"Are my times faster than Rachel McArthur? If not, I need to set some new PR goals."
After an incredible two days of racing at the 6A North Regional by the Villanova bound senior, quite a few number of boys in the state of Virginia as well as nation wide find themselves asking that question.
At the 6A North Regional, Rachel McArthur split a 2:03.8 anchor leg for her Patriot 4x800 meter relay squad on Thursday evening then followed up with a US #1 1600 meter performance by 4 seconds in 4:41.68 (67-73-73-67 were the splits) along with a 55.6 leg on her 4x400 meter relay on Friday.
It got us thinking...who many boys in the state is Rachel McArthur faster than?
I remember when I was senior in high school and I was aware during the cross country season of the nation's fastest girls 5K times. Most years, the national leader would be somewhere in the mid to high 16 minute range. Well not during my final year of high school as Caitlin Chock dropped a 15:52 national record, so I had my work cut out for me to make sure there was no girl in the country who had a faster PR than me. Thankfully, I was able to just barely best that time in 15:51 on the speedy course found at the Foot Locker South Regional.
Think all of us guys can relate to a situation that we have been in a practice, workout, run, or possibly a boys and girls race that was combined where a girl pulls upside us and we cannot deny that we had a little extra motivation to make sure we didn't get passed and try to surge ahead.
So with that background, I feel and understand the pain of the following boys runners in the state of Virginia in either the 1600 or 800 meter run who woke up this morning with the news of Rachel McArthur's performances and immediately thought..."oh crap".
The database validates that there could potentially be a lot of boys experiencing those thoughts this weekend seeing the race results from Rachel McArthur's regional meet.
To be exact, 2,698 boys have run the 1600 meter run in Virginia this spring and Rachel ranks #277 among that number of runners. Meanwhile, among the 3,024 boys who have run the 800, Rachel ranks #221 in that group of boys.
So in doing the math, Rachel McArthur is faster than 89.7% of high school boys track athletes (2,421 total) in the state of Virginia who run the 1600 meter run (see the data). The percentage is even greater for the 2017 New Balance Nationals Indoor champ McArthur in the 800 meter run as she is faster than currently 92.7% of the Virginia high school boys track athletes (2,803 total) who have run the 800 this season (see the data).
And it goes without saying that any of the boys who might just be a few seconds faster currently than Rachel McArthur aren't safe either and may be experiencing feelings of anxiety themselves. She still has a few more races left in high school at the VHSL 6A State Meet next weekend and Brooks PR on June 17th.
Rachel McArthur... motivating thousands of boys distance runners state and nationwide to get faster.
See The Data:
- Rachel McArthur vs. Rest Of Virginia Boys 1600m Run
- Rachel McArthur vs. Rest of Virginia Boys 800m Run
