{"id":562,"date":"2019-02-14T20:51:46","date_gmt":"2019-02-14T20:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/?p=562"},"modified":"2019-02-14T20:51:48","modified_gmt":"2019-02-14T20:51:48","slug":"near-misses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/14\/near-misses\/","title":{"rendered":"Near misses…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Yomif Kejelcha missed the indoor mile world record this past weekend by .01 seconds which, in terms of how they measure the mile record, is as close as you can get to it without tying or breaking it.

Records and goal times can be tricky things to obtain. Especially if you\u2019re up against your limits, there are many things that have to fall into place to achieve certain performances. I\u2019ve had my fair share of near-misses on goal times. The most prominent two would be in my attempts to run a sub-3:10 marathon which at the time, would have qualified me for Boston.

I ran 3:11:30 and 3:11:43 in two marathons. For the 3:11:30, I was on pace to run 2:55 until I hit a wall at mile 19 that made the Wall in Game of Thrones look like a speed bump. To not be able to force my way to a sub-3:10 finish was irritating, to say the least. When I ran the 3:11:43 at a much better-sustained pace, multiple pit stops in the first 13.1 miles due to too much pre-race fluid intake was the biggest factor in my near miss.

While going for a certain time or record, there are many things that can throw you off. My examples above were more due to the poor planning of a 21 year old runner. For professional runners, it could be hired pacers not performing as expected or a strange turn in the weather. Since it was clear that my legs were capable of getting me to my goal, I made adjustments, kept at it, and finally posted a 3:06. (Boston has since changed their qualifying times due to the popularity of the event.)

Which brings me to the near-miss of this past weekend. The indoor mile world record still stands at 3:48.45 and Kejelcha posted a 3:48.46. How does this compare against other near-misses? Mine were .0079406632% or 337 meters\/369 yards and .0090750436% or 385 meters\/421 yards off my goal time. Both are less than one lap on a track. For a 26.2 mile race, that\u2019s fairly close. (These calculations of how far off I and these others were are based on the average pace of the entire race. It’s possible we were closer or further off depending on how fast we were running at the end.)

Two other notable, and professional-level, ones come to mind.

In 2016, Eliud Kipchoge won the London Marathon in 2:03:05. The world record was 2:02:57 and you could tell by the look on his face that the record was well within his reach. However, in order to get the win, he ran in a way that got him first place. This was smart in terms of victory, but it did leave him and others wondering if he could have taken down the record that day. How far off was he? .0010844517% or 52 meters\/57 yards.

In 2012, Mike Morton won the Badwater Ultramarathon in 22:52:55, which was 86 seconds off the course record of 22:51:29. The end of Badwater is a 4-mile climb and after 22 hours of a grueling desert run, your gas tank will be on fumes. In an interview later, he didn\u2019t express any huge regret over not hitting that time. There\u2019s no prize money, no course record bonus, and the main objective at Badwater is to finish, so it\u2019s primarily the sense of accomplishment. How far off was he? .0010450977% or 228 meters\/249 yards.

This past weekend, Kejelcha was .000043773254541% off. In fact, LetsRun.com calculated that he was 7.62 centimeters\/3 inches shy and had he not drifted slightly into lane 2 on the final stretch, he may have gotten the record.

Not achieving a goal time can be frustrating and yet there can be context. Kipchoge still won London in a course record. Morton still won an iconic ultramarathon. When I posted the 3:11:43, I ran a negative split, meaning I ran the second half faster than the first half. Even factoring in the pit stops, I was pleased with that, given that I didn\u2019t hit a massive wall and my pacing was much better than the prior attempt. Sure, we may wish things had tilted a little more in our favors to get us what we really wanted that day, but given the difficulty of some of these professional events and the limits that these folks are up against, it\u2019s helpful to balance out the frustration and use it as fuel.

Kejelcha has said he plans to go after the record again, and in the 5000 meters. Maybe, similar to Kipchoge\u2019s eventually snagging the marathon world record, he will get one or more of these.

Running food review of the week:\u00a0(note–gels, bars, chews, and other items affect everyone differently. Try them on a short run before using them for a key training run or race):\u00a0 Hammer Gel Apple Cinnamon<\/a>: This was fine, kind of like the inside of an apple-cinnamon pastry. I didn\u2019t feel any significant boost from it so I wouldn\u2019t use it as a go-to gel, but if it were the only thing on a course and I needed something, I\u2019d be okay with using it.

References used:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/www.letsrun.com\/news\/2019\/02\/oh-so-close-yomif-kejelchas-misses-breaking-mile-world-record-by-01-of-a-second-at-2019-millrose-games\/

https:\/\/www.irunfar.com\/2012\/08\/interview-with-mike-morton-2012-badwater-135-champion.html

http:\/\/www.badwater.com\/event\/badwater-135\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.runnersworld.com\/news\/a20794065\/kipchoge-narrowly-misses-world-record-in-london-marathon-win\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yomif Kejelcha missed the indoor mile world record this past weekend by .01 seconds which, in terms of how they measure the mile record, is as close as you can get to it without tying or breaking it. Records and goal times can be tricky things to obtain. Especially if you\u2019re up against your limits, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Near misses…”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9W0ku-94","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2077,"url":"https:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/27\/sub-two-numbers\/","url_meta":{"origin":562,"position":0},"title":"Sub-two numbers…","author":"36jonraessler50","date":"April 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Sabastian Sawe rocked the running world on Sunday at the London Marathon by becoming the first person to run an officially ratified marathon time of under two hours. 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