is the first ncaa woman to go under 15 for a 5000 and first ever ncaa woman under 31 for the 10,000. She ran it all alone.

She is only 10 seconds off Olympic Qualifying time in her first 10,000. The problem is she might not find any fast 10,000 meter races from now until the Olympics so the 10,000 might not be an option for this Olympics.

She is having a crazy good 2024 so far.
 
I think people are forgetting that this is an indoor time....Running a 5000 indoors is insane. Doing over 3 miles on a 200m track is brutal. 25 Laps. BU track is fast but to figure out splits and pacing is way easier on an outdoor 400m track.
 

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