OT: AA hs athlete breaks indoor mile record
AA community/Skyline athlete Hobbs Kessler just broke the US indoor HS mile record in a blazing 3:57.6.
https://trackandfieldnews.com/hobbs-kessler-the-making-of-a-miler/
UM connection is he sometimes trains with UM-Alum and Olympian Nick Willis and legendary coach Ron Warhurst.
He's also a nationally competitive rock climber which is how he got connected to Warhurst. His Mom and Dad were both elite local master's runners and his dad coached rock climbing and wanted to learn how to coach elite athletes so he came to watch the olympian workouts and everyone got to know Hobbs.
With the pandemic the record is seemingly out of nowhere (previous competition best was something like 4:18 or 4:21) but it's not - he had a natural progression.
He's going to Northern Arizona, not UM - better climbing. Others with his time immediately went pro so it wouldn't be surprising to soon be back in Ann Arbor.
I also thinks this demonstrates Bakich's approach to baseball recruiting, and to a lesser extent Habraugh: all around good athletes can specialize later. Hobbs was a pretty good runner as a frosh, but not elite. Junior year was very good, but nothing that said national record holder, more potential MAC all conference. But he was a high level climber that whole time and the sports aren't that complementary.
Here's hoping to an excellent running career.
February 9th, 2021 at 12:01 PM ^
Sounds like a slot ninja in the making!
February 9th, 2021 at 12:55 PM ^
For all of you: Read the article. It explains Hobbs' ascension.
February 9th, 2021 at 2:40 PM ^
I can see him macking at a nickel back: “I can run this route all day”
February 9th, 2021 at 12:02 PM ^
That is an insane time! I am confused as to how this demonstrates Bakich’s approach to baseball recruiting though. Am I missing something? Does he play baseball? Or is a demonstration of recruiting evident by his super fast indoor mile time? I am having trouble following what you are trying to say.
February 9th, 2021 at 12:06 PM ^
Multisport athletes
February 9th, 2021 at 12:06 PM ^
Bakich and Harbaugh both believe that multi sport athletes are more likely to be successful (or something like that).
February 9th, 2021 at 12:09 PM ^
Gotcha - thanks. It is an interesting sports duo: running the mile and rock-climbing
February 9th, 2021 at 12:12 PM ^
The reference is Bakich knows he can't recruit the elite baseball specialists so he tends to recruit very good baseball players who were also very good athletes at other sports. Others peak early with camps and travel teams and his recruits are less heralded but he's able to recognize general athleticism and develop persons later.
Or in other words, a very good runner who excels in another sport - not track - can become elite and great coaches know how to identify and develop those persons.
February 9th, 2021 at 12:17 PM ^
Nice - NAU’s track coach may just be the Bakich of track and field!
February 9th, 2021 at 12:22 PM ^
If he is, good for him, because he earned it. I can't imaging a lot of coaches are out scouting the rock climbing world for their next star athlete.
February 10th, 2021 at 8:41 AM ^
i would think not. i've been climbing for 10 years and a large chunk of the climbers are drawn to it specifically because they were not good at traditional sports. it doesn't really require any kind of reaction; the rock (or plastic) ain't moving. that said, running the mile might be one of the best parallels to sport climbing in that it's a fine balance of intensity and endurance.
February 9th, 2021 at 12:05 PM ^
"Hobbs Kessler" sounds like someone who played third base for the Cleveland Spiders in 1893.
Congrats to the young man.
February 9th, 2021 at 12:19 PM ^
I can’t stop thinking of Calvin and Hobbes now. That isn’t all bad though.
February 9th, 2021 at 12:14 PM ^
There are also a lot of elite runners who train in Flagstaff.
Including two of the six Olympic marathon qualifiers from the last Olympic Trials, Aliphine Tuliamuk, and Abdi Abdirahman.
/Username checks out...
February 9th, 2021 at 12:16 PM ^
That's beautiful country up around Flagstaff. High elevation, too ... which may be why they train there.
February 9th, 2021 at 1:21 PM ^
Northern Arizona also finished second to BYU in the most recent NCAA men's cross country championship (Colorado finished third). That altitude training is indispensable for a top distance athlete.
February 9th, 2021 at 4:23 PM ^
Benefit of NAU's location is that you can also very quickly get down to sea level for speed work when you don't want to be training at 7k feet (I've been watching way too much runner YouTube during the pandemic). Can't do that in Boulder.
For folks into running there's actually a documentary premiere this weekend about some northern arizona runners training for the 2020 olympic trials that looks pretty fun: http://citiusmag.com/a-time-and-a-place-review-paul-snyder/
February 9th, 2021 at 1:01 PM ^
Rob Krar too for ultrarunning.
While the altitude benefits, places like Flagstaff, Albuquerque and Boulder attract good runners for the seemingly endless fun places to run, namely lots of dirt roads and trails with varied scenery with fairly quick access from campus / town. Those amenities attract a broader competitive running community and are simply fun places to run.
February 9th, 2021 at 12:15 PM ^
That's a bit less than 60 seconds per quarter mile lap around a track. In my very best shape -- years ago -- I might have been able to manage 60 second for the 440 ... but certainly not four times. Amazing. Good for him!
February 9th, 2021 at 12:37 PM ^
I did it for 600 yards back in my prime but could not even sniff 2:00 for a half mile. It takes a very special athlete to run a sub 4 min mile.
February 9th, 2021 at 1:06 PM ^
My best 400 was :55.xx. Continuing that sprint for another 3 laps is simply absurd.
I was amazed by guys that were running the 800 in 2 minutes.
February 9th, 2021 at 1:10 PM ^
I believe I ran a sub 2:50 800M once in track practice and felt like I was dying. I think it was one of those races where even the sprinters run longer distances to see who should run for points. Yea, my lungs weren’t made for distance.
February 9th, 2021 at 1:16 PM ^
I only ran track for one season as a freshman, but my fastest mile was 5:07.
The top guy on our team at the time also had the fastest HS mile in the country at 4:03. His 400 split was as fast as my 400 sprint. He got a track scholarship to UNC.
February 9th, 2021 at 3:37 PM ^
I ran a quarter in 55 seconds one time during day 5 of high school football conditioning. I swear it felt like a full out sprint the entire way. Couldn't even feel my legs for the last 100 or so. It is absolutely nuts to try to comprehend running a sub 4 minute mile or a marathon in 2 hours.
February 9th, 2021 at 4:29 PM ^
It's definitely crazy. I still run at the spry age of 45, but it's a far cry from high school when I was running 6 minute miles like they were nothing and 18 minute 5Ks.
I've run a 6:30 mile on the treadmill recently and thought I was going to die afterward. There is no way I could do that 3 times in a row on a hilly cross country course today. I'm more than happy running a HALF marathon in under two hours. Eliud Kipchoge literally runs twice as fast as me for twice as great a distance.
February 9th, 2021 at 6:09 PM ^
In 2019, Lawrence Cherono of Kenya won the Boston Marathon in 2:07:57.
That works out to 4:53 mile splits. That's truly unbelievable to me. Unbelievable.
February 9th, 2021 at 10:17 PM ^
I had a teammate that ran a 4:09 outdoors. Best I ever did was 4:47. I can't imagine shaving almost a min off that time.
February 9th, 2021 at 12:16 PM ^
FIRE BAKICH!
February 9th, 2021 at 12:23 PM ^
Congratulations to Kessler. That's wonderful.
But he can stay in Ann Arbor. It's got lots of great climbing. The Arb. The Administration Building. The Big House. LOTS.
February 9th, 2021 at 12:24 PM ^
crazy! i recognize him from the climbing gym a few years back when he was just a little kid
February 9th, 2021 at 12:33 PM ^
Interesting combo for running and rock climbing. In additional to upper body strength needed in rock climbing, a very strong is needed so I can understand this big leap in mile time.
He can't go wrong training under Warhurst and Nick Willis. Wishing him continued success.
February 9th, 2021 at 1:34 PM ^
Thanks for the post. Should be pointed out though that NAU is probably the best school in the country for distance running, so while he may be an avid rock climber I'm guessing his colleg decision is based primarily on running.
February 9th, 2021 at 2:33 PM ^
Congrats to him. Flagstaff and the surrounding area is beautiful. Probably a good place to train with the elevation as well.
February 9th, 2021 at 2:36 PM ^
as a runner who tried to rock climb once and hated every minute of it, i'm guessing that the all-body fitness that a professional rock climber (an aside - huh?) needs would be very beneficial to a runner, particularly in the middle distances.
point is, you're absolutely right about multi-sport athletes. a defensive lineman who played basketball? yes please. a tackle that ran hurdles? i'll take two, thanks.
February 9th, 2021 at 2:39 PM ^
On a side note, Nick Willis was in the same race that this happened and Nick set the record for most consecutive years someone has run a sub-4 min mile: 19 years.
Nick's the man.
February 9th, 2021 at 2:53 PM ^
That’s something. Nick Willis is the Tom Brady of middle distance runners. I’m old enough to remember when Jim Ryun ran the first sub-4:00 mile by a high schooler. He got major coverage by the media in the mid-60’s.
February 9th, 2021 at 3:20 PM ^
You can go pro in running?
February 10th, 2021 at 11:35 AM ^
Yes, it's normal in today's world. By being "pro", a track athlete is subsidized by the major shoe companies. They train in certain clubs or groups affiliated with those shoe companies in various parts of the country or world.
Major road races/marathons pay handsome prize money with bonuses to course or new world record performances. Track meet also pay for new facility records and or national and world records.
The first pro track contests took place in the US in the 1980s or even late 1970s. It was televised but folded due to poor ratings.
The shelf life for a given athlete in a given event isn't more that 7-10 years. There are a few, like Tom Brady in football that stay at their physical peak into the their mid or late 30s and even to 40 years old but they are the outlier on the bell curve.
February 10th, 2021 at 1:29 PM ^
That's really interesting. I think what I've always considered as being a "pro" athlete as being involved in a major league or overarching governing body. I suppose that bias comes from mostly team sports, since now that I think about it, what you describe is on par with how tennis organizes itself. Thanks for the interesting info and allowing me the opportunity to reexamine my personal biases.
February 10th, 2021 at 2:34 PM ^
You're very welcome. Basically, any Olympic type track and field athlete is a pro. They then have the ability to train full time and participate in world class T & F meets in which many of them get a fee and have travel expenses paid.
I get what you mean; they are not on a team but consider Nike, Addidas or Under Armor as a "team". Oh, yes, they have their own coaches and trainers for injuries, nutrition, etc.
February 9th, 2021 at 3:38 PM ^
(never ran past high school so what do I know)
but it seems that rock climbing training partly counter-productive for running; but maybe the long-term benefit is that he will avoid repetitive and over-training physical (and mental) injuries as a runner with some time spent as a climber.
February 10th, 2021 at 8:44 AM ^
disagree. look at top climbers (daniel woods, david graham, sean bailey); they are generally not yoked pullup machines. they're lean extremely fit. finger strength is way more important than big muscle strength in elite climbers.
February 9th, 2021 at 4:41 PM ^
All I can say is that at this point in my life that I would spend the first 3:57 trying to fathom even finishing the mile in about eight minutes.
February 9th, 2021 at 5:07 PM ^
Quite apart from the incredible talent that this kid has, I'm shocked that anybody is still running mile races—I would have thought that all competitions were 1500m these days.
February 9th, 2021 at 5:10 PM ^
Loved the article and the link . . . thanks very much for posting this. I remember the fastest guy on my high school's track team ran 1:52 for a half mile, but I've never known anyone go sub 4 minutes for a mile. Again, this was a wonderful read.
February 9th, 2021 at 6:12 PM ^
I've heard it said the half mile is the toughest race. I believe it. If there's any pacing, I'd be surprised. I think it's pretty much "run as fast as you can for the whole race."
February 9th, 2021 at 6:58 PM ^
I’ve always felt that the 400 is the worst. An all out sprint for around 40-60 seconds flat out sucks. The half mile is done at a more forgiving pace, typically.
February 9th, 2021 at 8:34 PM ^
The world record for the 400 is 43.03, or a pace of 10.76 per 100 meters.
The world record for the 800 is 1:40.91, or a pace of 12.61 per 100 meters.
So yeah ... a slower pace, but twice the distance. And 12.61 per 100 is not jogging.
I'll give you the 400, and raise you the 400 hurdles! The world record there is 46.78, which is only 3.75 seconds off the 400, which means those guys are flying and being fluid and efficient over the hurdles.
February 9th, 2021 at 5:37 PM ^
Wow! 4 minutes outdoor is incredible for a high schooler. Doing sub-four indoors is absurd. No surprise it’s a national record.