Slowest, most "tactical" race ever?

The Big Ten indoor mile and outdoor 1500 have been pathetically slow in recent years. The 809m split last year in the indoor mile was 2:32. The winning time was 4:22. The outdoor 1500 was won in a 'blazing' 3:57.

2:28 at 809m actually.

The 1983 men's WC 1500 (won by Steve Cram) had a slower first 700-800, IIRC, than the women's race!

The correct answer is the 2001 Goodwill Games 5000m:

1 Kenya BITOK, Paul 15:26.10

2 Kenya KIPKOSGEI, Luke 15:26.61

3 Kenya KIBOWEN, John 15:26.63

4 Ethiopia MEKONNEN, Hailu 15:26.70

5 Kenya KIPKETER, Sammy 15:27.94

6 Kenya LIMO, Richard 15:28.00

7 Ethiopia WOLDE, Million 15:30.51

In the annual Sweden-Finland meet this weekend the men´s 1500 m winner had 4,21 - and he is a sub 3,40 runner.

It seems like a lot of 1500 meter championships are like this.

I remember one year I closed my last 800 in 1:54, last 300 in 42, and was outkiced the final 50 meters by three people in a staggering 3:59! Our first 400 split was 76, then someone took off and no one followed. He ended up winning in 3:54. I can remember countless other times where the first lap was aroun 69-70.

I remember that the final Grand Prix meet every year in Tokyo in Septemeber had the slowest 5000 races I've ever seen. In 1986 Padilla won in around 15:30. For real.

I remember a Big 10 10,000 that went out teh first 5000 in 17:00. And yes that was the men's race. Of course nothing I've ever seen compares to the indoor mile and Big 10 1500's that have been going on lately. A tactical race that meet before meant 3:47 for 1500, or 4:08 for the mile.

I don't remember all the splits but the 1990 NCAA 5000 where Trautmann ran 1:53 for the lst 800 had an 80 seond lap.

BisonHurdler wrote:

The correct answer is the 2001 Goodwill Games 5000m:

1 Kenya BITOK, Paul 15:26.10

2 Kenya KIPKOSGEI, Luke 15:26.61

3 Kenya KIBOWEN, John 15:26.63

4 Ethiopia MEKONNEN, Hailu 15:26.70

5 Kenya KIPKETER, Sammy 15:27.94

6 Kenya LIMO, Richard 15:28.00

7 Ethiopia WOLDE, Million 15:30.51

This is the one I was thinking of too. All 7 of those guys are sub-13:00 runners.

bpence wrote:

BisonHurdler wrote:

The correct answer is the 2001 Goodwill Games 5000m:

1 Kenya BITOK, Paul 15:26.10

2 Kenya KIPKOSGEI, Luke 15:26.61

3 Kenya KIBOWEN, John 15:26.63

4 Ethiopia MEKONNEN, Hailu 15:26.70

5 Kenya KIPKETER, Sammy 15:27.94

6 Kenya LIMO, Richard 15:28.00

7 Ethiopia WOLDE, Million 15:30.51

This is the one I was thinking of too. All 7 of those guys are sub-13:00 runners.

what were the splits?

Like 11 something for the two mile

I went out in 6 minutes for the first mile of a 10k at my conference meet a few years ago.

Swede. wrote:

In the annual Sweden-Finland meet this weekend the men´s 1500 m winner had 4,21 - and he is a sub 3,40 runner.

Yeah that race was so hilarious, the finnish runners were even looking at each others laughing during the race

When I was in 10th grade and my 1600m pr was only 5:11, I was in a ridiculous tactical "race" at some tiny league meet. The best person in the race had a pr of about 4:50 but wanted to win with as little effort as possible because it was a stupid dual meet. So anyways, that team had the top runners 7-8 minions sprint the first 50m and then they all slowed down alot. I wanted to get by this pack but would have had to move into lane 5 or 6 on a curve to do so and I didn't feel like doing that. As a result, the first lap in the MILE was 87 SECONDS! As soon as I finish my first lap, my coach starts yelling at me to pick it up, so move way to the outside on the first curve and start running at my usual mile pace. I led the rest of the race until the last 200m when the other team's top runner easily outkicked me. The winning time was 5:22!

Swede. wrote:

In the annual Sweden-Finland meet this weekend the men´s 1500 m winner had 4,21 - and he is a sub 3,40 runner.

The first 400 was run in 1:19, and the runners went by the 800 meter mark in 2:40:

You have to love the big ten 1500 races http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHQu2hH0Dlk