The sight of Hobbs Kessler powering home on the final lap of his 3:57.66 high school national record indoor mile in the American Track League meet on February 7 sent a seismic jolt through a track & field world, still trying to emerge from the haze of COVID-19. On March 27, the Michigan prep senior will be back on the oval at twice the distance in what could be THE signature event at the new NSAF USA Meet of Champions at Myrtle Beach, SC.

Kessler has committed to competing in the meet’s 2-Mile Championship, which is scheduled for 5:30pm ET on the next-to-last day of competition. Five others who have run sub-9:00 have registered for the event. Full details about the meet are at https://nsafmeetofchamps.runnerspace.com/

“I really want to run a fast 3200 meters or 2-mile and I think this will be my best chance to do it,” says Kessler, who is a senior at Community HS in Ann Arbor, but competes for Skyline HS where his parents, Mike and Serena Kessler, both coach.

The chance to test himself over eight laps – and against a crack field – was a big part of the attraction to come to Myrtle Beach for Kessler. The elite competition will include the following:

• Connecticut junior Gavin Sherry (Conard HS), who set his 2M PR of 8:53.25 as a soph at last winter’s New England Champs, leading the U.S. prep list.
• Fellow Connecticut junior Aidan Puffer (Manchester HS), who was 2020 New England runner-up with his 8:58.10 PR and pushed rival Sherry in several epic battles.
• West Virginia junior Larry Josh Edwards (University HS), who holds the national 3,200m lead indoors with his 8:51.88 PR to win the Spire Scholastic Showcase. As a frosh, he ran 9:12.85 at the NSAF’s Indoor Nationals.
• New Jersey senior Jackson Braddock (Southern Regional HS), who had his sub-9 breakthrough with an 8:54.02 3,200m triumph at the Music City Distance Carnival in August.
• Alaska senior Tristian Merchant (Anchorage Christian HS), who will join Kessler at Northern Arizona U. this coming fall and who ducked under 9 with an 8:59.57 3,200m at a local meet in Alaska last summer.

Just a few months ago, Kessler raced to an outstanding runner-up finish in the NSAF’s most recent event, the XC Town Meet of Champions, Presented by the Garrett Companies at LaVern Gibson Championship XC Course in Terre Haute. There, his furious finishing kick almost caught champion Judson Greer. But as the T&F world saw in Fayetteville, that kick is even better now.

Then when David Mitchell – best known as the chief of NSAF’s elite announcing team for over 20 years now – reached out to the Kesslers about running in Myrtle Beach, it renewed a long-time connection. “Mike and I are both Saline (Mich.) High School alums,” says Mitchell. “I had graduated a few years before he came along and when he was running for the XC team in 1985, I had returned there as a young assistant coach. Then a number of years later, when Mike was himself coaching at Saline, I was coaching nearby rival Pinckney. So our paths have crossed in a number of ways over the years.

“I think Hobbs and his dad would really like to see what he can do now over 2 miles and we already had a great field in the event. This could make it very special,” he adds.

To say that Kessler’s record mile caught the T&F world by surprise would be a massive understatement. Some recalled his outstanding XC season in Michigan, which ended impressively in Terre Haute, but then some quick research of his track resume reveals that he was “only” a 4:18 1600m runner before the pandemic hit.

Only the most astute fans and those who’ve followed Kessler closely knew that he had been working with retired U. of Michigan coach Ron Warhurst and his great Olympic protégé and alum Nick Willis in recent months. And that over the past summer, Kessler had authored impressive 8:53.1 2-mile and 4:08.4 mile time trials while working with them.

In fact, as the Kesslers related to Track & Field News’s Jeff Hollobaugh in an outstanding story (https://trackandfieldnews.com/hobbs-kessler-the-making-of-a-miler/), Hobbs was rabbiting in that mile time trial for Willis and Mason Ferlic and gone through the three-quarter mark in 3:02.3, before Warhurst told him to finish even while deep in oxygen debt. That, plus months of strong training since gave him confidence when the opportunity arose to race elites in Arkansas this month. He thought he could at least beat Grant Fisher’s indoor state record of 4:03.54.

Kessler’s path to this level has been far from traditional, as Hollobaugh relates. Yes, his father ran a 4-flat road mile in 1994 and his mother a 2:44 marathon. But the sport of rock climbing was really Kessler’s first love, even as he ran decent if not great XC and track times early in his prep career.

The connection to Coach Warhurst and Willis actually originally came about because Mike Kessler was interested in learning how to coach elite athletes in general (his son and other youth climbers), not to help his son become a faster distance runner. Hobbs considered himself a competitive rock-climber whose running was a side gig. But things changed. When he finished 6^th in his XC state meet as a junior in 2019, Hobbs’ motivation to excel in the sport really grew and he realized what could happen working with Warhurst and Willis.

Now a few weeks from turning 18, Kessler is still adjusting to his newfound fame. He emphasized in the Hollobaugh story that he trains with and competes for his team at Skyline first and foremost. He will do the same at Northern Arizona in the fall, with Merchant as one of his new teammates.

“I went from being a runner that no one had really heard about to most people in the sport knowing my name,” he says. “So it’s been a little bizarre, kind of a weird shift in identity … it’s recalibrated my thinking about where I stand.”

“There was a lot of initial media attention,” says his father, “but things are starting to return to normal. The big thing is he’s more confident and believes he belongs at this level.”

On the other hand, Hobbs is adamant about not dwelling on that towering record-breaking achievement. “I don’t want that race to define me,” he says. “I want to be able to run consistently good performances.”

While Kessler has time-trialed that 8:53.1, he doesn’t have an “official” 3,200m or 2-mile under 9:30 – since the last time he ran one was in 2019. So vastly improving that PR is a big motivation. But the Meet of Champions will also represent an outdoor season-opener for Kessler. He is racing an elite 1,500m and high school mile this weekend in Texas, but then will take a four-week break from racing and rebuild for his final prep outdoor campaign.

“I don’t know that I’ll really have a time goal for Myrtle Beach,” he says. “I just want to try and win the race and if I focus on that, I think a fast time will come.”

And given the competition Kessler will face, it’s a good bet that the 2M will see a massive wave of fast times in Myrtle Beach at the NSAF USA Meet of Champions.

 Come for the Games, Stay for the fun!

What a better location to support your team with all the activities the Myrtle Beach area offers.  60 miles of sun, surf and sand are not the only things the Myrtle Beach area has to offer.  Whether you are ready to relax by the beach or check out some of our great attractions, the Myrtle Beach Area offers it all. Check out all the destination has to offer in between your games and competitions. There are so many fun activities to choose from, it’ll be hard to do it all.

Visit the visitmyrtlebeach.com/things-to-do to find out more about fun-filled entertainment options, 100’s of restaurants, shopping and so much more!  Come play, stay and dine in the Myrtle Beach area and see what all awaits you in between competitions. 

Photos of Hobbs Kessler at ATL meet courtesy of DyeStat.com