Boris Berian: An Alliterative Enigma

By Alex Fox

​It’s been an interesting year for American 800 runners. It looked like the end of the Nick Symmonds/Duane Solomon era in the half mile, but Symmonds managed to capture yet another US title despite his poor form prior to the championship meet. While Symmonds flourished, Solomon barely reached the finish line despite making finals, a strong metaphor for how it looks like his career will finish: slowly and painfully. Meanwhile, a new breed of Americans looked prime to take over the 800, as speedsters Cam Loxsim, Eric Sowinski, and Clayton Murphy will look to make the step up to international threats in the coming years. Despite all this flux for half-milers, the biggest story has easily been one Boris Berian. From D2 national champ, to surprise winner at Payton Jordan, to challenging David Rudisha, to a disappointing US championships showing, it has been a whirlwind of a couple months for Boris Berian. The craziest part of all this madness? It’s just beginning. 

​After his coming out party at Payton Jordan, a lot of attention was given to Berian’s past given he was a nobody on the pro running scene. Coming out of high school, Berian was a 46.9/1:50  runner and committed to D2 powerhouse Adams State. Berian immediately showed his promise, winning D2 titles for the 800 indoors and outdoors, all while setting a personal best at 1:48.93. That was in 2012. Berian was ruled academically ineligible in the fall, and that was seemingly the end of his running career. Berian left Adams State, took a job at McDonalds, and only raced a handful of times in the following years without improvement on his college times. In October of 2014, Berian joined Big Bear Track Club, a small, unknown team in Colorado lead by Brenda Martinez and her husband, Carlos Handler. Handler recognized Berian’s natural speed and worked to build strength, the perfect combo for a dominant 800 runner. After finishing 5th in the 600 at US Indoor Championships, Berian looked primed to once again find success on the track during outdoor. However, what Berian did this past spring is something that no one would 

of predicted. After running 1:45.30 to upset a field that included Brandon Kidder and Edward Kemboi at Payton, Berian toed the line at the Adidas Grand Prix against named like Matt Centrowitz, Leo Manzano, Robby Andrews, Andrew Wheating, Pierre-Ambroise Bosse, and world record holder David Rudisha. Berian once again shocked the world, finishing right behind Rudisha in a stunning 1:43.84. This time made Berian a fan favorite to take the US title in the 800, but after surviving one round of prelims, Berian failed to make the finals. After this disappointment, Berian once again found himself in a stacked field at a Diamond League Meet in Monaco, where Berian improved his PR once again, this time clocking in at 1:43.34, just 0.89 seconds off the American record. Despite his failures at the US championships, Berian’s outdoor season was one for the record books, leaving one big question: how did he do it?

​So, how does one go from 1:48 to 1:45 to 1:43 over the course of a single season? I’d sure like to know, especially given my total lack of foot speed. Well, it helps if you run 46.9 in high school. You can have the best training in the world, but you’re not running 1:43 without serious speed, and it’s clear that Berian has some serious wheels. Still, plenty of guys can run 46 for a 400 and will never come close to Berian’s times of this past season. Another part of the equation is where Berian has trained his whole life: Colorado, AKA, at elevation. Berian won multiple Colorado state titles in high school, Adams State is located in Alamosa, Colorado, and before moving to Big Bear, Berian trained in Colorado Springs; Berian has trained in ideal conditions his entire life, and it’s clearly paying dividends. Moreover, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that Berian is receiving some world class coaching at Big Bear Track Club; it’s easy for one to think that the only place to get the best coaching is at a big name club like OTC Elite (I was in this camp for a long time), but the tutelage Berian is receiving from World Medalist Martinez and Handler is proving this notion wrong. Martinez has the experience to back up her legitimacy as a coach, and Handler has been with her every step of the way.Finally, I avoid talking about one other thing, especially given the current climate in professional track and field: Performance Enhancing Drugs. This is not me saying Berian has taken PEDs, but one cannot analyze his meteoric rise without considering it. One the one hand, if Berian is taking drugs, he’s doing it better than anyone else; No one goes from 1:45 to 1:43 in one season, much less from 1:48 to 1:43. On the other hand, it’s hard to believe that Berian could get THAT much faster naturally, even given his obvious natural talent, his past of training at altitude, and his superior coaching. For me, Berian is innocent until proven guilty; drug use is unfortunately a commonality in the sport we love, but we as fans cannot go around believing that every time a guy PRs (even by 3 seconds in an 800) that he is juicing. Regardless of any potential PED use, Berian is obviously a hidden gem, and who doesn’t love rooting for the underdog? 

​In all this madness surrounding Boris Berian’s rise to prominence, one important fact was lost in the fold: he is 22 years old. To give some context, our beloved Jarrett Felix is 23 years of age. Barring injury, it looks as if Berian’s best days are ahead of him; he’s only had one season of true professional racing and he’s already run 1:43. This is downright scary. He’s proven that he can run with the big boys through his performances in New York and Monaco; yet, he is still raw, as conveyed by his lackluster showing at the US Championships. Once Berian gets more than a few races under his belt, he should be showing up every race and mixing it up with all the best runners in the world. Johnny Gray’s American Record is in serious jeopardy given Berian’s trajectory, but that may just be the beginning; Boris Berian looks like a legitimate threat to medal at the largest stages in the world once he can find some consistency with more experience. There is plenty of young talent amongst Americans these days, but no one’s future and potential is quite as exciting as former D2 dropout Boris Berian’s. I for one cannot wait to find out how he will shock the world in these coming years. 

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