How to win a race when you're not the fastest on paper

Look up Mo Farrah, guy always wins big races despite not being the fastest on paper

Do You have a better kick then them? Are you a better 3200 or 5k? If you have neither there's no strategy you can use other than hoping that they all go out too fast and die or that they make silly moves and gear changes.

Make it a pure guts race.

For 50 bucks I can show you.

Do you have a teammate in the race? You / him go out as if it is an 800, see if the competition takes the bait. Old Joe Newton early-season XC frosh / soph dual meet trick - send out the sacraficial rabbits, see if the competitor's greyhounds bite and die early.

Mediocre HS Senior wrote:

My league is having our finals next Thursday and I'm primarily concerned about how i'm going to do place wise in the race. I have a pr of 4:29 for the 1600m while my 2 Teammates have pr's if 4:26 and 4:24. There is also a kid from another school who has ran 4:24 so far this season. I know I'm close to all these guys, however what strategy could I use to ultimately take the win ?

This is how it's done.

Coach wrote:

Do You have a better kick then them? Are you a better 3200 or 5k? If you have neither there's no strategy you can use other than hoping that they all go out too fast and die or that they make silly moves and gear changes.

I'd like to say that I have a better kick than only my teammate that runs 4:26. I haven't ran a faster time than 4:29 but I'm sure I have the ability ro run around 4:25 if that helps. I want to say that I have around the same speed as the other guys in the race in terms of a kick

how to race wrote:

Mediocre HS Senior wrote:

My league is having our finals next Thursday and I'm primarily concerned about how i'm going to do place wise in the race. I have a pr of 4:29 for the 1600m while my 2 Teammates have pr's if 4:26 and 4:24. There is also a kid from another school who has ran 4:24 so far this season. I know I'm close to all these guys, however what strategy could I use to ultimately take the win ?

This is how it's done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grf_62s_95w

There would only be like 6 of us in a pack if I pulled something like that

Mediocre HS Senior wrote:

My league is having our finals next Thursday and I'm primarily concerned about how i'm going to do place wise in the race. I have a pr of 4:29 for the 1600m while my 2 Teammates have pr's if 4:26 and 4:24. There is also a kid from another school who has ran 4:24 so far this season. I know I'm close to all these guys, however what strategy could I use to ultimately take the win ?

I learned a trick in HS that won me a lot of races, but it takes confidence. Every HS race takes out hard and then settles, right? I would hang back and wait for that moment when the pace would settle- usually ~400m into a 1600m race. When you feel that moment, take off and surge- long, hard surge. Run away from them- they'll be totally blindsided. The goal was to run the 2nd lap as fast as the 1st lap. Then you surge again every lap or every 200m to keep the pace going. I'd put so much space on everyone in the middle of the race that no kickers could catch up. Last lap was run like hell to win!

These tactics work great for 3200m and XC too- you hammer the middle of the race and put space on everyone. No one expects it!

on my first ever XC race I was told to be the sacrificial rabbit. I went out really fast and gapped the second place guy by a lot and end up winning the race against one of the fastest guys in the league on paper.

game theory wrote:

Do you have a teammate in the race? You / him go out as if it is an 800, see if the competition takes the bait. Old Joe Newton early-season XC frosh / soph dual meet trick - send out the sacraficial rabbits, see if the competitor's greyhounds bite and die early.

on my first ever XC race I was told to be the sacrificial rabbit. I went out really fast and gapped the second place guy by a lot and end up winning the race against one of the fastest guys in the league on paper.

Just hang with the pack for the first 600. Anybody can run a 600. Focus on the next 400....from the 600 to the 1000....most HS runners lose focus during that part. Not you, focus on form and breathing, and also position. After that for the next 300 start breathing harder than you think you need to, and this is for two reasons. First, you are sucking in more oxygen than your competitors while they're going into oxygen debt. You do this because you are preparing for your kick. The second reason is that with you breathing hard, your competitors will think you're dying, while actually you're preparing to kick their butt. For the last 300, get yourself in position for your kick. It is okay to wait for the last 100 to pass everybody rather than run in lane two on the last turn. Congratulations in advance for your victory.

Remember, the winner isn't the guy with the most miles or the most leg speed or the most experience or the best time. The winner is the guy who gets to the finish line before all the others.

Running on "Pure Hate" can be called upon when things look desperate.

You're all there at the same level. Anything can happen.

They do now.

And then you stll lose and they run like 4:17 or something.

Let's assume that this race goes out at a moderate-fast pace for the ability level of you guys-say 4:25-4:30. Stay in the pack until you're ready to make your move. Make that move sooner than people expect. With somewhere between 550-500m to go, move to the front and surge.

The other guys will be waiting to go until 400. Hopefully, your move gaps them quickly, and before they realize what's happening the last lap is starting and you just have to hang on while they try to chase you down.

This worked for me once or twice in HS. Fun stuff. Good luck.

Be sure to let everyone know how your race went.

Remember just because they have run that time, doesn't mean they will pr this race. The winning time could be 4:30. I'd say take the pace out starting in lap 2 or midway through lap 2. Don't let them rest on the third lap and that may take the kick out some.