Could an elite male beat all women's distance world records in one race?

I think the answer is no, but you've got it backwards anyway.

best to start fast, get in a hard first 5k, then try to relax for a bit. you hit the half in 64high and cruise for a few miles before trying to close it out.

it would have to be done this way because nobody is ever going to run a 1:52 800m after running 25+ miles.

Didn't Kamworor do all but the women's marathon record during his last half marathon when he fell?

reed wrote:

I think the answer is no, but you've got it backwards anyway.

best to start fast, get in a hard first 5k, then try to relax for a bit. you hit the half in 64high and cruise for a few miles before trying to close it out.

it would have to be done this way because nobody is ever going to run a 1:52 800m after running 25+ miles.

Doesn't seem remotely hard other than the maybe the 800m. Opening with a 1:52 is tough for a 1:48/1:49 guy, going through in 3:49/4:07 is pretty easy and then you start running 4:30+ miles which are slower than HM pace for these guys and then when you hit the HM level you can jog along at 5:10+ pace which is pretty much recovery run level.

Running the 100/200/400/800.

You have to do it from the start because otherwise you get the advantage of a rolling start.

that last 1500 is 3:39.

Not necessarily. I would recommend the first few miles of the race be a warm up around women's marathon WR pace. Then the course would arrive at a track (or the whole thing could be done at a track if the athlete didn't mind running a marathon on the track). The runner could stop briefly at the track start line so they don't have a running start and the gun could be fired and automatic timing started for the 800 plus other track distances. Then the runner could leave the track and continue on the half/marathon with the clock running the whole time. The half marathon effort should probably start after the warm up and at the same time as the track/800 start. If for some reason he didn't hit 1:52 for the 800 WR, he would only be a few miles into the effort and could stop and try it again the next day! Very doable by someone like Rupp once the 800/1500 was in the books and out of the way.

I think Rupp might struggle to run 1:50 in an open 800m right now

almost thurr wrote:

Didn't Kamworor do all but the women's marathon record during his last half marathon when he fell?

caught up with a 4:15 mile didn't he? Probably wouldn't have gone 1:52 for 800m

Make it an interval workout.

Take the 800m and 1500m/mile records during the first half of the marathon. Take the 3K-HM records during the second half. Running a 4:07 mile with the last 800m in 1:52 would take something out of even the best guys in the world, but I think they could do it.

Interesting question. But the answer is currently no.

Title different to thread. All records would be more interesting.

I think you meant to say the 700m split (before the final 800) would be in 1:57 to give you a final 1500 of 3:49? If so, I think then the top candidate could get as far as completing this 700m segment in 1:57, but then wouldn't be able to finish the final 800 in 1:52. Haile G in his prime would've been able to get past the 700 segment, but not the final 800.

Farah could do this with his eyes closed.

Doesn't count unless the distance is from the gun.

So you'd have to go out in 1:52, etc.

I think a 29 low 10K with the first mile in 4:07 and the first half of that mile in 1:52 would be very hard.

Even someone with 26:20 ability would have trouble making 29 with that fast of a start and the fatigue that would kick in early.

you would have to run these in order from shortest to fastest.

if you are going to run a 1:52 800 wouldnt you just make that part of the 1500?

Women's Marathon record is 2:17:42. Mixed gender WR is actually 2:15:25. But that is honestly splitting hairs because for a top male the marathon wouldn't be the deal breaker.

It's all going to come down to the 800 and whether they can recover well enough from that to handle the half and full.

I think the best bet to do this would be Farah. Honestly whether you're a 2:03 or 2:07 marathoner isn't going to make much difference, its all going to come down to whether you can run an 800 at that pace without killing yourself for the longer distances. If a guy like Farah could get through the 800 in decent shape then going out and running the slower longer distance wouldn't be as tough. But I think that 800 would be a killer to anyone trying this.

Also I'm assuming your start with the faster things and try to hit the womens WR when you reach that distance in the race rather than finish with the fast stuff. That way seems easier to me.

Yeah, it doesn't count unless all distances start from the gun - a rolling start changes the equation, and the women who set the records didn't have that advantage. As others have pointed out, it would certainly be easier to do the fast stuff from the start anyway. Still, seems doubtful to me - that 800 time isn't a jog for anybody, and a 25.7 mile cooldown after that would be pretty tough, especially since they can't substantially let off the gas until the HM mark. It hurts just thinking about what fatigue would be like.

Mixed gender WR wtf?