As strange as 2020 was, perhaps it was only fitting that 2021 saw not just one of the best boys in Colorado history, but two.
(Actually, you can say three...)
This is Records Were Meant To Be Broken Pt. II.
In 2021 Parker Wolfe held all three Colorado distance state records, for a few hours at least. While we stride into the final two BIG Stories of 2021, it's somewhat ironic that these two stretched the least amount of time - barely seven weeks.
In a year that followed Cole Sprout's unofficial, and official record breaking performances, Wolfe kept the momentum of national-caliber progression going.
And he showed it early.
While Colorado's official outdoor season started halfway through the fifth month of the year, Wolfe didn't waste anytime waiting around to start breaking records.
The Cherry Creek senior headed south to Texas for the Texas Distance Festival in the middle of March, where he ran a Colorado record of 14:06 for the 5k - leading nearly the entire race.
Already, track fans could see that Wolfe was eyeing a record-breaking outdoor season in Colorado. Just how big, was not yet known...
And so it went that Wolfe officially opened his Colorado outdoor season just two days after another historic marker - the day Roger Bannister first broke 4 minutes in the mile. Wolfe had his own historic day with the distance on May 8...
And I mention Bannister because there was a real "Chase For Greatness/Records" vibe in the 1,600 last May and June, but we'll come back to that...
Wolfe didn't just break the late Rich Martinez's 40 year-old 1,600 state record of 4:10.98. He demolished it. He set the bar so high, no one could imagine that it would be broken twice more over the next month and a half. Plenty of milers flirted with the record over the past 40 years, but time and time again, the record withstood every assault.
Until 2021.
Wolfe ran an eye-popping 4:06.17 at the Centennial League Qualifier #1 B. Entirely solo. Altitude-adjustments aside, Wolfe had his second Colorado state record before his senior season was two weeks old.
At the time it seemed insane that it would be shattered by over four-seconds.
But Wolfe was hungry for more...
May 15 was the day Colorado distance fans would go nuts. But it wasn't because one record fell, it was because two did.
Wolfe once again soloed another Colorado state record - running 8:55.94 for 3,200 at the Centennial League Qualifier #2 in Aurora.
That would be Colorado state record No. 3 for Wolfe.
For a few hours Wolfe could lay claim to Colorado's greatest/fastest distance runner ever.
But the news wouldn't come - not yet - that across town Wolfe's one-week old 1,600s state record was broken.
As history now notes, Harrison Witt sliced and diced another second off the 1,600 state record, running 4:05.18 across town.
It's difficult not to link these two stories - Wolfe and Witt - because it's the classic Success Begets Success Story.
One runner sets a record, another runner breaks it. And the cycle goes on and on. Like Roger Bannister and John Landy's lead-up to the Miracle Mile.
In some ways, Colorado would have its own Miracle Mile in late June at Jeffco, but we'll come back to that...
Excerpt From: Colorado 1,600 And 3,200 State Records Fall On The Same Day
"What are the odds?
And there are two questions there.
What are the odds that two Colorado state records - the 3,200, and the one-week-old 1,600 - would fall on the same day?
And - what are the odds that the previous 1,600 state record, which lasted 40 years, would be broken twice in the span of about eight days?
Two of the more challenging state records fell like flies Saturday, as Parker Wolfe ran an 8:55.94 3,200 state record in the morning, then Harrison Witt ran a 4:05.18 1,600 state record just after noon.
Two records. One day.
Both records were run at considerable elevation - Wolfe's at Cherokee Trail, and Witt's at Centaurus.
For a few hours Saturday morning Wolfe owned the entire distance slate of Colorado state records - the 1,600, 3,200, and the 5k.
Last fall Wolfe ran the Colorado 5k state record of 14:30. Then last week Wolfe ran the 1,600 state record of 4:06.17. And then Saturday morning he officially added the 3,200 state record to his resume, running 8:55.94.
Wolfe soloed the entire eight laps, passing the 1,600 in 4:24. A slight wind on the backstretch eventually became an additional obstacle to overcome. Regardless, Wolfe ran the second Sub-9 on Colorado soil, ever. And - captured his second state record in eight days, and his third of the year.
Across town talk of Wolfe's record run circulated around the track at the Broomfield Shootout for several hours.
"Did you hear Parker Wolfe ran 8:55!"
And then Harrison Witt stormed into the conversation.
It was a moment that felt straight out of Neal Bascomb's The Perfect Mile (which is a non-fictional take on Roger Bannister, John Landy, and Wes Santee's chase for the first Sub-4 mile.)
The name Harrison Witt started circulating around the track.
"Did you hear Harrison Witt just ran a 4:05!"
4:05.18 to be exact.
Just one week after Wolfe took four seconds off the late Rich Martinez's 40 year-old state record, Witt sliced another second off it.
Two records. One (historic) day."
A month later Wolfe went to work at the Colorado State Track & Championships. While all eyes were waiting for that battle in the 1,600 Saturday, the Cherry Creek senior still had to take care of business in the 3,200 the morning before.
Wolfe came out swinging, stating his intentions early. He opened in 64-seconds, before settling into a steady rhythm of 68-69-second quarters. He cruised through the 1,600 in 4:33, and duplicated the pace through the second mile for a 9:07 state title - the second of his senior year.
A day later the moment on everyone's mind came - the two runners who finally broke a 40 year-old record would toe the line at the same time and hash it out over four laps.
Wolfe set a hot early pace, keeping the race honest. Within a lap it was a two-man race, with Wolfe running the opening quarter just over 59-seconds, and Witt trailing. The two hit halfway in 2:05, and Witt began to look itchy.
The final 600 meters was a battle that saw the crowd roar to life like no other. It was one of the moments you just had to be there...
As history would play out, Wolfe led through 1,150 meters before gliding out into Lane 2, leaving a wide-open door for Witt to storm off and away with another state record.
Wolfe held on for second, running under the previous state record for the third time in 2021, clocking 4:10.09.
A week later Wolfe capped his senior season with a stellar 8:43.91 2-mile runner-up finish at the Brooks Invitational in Seattle, Wa.
Wolfe's year alone was record-breaking.
To Sum Up Wolfe's 2021:
Three state records run (1,600, 3,200, and track 5,000.)
Two state records stick (3,200, and track 5,000.)
One state title.
It only seems ironic that as good as Wolfe was in 2021, historic to say the least, there was one runner that was a stride ahead.
And that takes us to our No. 1 story of 2021...
