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In order to fully capture what happened this weekend in Boston, it’s helpful to start with the fact that when Woody Kincaid won the “slow” section of the Men’s 5000m in 13:05.56, he’d just run the second-fastest time ever by an American indoors, behind only Galen Rupp’s 13:01.26 from 2014, on the very same track.

The second thing to note is that it ceased to be the case just a few minutes after Grant Fisher & co. stepped to the line shortly after.

To run fast it’s good to have some help in the beginning, then an actual foot race at the end. Fisher followed that recipe to a T, initially sitting behind a handful of bodies in front of him, and with a mile to go, taking over and making the race his own. When the final time averages out to 4:08 pace, it shouldn’t be that big of a surprise to hear that Fisher’s solo last mile was 3:58. But any sub-four split in a race longer than…well, a mile tends to elicit additional awe. It feels like Grant’s 5th place finish in the Olympic 10000m (and 9th in the 5000m) was just a precursor of his Golden Age ahead— buckle up Phish Heads!

Also dipping under the former American Record was Emmanuel Bor, whose 13:00.48 secured him 4th place. Breaking up Team America was the Commonwealth Duo of Mohammed Ahmed (12:56.87 for a Canadian indoor record) and Marc Scott (12:57.08 for a European and = British record). The Bowerman Track Club had an eight-man average of 13:03 — parity be damned!

And if you think that level of consolidated performance is wild, then what if I told you that on the all-time indoor men’s 5000m list, 26 of the top 50 times were run on the Boston University indoor track?

Coaches and athletes alike are rightfully obsessed with focusing seasons around that specific oval — and can you blame them for pursuing a li’l Beantown magic? If you get paid for running fast then it makes sense to go race where there’s a vortex that seemingly helps make that happen. (Quick aside: some contracts are actually starting to creatively include a ‘BU doesn’t count’ clause!)

My gripe isn’t over the tendency for pros to hunt down fast tracks, it’s over the fact that the sport hasn’t adapted in any way around that desire.

Why are we still squeezing the best athletes in the world into the schedule of college meets? Why can’t we get a professional meet going at Boston University? It’s a waste of these record-shattering performances to not have them showcased and better broadcast to the masses.

Combine the fast times (and good, competitive races!) with an intimately packed stadium and that’s good television. Every weekend is booked? I’m pretty sure the NBA plays on Thursdays, and they’re doing ok. These are professional athletes we’re talking about here, too — days of the week don’t matter to them!

There are plenty of good opportunities out there for athletes right now and independently I love them all, however, the next step is communication. The Lap Count’s Hot Take of the Week is that too much opportunity is bad if it oversaturates the market.

Think of this from Nike sports marketing’s perspective. Rather than having a single cohesive 90-minutes of must-watch track for fans to tune into, viewing all of these extremely captivating races required an expansive knowledge of where, when and how to watch:

• Bowerman broke 5000m records in Boston.
• Union broke the distance medley world record best in Spokane.
• The Thomas Boys chased the American mile record in Chicago.

Please, somebody put them all in the same building next time and watch it burn down.