Last night, my wife asked me, what was the most impressive thing I saw at the Mt SAC Relays? Without hesitation, watching Rai Benjamin seemingly cruise to a 47.74 to completely obliterate the previous Mt SAC Relays 400M Hurdles record. When he finished, I turned to Isabella Vally, sitting with her father in the stands behind me, and said, “He’s not human.“

I’ve done composite photos of hurdlers before, and I’ve never seen a separation in the 300M Hurdles like this one. I certainly didn’t expect it during an elite invitational. When he cruised past the hurdle I was setup at, I thought, this looks too easy. I didn’t expect to see anything with a 47 in it pop up on the scoreboard. I was floored.

I walked past him as he was being interviewed, and the only part of the interview I caught was, “I could have run faster.” The previous record in the 400M hurdles, 48.49, was set 21 years ago by Chris Rawlinson (Great Britain). He finished 2 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor in the race. Yes, this was the most impressive thing I saw at the Mt SAC Relays, without question.