Could Coe had gone sub 13 in the 5000m

could have

would have

should have

but didn't

Ventolin what say you?

Think he lacked the necessary natural endurance.

I remember him running road relay legs of about 3 mile for his club in his prime and he hardly set the road alight as one would have expected of a potential sub 13 minute 5000mt runner.

From memory, as opposed to someone like Moorcroft who ran about 13 dead and still holds relay course records from that era - he never even set a course record in any of his relay legs for his club.

No doubt someone will come up with some statistics to prove ( or blow my memories apart) my observations.

Don't be dumb we've all seen the workout results of where he roasted that top brittish 5k guy in 800m repeats coe coulda run the sub 13 in the early to mid 80's ez. The reason he didn't is cause who in their right mind what's to run for a longer amount of time to excel in a less glamorous event???

So he deliberately ran slow when running for his club as opposed to running for himself?

When he ran in the relays he was probably not have been in top shape, because of the time of year they are run at.

I've read about that session with Frank Horwill and would guess he was in 13:10-20 shape.

With more endurance training (especially as he ran relatively low mielage) he could potentially have broken 13. Ovett too when he was in his prime, & if he had focused on the event

I think his top end was probably at the 3000 meter mark.

No chance, he was not the aerobic animal neeeded to break 13:00. He was not a very good CC runner

YES

Should not have

he was sucessfull

focused

Maybe Webb should not be beating Ritz at 10k

I'd say anyone who could run 1500 under 3:30 probably could have if they had taken a healthy year to focus on it.

KIPCOD wrote:

No chance, he was not the aerobic animal neeeded to break 13:00. He was not a very good CC runner

which senior XC races did he run?

What was the WR in 1984?

I remember reading an article and his book where he talked about running CC races for strength. The article and Sebs book clearly discussed that he wasnt cut out for CC. Sorry I cant bring up any reference links. Those races must have been approx 10K?.

Not may guys with his speed 45-46 and 1:41 or (even close to that) were great above 3K

A better question is "How much under 13:00 would David Moorcroft have run with today's pacers and competition?"

13:00:41

His 13:00 was at least the performance of that decade. Massive talent

I'd agree. Some people accurately argue that runners can get into a "zone" during hypnotic, solo efforts and run to their potential, but I think this effort was worth half to a full second per lap faster with rabbits and/or competition to break the wind and focus on. Certainly a sub-13:00. Maybe a sub-12:55, and this was long before the Africans arrived en masse.

Yes he definitely could have. He just needed to cross the finish line in less than 13 minutes. Just needed to be a little bit faster.