Depends on the race. If you're racing to "see who has the most guts", then you better share the load. If you want the win... sit and kick. Unless, of course, you have no kick. Then you need to take the kick out of the kickers. All depends. Strategy. Philosophy. Poetry. It's a race. It's your dance. Do what you want.
p.s. RIP Puck
it takes more guts to win a race than it does to lose.
I am sick and tired of hearing people whine about how unfair it is for someone to lead a race only to lose.
Lets take the Mile as an example, the objective in the Mile is to be the first runner to reach 1,609.344m or the 1,760 yard mark. Getting through 1,500m first means nothing in a mile, hell getting to the 1609m line means nothing if you are out leaned in those last .344 meters.
The objective of a race is to WIN. The beauty of this sport is that it is so objective. One person wins and whether they took the lead 10 meters in, or with 10 to go is irrelevant.
Besides kickers make for great shows. It is much more fun to see an all out sprint to the line than a blowout, and on occasion the chaser is going to beat the leader to the tape.
If you lose a race and it bothers you, train harder, resolve to win, learn to kick. Let it motivate you, but complaining that you lost because you lost the lead at the end of the race is absurd.
And for the record, a kicker can be a good sportsman by running a clean race, breaking no rules, shaking hands etc afterward. On the track it's war, athletes should know this. Sportsmanship means playing by the rules and having class off the track.
James. Ronald. Ryun. wrote:
No. Never sit behind anyone the whole way and kick.
I beg to differ and agree. I think that every runner should experiment with every type of race tatic to get to know how to use them to your advantage when the need comes up. There will be times that this tatic will serve you well if you have practiced it...like in a race of qualifing rounds when you only NEED to sit on somebody and kick. I would suggest you also try running from the front, sitting off the lead pack, sitting off the second pack and working your way up a little over each lap/mile of a race, and as somebody mentioned, try helping with the pace a lap then drop back, then later come and help...but at the end regardless of what tatic you use, the more you have in your bag of tricks and have used them enough to understand how to use them...the better off you will be.
I'm a kicker myself, and I've heard this argument before from my teammates about how unfair a race tactic kicking is. Well...get over it!! Learn to run faster, better, smarter but you can't really complain. Its a tactic after all, and you have to have a plan to combat it.
I am a Kicker, and I know how I can be beaten:
1) Be better than me by a wide margin and take the lead and gap it out until I can barely make out your outline as you cross 100m ahead of me.
2) Run simulations in practice with pre-planned surges at specific points, then replicate these in the race. Since I (the Kicker) don't know when you will surge or how long you will sustain it, I will be mentally and physically trashed byt the time the finish apears (see Goucher v. Kennedy Nats 2000).
3) A simpler strategy: the first half of the race, take the lead as normal, and gradually hammer down the pace and try to drop everyone. If I am still on you with say, 5-600 to go, then begin to flail a bit and breathe loud (be convincing) and slow the pace, even if the pack is approaching. You are playing "Chicken" here. Then as soon as I pass you, get on my ass for 50-100,take a deep breath, then blast by me like there is no tomorrow. Make sure it is a good long final sprint (300+ in a 1500 usually is enough). If I still beat you, then I was just in better shape and you just have to accept that.
Now stop your whining and get out there and show me what you've learned.
Interesting topic, interesting responses. I keep wondering how the idea of 'unfair' crops up. There is no rule that says you cannot 'sit and kick' as opposed to some bicycling where it states you cannot draft, i.e., bicycling's form of 'sit and kick.'
For something to be unfair, there must be a rule regarding the activity in question. There are none.
The unsportsman bit is the almost the same. If you are going to take the lead, you are going to carry a lot of weight on your shoulders--just feel the tension building, nerves fraying, stomach tightening...well, ol' stud, nowhere does it say runners shall alternate the lead so they can all enjoy the same amount of mental tension.
For those who support the unsportsman issue; what is a fair exchange? Swap the lead every 134 meters? Every other furlong? Odd numbers lead odd laps, even numbers lead even laps, prime numbers fart around with the shotputters...
The old categorical imperative argument, eh! Ever see one of the bicycle races in the velodrome where both riders refuse to take the lead and they just sit there, dead still, on their bikes and balance in an attempt to force the other one to take the lead. We need races like that--everybody just standing there, not moving. How bizarre would that be.