Earlier thread, same subject:
Earlier thread, same subject:
Okay, for some reason the link leads back to this thread, so I'll just bump the other.
El G actually went after the WR. He had races set up and he put himself out there to do it. You don't see people doing that as much today probably because they don't think they can run that fast. Also nobody runs as smooth and he did. It seem like kiprop and everyone else just run to win.
Maybe I stumbled across a reason why you shouldn't believe everything you find via Google (or letsrun forums).
Here's a bizarre question for American running fans: who is Chance Duffy?
Forget Webb or German or Wheating, or Cassidy. According to the answer oracle "Google", I found that, with all due respect to El Guerrouj, Chance Duffy, of USA, ran a 3:34.45 for the mile, as of November 3, 2009.
To see what I mean, look here://wiki.answers.com/Q/World_record_for_fastest_ran_mile_and_what_is_the_time
The answer:
"As of November 3, 2009, the fastest mile ever run is 3:34.45 by Chance Duffy of United States."
(Note wiki.answers.com answers lack consistency. Related answers do credit "El Guerrouj". Check out the math here "http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_time_of_the_worlds_fastest_mile")
In fact, if you "Google" the complete Chance Duffy answer above, you get 8 hits, or 66 if you include "similar" results. (Well maybe one more as soon is I hit "Post").
That's it. All of the sites contain the same simple, standalone, naked assertion. A few questions spring to my mind:
- Is it some kind of internet joke, where anyone can edit a "wiki" answer, just to see how far it goes, or how long it lasts? Maybe some sort of experiment to demonstrate the extent of automated plagiarism?
- Where did he run it? Against whom?
- Where can I find the race results or the related media stories?
- Is Chance Duffy a man, or a horse, or a greyhound? They don't actually say he's human.
- Is he an American Oscar Pistorius, running with Cheetahs?
- Is he a "real" American? Is he White? Black? Brown? Tan? Grey? White with Black spots?
- Like pints of beer, is the American mile shorter than the English mile?
- If it's not IAAF approved, it must be straight or downhill, or wind-aided. Except, thanks to Google, I found clippings from media stories, that Steve Scott ran a 3:31 downhill in New Zealand, in 1982, (then 17 seconds faster than Coe) and 3:29 in 1983, and Mike Boits of Kenya ran a 3:28 downhill in New Zealand in 1983. That was 27 years ago.
Anyone ever hear of Chance Duffy's fastest mile performance, as of Nov. 3, 2009, and have any inside scoop?
I like the 2:50-3:00/km for 30-45 minute sessions, which are listed under aerobic endurance, which he does virtually every day. So, he would be running maybe 29:00 10k's and often maintaining that pace to 45:00 as essentially his easy runs, because there is no place for anything easier in that first schedule.
First of all let us not doubt the raw talent and work ethic that El G brought into his craft.
That said, my sense is that no other athlete of his era enjoyed the cloak of institutional protection with regard to testing and it's protocol, first at the Federation level, and later at the international level. His Moroccan contemporaries did not enjoy the latter and were busted accordingly. To take down El G would have been a serious blow to the sport. Marion enjoyed similar protection, but she squandered it with her lies, sloppy associations and egotism, while El G portrayed the innocent altar boy and kept things close to the vest, well cloisterd by his handlers.
There is only one track athlete that currently enjoys the same level of protection. And like El G, his records will endure for a decade and more.
El G is part of the answer, but Lagat clocked 3:26.34 and Ngeny 3:43.40.
One word, starts with D, rhymes with hugs.
meth head wrote:
One word, starts with D, rhymes with hugs.
Dugs?
You talkin' KB?
last lap wrote:
There is only one track athlete that currently enjoys the same level of protection.
and how can you be so certain...
I probably overstated that one somewhat. KB could also be "untouchable". However, his event and nationality don't carry the whiff of suspicion that the Jamaican (and American) sprinters have.
Lemme Guess... wrote:
last lap wrote:There is only one track athlete that currently enjoys the same level of protection.
and how can you be so certain...
Whale wrote:
1)You've got a 50-50 shot on me being a genius or fool..not bad odds
The odds will total 100%, but I'm pretty sure they aren't 50/50.
Because noone ran that fast in the last 10 years
lagat and ngeny only ran those times chasing El G and his pacers.
The lack of truly elite level mile races is the chief reason. There are only about three a year in the world, tops.
I would bet that not even 1 in 10,000 Americans would know the name Hicham el Guerrouj. When I was a kid every schoolchild knew who Roger Bannister was. Wonder why that is....
BTW the 'Chance Duffy' thing made me realize this. Something like that only works because el G. is so little known.
Would you believe that alan webb is the only one in that time to come remotely close to that mark ~3 secs. I know everyone thinks he is a washout but i think he has more potnetial than anyone to get it.