Josh Kerr Explains Why U.S. 1500m Running Is Soft

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[@wazzu1452]

100% Agree with Kerr about USA 1500 M runners.

[@Jadon1443]

I don’t think Josh was alive the last time GB won a 1500 gold

[@timmytheinventor4746]

Was it '84?

[@davidhubbard7573]

True that

[@cyrilanderson]

@@timmytheinventor4746 Yeah. Gold-silver actually. Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram.

[@trevorturner8037]

Back in early high school I always sucked at the mile and was better at the 2 mile. I thought the reason was because I had no speed. It wasn’t until my senior year that I realized that I just wasn’t racing it right. I never pushed the pace which is what races like the mile/1500 need. Second meet of the season my senior year I took the lead from the start and ended up breaking 5. Every race after that for the mile (not really the 2 mile) I would use that same strategy and would PR at almost every meet for the rest of the season. Was under 5 for the rest of the season for sure. I had a bigger PR in the mile from my junior to senior year than I did in the 2 mile and considering the difference in the distance is very impressive I think. I ended up having a 16 second difference. From 5:06 the previous year to 4:50 by the end of senior year. I’m in college now and ever since then is always how i race the 1500. It’s a risky move to go out hard but that is the best option in my opinion

[@trevorturner8037]

@@dpw181 thank you it really means a lot! Yeah I’ve tried it for other distances but it seems to work best in the mile. Every so often I’ll take it out hard in XC or in the 5K in track if i’m feeling good. Just not too hard. I feel like I’m more of a miler than anything anyways

[@trevorturner8037]

@@dpw181 for like 5K I kinda just sit on the front pack for majority of the race instead of leading it from the gun

[@christianpastrana5938]

Not racing at the world championships is weak no matter the country you represent if you qualify

[@big_edd]

I'd disagree for indoor. A lot of athletes like to train through indoor and peak for outdoor as it gets more recognition and there's more money in it. It's also just less complicated to peak for one big race instead of 2.

[@jimoconnor8597]

@@big_edd Tell that to Jakob....

[@Jadon1443]

@@big_edd I don’t think Kerr was training through that record attempt at BU

[@big_edd]

@@jimoconnor8597 well Jakob is inhuman

[@big_edd]

@@Jadon1443 fair, but it's specific to each athlete.

[@notorious414]

He is right about a previous generation to some degree, but Hocker and Teare run much more aggressively than the guys he’s calling out

[@trevorturner8037]

Teare is a little tactical but he’s not near as tactical as Hocker or especially Centro

[@notorious414]

@@trevorturner8037 Hocker races intelligently, let's not confuse that with soft/tactical. At NCAA indoors he front-ran a championship record mile. When going fast/taking the lead and pushing it makes sense, he'll do it. Centro is/was much more reticent to do this figuring in a slower race he was going to win with his tactics/finish.

[@crazyjacewithhisgamesmorel4173]

@@trevorturner8037 I’d argue that Teare is more tactical than Hocker, he just doesn’t have the same final 100 or 200m kick that Hocker does. Mostly, Hocker simply sits in the front pack until the last 100-200 then kicks hard. That’s not to say they’re not talented though since it’s clearly working for them

[@trevorturner8037]

@@notorious414 where in that comment did I say he’s soft? Hocker is one of my favorite runners. All I stated is that he’s more tactical than Coop

[@notorious414]

@@trevorturner8037 apologies I was just addressing how well those two apply to Kerr's critique and I thought you were pushing back on it...now seeing you were more just clarifying

[@aidancort5307]

I think it's especially true on the men's side, we've seen so much more grit coming from U.S female runners especially in the 1500 compared to the guys

[@declanmulligan3265]

Kerr should bring this up with his teammates at the Brooks Beasts

[@kczcb4697]

I honestly wish hocker would’ve ran in Belgrade in at least the 1500. At this pace he won’t run against Jakob and the best till prefontaine. Granted he might be running less races after a year of team running at Oregon. Looking forward to hockers progress during the outdoor season

[@gregoryluna535]

Something is going on with American high school milers. So many going under four minutes. Shoes, training, diet, social media or whatever. Much different than 70s-80s when my team just ran hard and a lot.

[@Trailcat2024]

With the way the mile has went so far indoors, plan on those times to start changing.

[@massimopicca]

As an American I 100% agree. I don’t like tactical races and hockey and teare are exactly what we need

[@FRCP12b6]

And here we are at the World Championships, with a single American in the 1500m final. Josh called it.

[@primoshe2]

listen... i'm no expert in track and field... but my take on the u.s. 1500 runners dogging it or being soft as kerr terms it is that they all know by now that it's futile for them to run hard in this event because teare and hocker are coming in to dominate this distance for the u.s. team for yrs to come... good shows... be well...

[@wyattallen2012]

I just don’t agree with the fact that everyone thinks every race has to be a time trial now for it to not be soft. Why is it now that everyone cares about fast times? In the past it’s always been about how you compete in championships and now time trials are what make you elite? Come on now

[@davidhubbard7573]

The hardest splitt is the 1200

[@OCJoker2009]

Races are too tactical in the US. Peuple care more about winning than fast times. Mo Farah is a good example for Great Britan. None of his timss were earth shattering ; he just knew how to be tactical and outwit his complétion.

[@bendover2743]

Idk man his 3:28 1500m was pretty good

[@timmytheinventor4746]

Oh lordy loo you do not know Mo. Everyone thought he always ran slow times when it was the opposite. 3:28, 12:53, 26:46, even his 2:05 marathon is a fast tim by today's standards. Mo only ran slow when he needed to.

[@boxculand6400]

Yeah man you got him all wrong

[@OCJoker2009]

@@timmytheinventor4746 i agree- however the common argument from the running community is that he wasn't ambitious enough for world record attempts.

[@timmytheinventor4746]

@@OCJoker2009 Because he probably could never get any world records. He's not a guy who is able to break WRs with the click of a finger, but he did run very fast times in Diamond League meets. He attempted the one hour world record, though.

[@shangrila73eldorado]

Hocker and Teare can beat Kerr...and Kerr is basically an American-trained runner.

[@DavidPaulandBillT]

We really are soft compared to the other guys

[@troys1480]

And what does that make Kerr when he lost to another American in the NCAA 1500m final in 2018, after Kerr set the 1500 record earlier that year?

[@alextakla]

With the exception of hocker and teare I agree 100%

[@ArtiKen]

Start the video at 1 minute and 10 seconds. You're welcome.

[@reiseleitercostarica]

Just to remind everybody that only Ryan Cruiser won a gold medal in individual male track and field events in Tokyo Olympics. So it's not just 1500m runners that are behind the rest of the world. There is a crisis in male Track and Field athletics in USA.

[@davidhubbard7573]

I agree with him

[@zackdisharoon6239]

All our athletes play sports that pay good money

[@cavaleer]

That's the big picture issue but we have enough talent to go around.

[@ZAAA1234]

Hater, all top tier races are hard

[@troys1480]

If Americans are so soft in the 1500, what does that make Kerr then after he lost to one in Zurich in his very next 1500 following 2023’s WC in Budapest?

[@brianmcewen3082]

Eckspecially ... please stop saying that.

[@boxculand6400]

A bit cocky, no? He gets good in the last couple of years and thinks he can be the best in the world. People have been in his situation before him and I don't remember them calling anyone out.

[@joeobrien4975]

hes literally an olympic bronze medallist

[@gee9290]

1500m is literally a sprint for distance runners.. it should be treated like a sprint

[@jasoncaporale6470]

Go back and train in England then...

[@jp05598]

Lol

[@cavaleer]

Facts. Why come here to learn how to run? Maybe he's saying we teach runners like him better than we teach our own.

[@DavidPaulandBillT]

@@cavaleer no he’s saying that we’re only good against runners here but not the other countries

[@DavidPaulandBillT]

@@cavaleer the difference between him and other runners is he’s not afraid to go for fast times

[@sleeper08]

Y’all are the worst. How bout no he can train here and still have the mentality to run fast. US men are soft. It’s getting better younger but the group now run fast once a year and that’s bullshit